Us runners love to talk about distance. From the beginners working their way through Couch to 5k to the experienced runners ticking off their first, second or third marathon, success in running tends to be dictated first by running a distance, and then by running it faster.

But what if we told you there were other ways to challenge your running ability and learn new skills without having to plod in circles around your local park to make your run up to 10k?  

As we head into a new year, now’s the perfect time to set yourself a new challenge, so we’ve put together this list of non-distance-related running challenges for anyone who wants to take the pressure off of how far they’re running in 2025. Running, simply for the joy of running.  

1. Head to the trails

If you’ve never tried trail running before, then setting yourself the challenge of trying it is a great one to start with. The uneven terrain, winding routes and range of inclines and declines require you to adapt your running style and pace as you move, making it the ideal thing to try if you’re looking for something that will test you both mentally and physically.

2. Create some Strava art

Feeling creative and got some time to spare? Try making some Strava art. The term used to describe the pictures people ‘draw’ using Strava routes and is a fantastic way to explore your local area while also having something cool to show off on social media as a result. The real challenge is deciding what you’re going to create and plotting out the route – the running is the easy bit. 

3. Run for five minutes everyday

For a challenge that’ll keep you busy for an extended period, try running for a set amount of time every day. If running every day is new to you, sticking to a short amount of time – like five or ten minutes – is a good way to manage your load and prevent injury. If you’re not entirely sick of tracking distance, you could even see how far you get every day and monitor your progress.

4. Play the ‘run until’ game

A kind of running treasure hunt, the ‘run until’ game went viral on social media several years ago. It simply involves setting yourself a list of items you need to spot and then running until you’ve ticked off all the items on your list. You can make up your own list or ask someone else to put one together – it depends on how tricky you want to make it. Strong Women’s Lauren Geall previously gave the game a go, so check out her verdict for more information.

5. Complete the Parkrun challenge

There is a long list of Parkrun challenges out there but a (relatively) simple one you can try over the course of the year is the one that requires you to tick off a Parkrun whose name starts with every letter of the word ‘Parkrun’. That means you’d need to find a course whose name starts with the letter P, A, R, K and so on. There’s an unofficial app called ‘5k’ which can be useful to keep track of all the courses you’ve been to. 

6. Use CityStrides to try new routes

Fancy exploring more of your local area? Connect your fitness tracker or Strava account to CityStrides to find out how many streets you’ve run along in your area, and spend the year trying to tick off every single one. The app collates every activity you do into a ‘Lifemap’ so you can see every street you’ve traversed in one place. You’ll be surprised how few streets you actually use.

7. Run the date

For an easy challenge, try to run for as many minutes as are represented by that day for every day of the month. So on the first day of the month you’d run for one minute, then on the second you’d run for two, and so on. For a bigger challenge, simply add a zero onto the date number.  

Images: Getty