Keep on running: Spain awarded gold & silver medals in survey revealing Europe’s best marathon destinations

SPAIN has the best cities in Europe to run a marathon, according to a recent survey.

Indeed, THREE of the top five running destinations are in this country.

The study by ‘Runners Need’ looked at air quality, weather conditions, number of landmarks, cost of running necessities, and marathon popularity in over 60 European cities.

Overall, Barcelona and Madrid were awarded 1st and 2nd place, with Athens coming in third.

But with Seville coming fourth, Spain proved itself to be the top country overall for fans of the sport.

Barcelona scored in the top 10 for two of the factors studied, having the third most scenic

running route, (with 757 landmarks to take in) and coming in tenth for air quality.

Second-placed Madrid also scored highly for the number of landmarks to

pass by (669) and offering predictably dry weather conditions – with 238 mm less

rainfall than the study average. 

Seville came 4th in the study, thanks to its affordability (a running package here will cost €15 less than average).

London, despite having a far higher online search rate than the study average, and over 1,000 landmarks to see, it ranked 12th overall due to its rainfall and pollution.

Full results and methodology clickable here

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