London City Race Results 2026
Routegadget – draw your route!
Official’s Comments
Planner
I hope you enjoyed the largely new area we chose for this year. We started looking at this area in March after a further attempt of getting access to Wapping and Isle of Dogs failed to materialise. When I first ran around assessing the area I thought there might not be enough challenges but on a closer look we decided there was enough challenge for all courses when we included Shad Thames – the area north of Jamaica Road through the tunnel. I aimed to get as many courses as possible to Shad Thames so that some spectacular views of Tower Bridge and the City were available from a few control sites – I hope you enjoyed this when racing along. Thank you to Don McKerrow for producing the map for us.
There were some interesting technical issues in the area between the multi level housing area near the railway tracks which I used to a small degree and various impassable blockages between different estates. Not maintaining contact with the map or checking your route into the next control carefully could easily cause some very expensive time mistakes. From chatting to a few competitors at download and from looking at some of the route choices taken, clearly some of you were caught by such features and did not choose an optimal route.. I was careful not to overuse this multi level area as we are keen as a club to not cause any upset to the local residents.
We were concerned about the possible impact of the Millwall/ West Ham match in the middle of the event. Thankfully, this didn’t have much impact on the event except for a very short while around 11.00am when fans were congregating in Southwark Park Road and then heading to the grounds via control 203. Both the controller and I went up around the area involved to access the impact and were satisfied that, albeit there were significant crowds, competitors were getting through OK. I am mindful that this could feel threatening to some people, particularly if you are not used to big cities, and apologise to anyone who was impacted by the crowds – I am aware of one person who was impacted.
A number of competitors tripped on a tarmac bump on the high level walkway near control 166. I didn’t spot it when checking the area and there was not a lot I could do about it on the day when I became aware of it – most people who tripped were reading their map and didn’t spot it coming into that control. Apologies to anyone who tripped on this bump – unfortunately is part of the risk of urban running.
As usual, we had to do lots of ownership checks to ensure we did not encroach on private land and are very grateful for the permission granted to us to hold the event both in Southwark Parks, Roads and Southwark Council Housing Estates (which formed a huge part of the area) by the various departments in Southwark. This effort has paid off as we have had no complaints from members of the public this year. I would like to thank all competitors for being considerate to members of the public, particularly in the Housing Estates, as we are very much guests in these local residents areas. This is what enables us to keep holding great events in London.
Gordon Parker, SLOW
Organiser
This year’s City Race in Bermondsey broke new ground thanks to Don McKerrow’s mapping efforts, with the vast majority of the area never having been used for orienteering before.
After a few false starts finding a venue we eventually secured the City of London Academy. Whilst quite distant from the nearest stations it provided a large space and the low traffic streets required for the junior courses. The planned access routes to the hall had to be changed on the day and I’m grateful for the improvisation and teamwork of the SLOW volunteers to get setup in a very limited time window. The one thing that clearly fell short was the men’s toilet provision, apologies for those who had substantial waits.
The major concern was the Millwall v West Ham match, one of most infamous rivalries in British football, taking place just beyond the SE corner of the map. As mentioned by Gordon we are aware that some comptitors encountered large groups but overall it was a relief that there were no serious incidents and that the crowds seemed good natured towards runners.
My job was made significantly easier thanks to the substantial efforts of Gordon, who not only planned the courses but also arranged all the kit and SI, amongst many other things. Alan Leakey took care of the Southwark Council and Housing Association permissions and went above and beyond the call of duty on the day on toilet duties! SLOW are most grateful to Simon Errington for controlling the event again.
Steve Clelland, SLOW
Unclaimed Prizes
A number of prize winners (the top 3 on most courses) left before the prizegiving. If you missed out please contact 
Message to competitor whose Si card wouldn’t download
I have the data from you Si Card now, but unfortunately I didn’t keep a record of your race number or name. Could you email ">
Lost Property
- Grey T-Shirt with Suilven print
- Black outfit of Dickies jeans, hooded top and graphic T-Shirt
Contact
Video
Headcam video of course 5 by MinionOrienteering