HPH 20TH ANNIVERSARY CHALLENGE

To celebrate twenty years of Hyde Park Harriers, we’re recreating a route from the club’s early days and including it in the HPH Winter League 2026/27!

The 20th Anniversary Challenge is a (slightly over) 10km route starting and finishing near Cardigan Fields, where HPH began life as the Virgin Active Road Runners.

INSTRUCTIONS

  • A GPX file of the route can be downloaded here, and a full route description is set out below.
  • You are welcome to try the route as many times as you like and at any time. Obviously this means that the route is not marshalled or signposted, so please take all sensible precautions and care when taking on the route!
  • VERY IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: Much of the route is on Kirkstall Road, which is often very busy with traffic and has multiple junctions and road crossings. Please do not take any risks with traffic and road crossings – this is meant to be a fun challenge and safety is much more important than losing a few seconds waiting for a green man! Please also be courteous to all other road and path users, especially on blind corners and narrow paths.
  • Anyone can take part and we’ll be including any official attempts by HPH members during November 2026 through to the end of March 2027 in the HPH Winter League.
  • We will be using elapsed time, not moving time! If the HPH committee suspects any trickery or manipulation in relation to the evidence of elapsed time that you provide, your time will be disregarded.
  • The challenge is free to take part in but we’d like to ask anyone who takes part to make a donation to either St Gemma’s Hospice or the Rob Burrow MND Centre in memory of Clare Maxwell, a much-loved HPH who passed away in 2026.

ROUTE DESCRIPTION

  1. START – The start line is the traffic lights by the Redcote Lane junction on Kirkstall Road and we recommend starting on the Redcote Lane side of the road.
  2. Head north-west along Kirkstall Road (i.e. away from the city centre, towards Kirkstall Abbey). Take care at the ASDA/Starbucks car park entrance and the various other junctions along Kirkstall Road.
  3. Upon reaching the junction with Bridge Road/Kirkstall Road (with Kirkstall Leisure Centre), carry on along Kirkstall Road towards Kirkstall Abbey. Take care with the various road crossings here, being aware that traffic and bikes may be coming from several different directions.
  4. Continue along Kirkstall Road, past Kirkstall Abbey and the Burley Rugby club and up over the hill towards Hawksworth (this section will be familiar to anyone who has run the Kirkstall 7 race).
  5. Carefully cross the junction for Kirkstall Forge and proceed up the hill towards Horsforth.
  6. Continue up the hill towards Horsforth, passing the Horsforth Tennis Club on your left.
  7. Turn left onto Newlay Lane and follow this road downhill.
  8. After c.200m, the road forks in two – take the left fork and continue the steep downhill, curving round to the left.
  9. At the bottom of the hill, continue forwards across the bridge over the river.
  10. You are now on Pollard Lane, the biggest climb of the route! Continue over the railway bridge and on up the road, passing the Abbey Inn on your right and continuing up and over the bridge over the canal.
  11. Continue climbing up Pollard Lane all the way to the T-junction at the top, where it meets the Leeds and Bradford Road.
  12. Turn left onto the Leeds and Bradford Road and run past the Acorn pub – you’ve earned some downhill! Carry on along this road, with Bramley Fall Park on your left.
  13. At the bottom of the hill, the road will curve left and then immediately right as it crosses over the canal.
  14. Before you reach the traffic lights at Bridge Road, look out for a gap in the walls on the left side of the road. Take this gap and follow the track (which doubles back on the road you’ve just run on) down to the canal towpath – see kilometre marker 8 in the route map at the top of the page to visualise this.
  15. On joining the canal, go through the tunnels immediately on your left and continue along the canal towpath with the canal on your right.
  16. DON’T WORRY IF YOU MISS THE GAP MENTIONED IN STEP 14 – just turn right at the traffic lights on Bridge Road, then turn left down Wyther Lane, then immediately turn right into the car park next to the canal and join the canal towpath there. Be very careful with all road crossings here!
  17. Once on the canal towpath, keep heading towards the city centre, with the canal on your right.
  18. After passing under the Wyther Lane bridge (the lower, darker bridge), take the cycle path to the left (rather than continuing along the canal towpath) to join the wider tarmac road that runs parallel to the canal towpath as it passes the electricity substation.
  19. Carry on all the way along this road past the electricity substation, then follow the road round to the left and left again.
  20. FINISH – The finish line is the railway bridge over Redcote Lane; stop your watch as you pass beneath it! Once you’ve finished, you can continue along Redcote Lane past the City Golf club to emerge at the start point on Kirkstall Road.

RECORD OF ATTEMPTS

Date of AttemptNameTime