Here are a bunch of runs I’ve been doing over the years. A mix of road and trail, distances from 3 miles up to a marathon (I have even longer ones if you’d like!)

With each, I’ve included a little description of how to get around but it is well worth knowing where you are and carrying a map/app if needed. If you click on the map you’ll go through to the route on Strava where you can download the GPX file on your watch and get beeped at whenever you go wrong.

I love Ordnance Survey maps! I love the app on my phone. I’ve spent the last 10 years trying to cover as many dashed lines as possible. Most of them are OK, some are beautiful and some are running a gauntlet of electric fences and brambles. None of the really horrible ones are in these routes (mud disclaimer). But I recommend just getting out there and exploring.

Most of the runs from Great Denham start/finish at the Pavillion.

If you are on Strava, check out the Great Denham Runners Strava group. You can look through at the runs local runners do to get inspiration!

Most of these runs head out West, where the trails/roads are quieter. I tend not to head into Bedford unless I want to recreate that scene from Shaun of the Dead and see if I can survive running up the High Street without getting bitten in the neck.

I’ve run these routes many times before. The roads are generally quiet in off-peak times and most of the trails are kept in good condition all year round (though some get very muddy). Usual disclaimers about following descriptions or GPX files. Don’t blame me if your watch tells you to run into a river!

A few short ones

There is plenty of green space in Great Denham. The Country Park, lots of wide river paths and the golf course (correct as of April 2021). I recommend just getting out there and exploring. The OS maps are a great way to see what’s what and the green lines on this map are all good trails.

Here are a handful of 3-4 mile routes to get you started. They mostly go around the country park (the parkrun course) and use footpaths through the golf course, Biddenham and the river path alongside the A428 heading to Bromham.

Some start at the Pavillion. Some at Sainsbury’s.

From the pavilion head down to the corner of the park and over Kempston Mill Bridge

After the second bridge turn left onto the river path and follow for a couple of miles.

It starts off as a gravel trail but soon you are on grass and weaving in and out of trees. Just keep the river in sight and you’ll be fine! Get to Queens Park Bridge, cross over and then back along the tarmac path to GD

Head out of town to the big roundabout near the park and ride and cross to hit the trail.

Go up about half a mile and see a right turn back over the busy road into a trail that skirts alongside the gold course.

When you get to the end of that trail turn right and come down the path through the golf course and you are back in Great Denham. Add a loop of the park for fun

This is the parkrun loop. two loops of the park. If you get lost on this there may be no hope :)

Head out to the roundabout at the park and ride and hit the trail. Go all the way up (about 1.2 miles) until you get to the road, turn right and right again onto the first trail you see, through a field, over the busy road and along into the top of Biddenham. Follow the road round to the right and before you get to Hospital turn right into Great Denham, cross the golf course and you are back

A nice trail 10

Introducing my favourite local loop. Anyone who follows me on Strava will see this shape appear every other day. Mostly trails with a couple of climbs and some nice views.

Heading out from Great Denham you take the Ouse Valley path along the river up towards Bromham. At the end turn left, over Bromham Bridge and through Bromham to Thistley Lane, this is the start of the Clay Way. Follow this trail (over the A428, be careful!) and then you have a couple of miles of the Clay Way (or “The Ridge” as we’ve come to call it in these parts).

Keep going through the woods and the golf course (for 7 miles there is a left turn just before the woods) and carry on, crossing Spring Lane and onto Hay Lane. Turn left down Hay Lane and left again onto West End Road and look out for a footpath sign on the right just before a farm. That heads towards Kempston Woods.

When you get there you have a choice, inside or out? There is no way of avoiding a bas***d hill. The outside is less muddy but the inside is lovely when it’s dry. Up and down to the other side you should land on Tithe Road. Turn left to head up the road for about half a mile (or right if you want to go straight to the pub).

A few variations on the above…..

Road 10

A few more road options. Wootton is generally nice and has a lot of quiet farm roads. Some parts of Kempston are runnable, avoiding the busy roads. I try to avoid going into Bedford but if I do it’s usually along the river and to Danish Camp or Priory Park

Trail 12

This route was originally my “long run before catching the train to work” It worked a treat. Not only would I get a nice long run before having to sit down in a can to head into the big smoke, but when you sit down on a train with cow shit up to your knees you tend to get half a carriage to yourself.

From GD you head up the Ouse Valley path to Bromham, turn left, over bridge and turn right just after the mill. Uphill through some fields and then go to the top of Mollivers Lane and onto the trail. Keep going straight, ignoring, for now, all the turn-offs (though these are all lovely trails and well worth exploring later). Turn right off the trail when the windmill is in sight, cross the road and go through a gate onto another footpath by the sign to Stevington.

Follow path round edge of field by the river and you’ll pop out at the Oakley Bridges, cross them, go through oakley, over the roundabout and A6 overpass, turn right and head towards Clapham.

Before you get too far down high street look for Mount Pleasant Road and take a footpath through the houses. Keep going straight, past the allotments, through some fields and you’ll pop out onto Carriage Drive. Follow until a big farmhouse and turn right onto footpath that heads down through Clapham Park. Keep heading straight, through a field (sometimes with cows), through some wooded area and over Manton Lane, down Cemetary Hill and through town back onto river path. Follow river path back into GD

The Biddenham 6

A nice easy trail run through Biddenham. Head down to the Mill Bridge

Stick to the river path until you get to Queens Park Bridge and then head over it, go straight across, keep to the left of the shops and go alongside the park and allotment. You’ll arrive on Bromham road, turn left and then left again onto Biddenham Turn.

Tread lightly through Biddenham (they don’t like sudden loud noises or grunting) and head towards the hospital. If you don’t need to visit just swing left and back into GD via the golf course.

ridgeway should i go? 7 milES

Took me a while to find these trails that were right under my nose all along. They are not obviously marked on OS maps but they are good trails and well worth exploring.

Head out towards Kempston Church end (Bridge permitting) and run down Green End Road. When you run out of houses you should see a trail on your right, take that, keep left and through to Buttons Ramsey, over the road to “The Kill”. Cross the road at the edge of Wootton and take the trail that goes on for a couple of miles. Turn left when you can take the exhaust fumes of the A421 and go round the little lake and then back up through Ridgeway Woods. Pop out at LIDL and then back to GD.

I don’t think I’ve ever run the same route twice here. There are hundreds of trails spewing out of everywhere. Explore them!

a swift half? 13.1 miles

Normally you have to pay good money for a route that’s flat, traffic-free and is exactly 13.1 miles long. However, people of Great Denham have one of these right on their doorstep.

From the pavilion head into town. Cross the river at the footbridge by the bars/pubs there (they seem to change every time I run there so won’t commit to any names) and keep on river path/cycle route 51 and head past the Beefeater at the Priory, keep going over the A428 overpass, keep going until you are almost at the Danish Camp cafe. turn left just before getting there, follow the loop of the Grange Estate until you are back on Cycleway 51, turn right and basically run back over the same path you have just covered.

A bit further afield

Wonderful the trails in our back yard are, there comes a time when you want to branch out and try new things. You may just be a bit bored of the Great Denham park loop, the river path or the golf course. Or perhaps you were caught out going for a wee when 17 local runners all jogged past and now you don’t ever want to be seen out running in the village again. It’s OK I’m not judging. These runs would require a little drive (or bike ride) out to them.

The Timberland Trail - 13 miles - Start at Forest Centre (6 miles away)

A lovely but challenging half marathon. Designed as a whole-day walk but there’s no reason why you couldn’t run it in a couple of hours! Officially starts at the Forest Centre but there’s no reason why you couldn’t start in Ampthill or somewhere else with a cafe. There is a decent reout description here on the official page for the trail. The trails around Lidlington and Millbrook are beautiful, you’ll see Houghton House and then Kings Wood (which I think is the bigger, hillier, gnarlier brother of Kempston Woods).

cranfield 14

a 15 minute drive opens up a huge array of lovely trails from Cranfield. Aim to park at Hollywell Road (a little dirt road just off the main drag) which is by the entrance of Rectory Park. Here you are at the top of a huge park of slopey trails. This is one of a number of loops you could do here. Head down down down (remembering you’ll have to come back up again later) and head over towards Holcote Woods (The golden trails here are among the best I’ve seen in Beds). Up and down over Reynolds woods and over that bridge on the A421 that looks like it’s at 45 degrees. Through Lidlington (head up the biggest hill you see here, there is a fantastic look out point that you can probably see your house from). Pick up the Greensands Ridge and into Millbrook and then down through a field heading back towards the Forest Centre. Find the secret underpass to Lower Shelton and then back along some nice trails into Cranfield again.

Lots of hills. You’ll love it.