Running in Glasgow

Milngavie, a small town about 8 miles northwest of Glasgow city centre, is where the West Highland Way officially begins at a granite obelisk on Douglas Street. Frequent ScotRail trains connect Milngavie to both Glasgow Queen Street and Glasgow Central, with the journey taking around 20 to 30 minutes, which makes the trailhead an easy half day trip rather than a major expedition. The Way's opening stage climbs gently through Mugdock Wood, right on the edge of the Mugdock Country Park trails already popular with Glasgow runners, before passing Craigallian Loch and Carbeth Loch on its way toward Drymen. For a city runner, it is a rare chance to start a run at a train station and finish it on a genuine long distance wilderness trail.

Most Glasgow runners treat Milngavie as an out and back rather than attempting the full 96 mile route to Fort William in one go. A run through Mugdock Wood and back to the obelisk covers several miles of forest track and quiet lochside path, offering a taste of Highland scenery that is otherwise a long drive from the city. The terrain is mostly firm track and country lane, easy underfoot compared with the rockier trails further north on the Way, though it can turn muddy after rain. It pairs naturally with a stop at Mugdock Country Park itself, so runners can combine both in a single long training day without leaving the Milngavie area.

Bellahouston Park in Glasgow's south side started out as farmland on the old Bellahouston estate before becoming the site of the 1938 Empire Exhibition, and today it is one of the largest and hilliest green spaces in the city. Unlike the flatter Glasgow Green or the riverside Clyde Walkway, Bellahouston is genuinely rolling, with enough climbing on its looped paths to make it a favourite for hill repeats among south side runners. The park is also home to the House for an Art Lover, a building completed during the 1990s from an 1901 design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which gives an otherwise ordinary lap of the park a striking landmark to aim for. Organised races including 5K, 10K, and half marathon events are regularly held within the park, so it doubles as one of the city's established race day venues.

For everyday training, Bellahouston offers a useful middle ground between the flat river paths and the steeper Campsie Fells further out of town. The winding paths and open lawns suit everything from an easy recovery jog to structured hill sessions on the park's slopes, and the park stays busy without ever feeling as crowded as the Kelvin Walkway on a sunny weekend. Its location in the south west of the city also makes it a natural base for runners from Ibrox, Cardonald, and Dumbreck who want hills without crossing the river. Combined with the club scene already built around Bellahouston Road Runners, the park functions as a genuine neighbourhood training hub rather than just a scenic backdrop.