By Sam Carey, Founder of Run Love Sprint.
When the clocks go back each autumn, most of us notice it straight away. The after-work run we've been squeezing in during the last of the evening light suddenly becomes a run in the dark. The obvious question is whether we change our running habits when the daylight disappears. The research suggests something interesting: we may keep the same schedule, but change where we run.
Our routines barely change
You might hope the extra hour means a proper lie-in. It doesn't, really. Terra Research (opens in a new tab), which analyses data from wearable devices, examined 2.6 million nights of sleep. On the night the clocks went back, people slept only around 15 minutes longer than on a typical Saturday. Bedtimes barely changed, and most people still woke at roughly their usual time.
The days that follow are more interesting. A peer-reviewed study by Ty Ferguson and colleagues, The Annual Rhythms in Sleep, Sedentary Behavior, and Physical Activity of Australian Adults (opens in a new tab), published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine in 2024, tracked 368 adults wearing Fitbit activity trackers for a year.
In the week after daylight saving time ended, people slept around seven minutes less per day and spent around eight minutes more per day sitting down than in the week before. Their moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, which includes running, didn't change significantly.
That fits with what Terra found when it looked at when people exercise. Across Europe, sunset shifts by more than five hours between summer and winter, yet the times people head out barely move. When the clocks went back in 2025, evening workouts started only about four minutes earlier on average, according to Terra's analysis.
We fit our runs around work and family, not just around the daylight. So when the clocks change, the same run simply moves into the dark.
Over the winter as a whole, the Australian study did find a small dip in activity. People did around two minutes less moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day in winter than in summer, along with less light activity, such as walking. These are small differences, but they can add up over a season.
What changes is where we run
Terra compared runners' routes in the dark with their own routes in daylight at the same time of day. In 19 of the 83 cities studied, runners spent a smaller share of their runs in parks and other green spaces after dark.
The eight biggest reductions were all in the UK and Ireland. In Belfast and Bournemouth, runners used up to 36% less green space on dark runs.
In London, runners used places such as Richmond Park, Dulwich Park and Greenwich Park less after dark, while Battersea Park and Hyde Park stayed popular.
The data can't tell us exactly why. Some parks have restricted opening hours, while others may feel too dark or isolated after sunset. Greenwich Park (opens in a new tab), for example, closes its pedestrian gates at dusk. Richmond Park (opens in a new tab) is usually open to pedestrians around the clock, but its gates close overnight during the annual deer cull in November and February, so check before you plan a late loop.
Winter doesn't have to mean giving up running outdoors. But it may mean rethinking the route.
What doesn't this tell us?
Terra's figures come from a company's own analysis rather than a peer-reviewed study. The Australian research tracked adults in one city over a year, in a different climate, during a period that overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic. Neither tells us exactly what will happen to every runner.
The Australian study also looked at seasonal changes across the wider population, not specifically among runners. And while Terra found changes in the routes people used, it couldn't establish whether darkness, safety concerns, park opening times or personal preference caused them.
Together, though, the findings suggest something worth thinking about: we often keep our running routines while changing our routes and how much we move during the rest of the day.
My take
None of this surprises me, but it's useful to see it laid out. Most of us aren't going to start running at lunchtime simply because the evenings have gone dark. The real question is how to make the run we already do work in winter.
Check your park's closing time before you find the gates locked halfway round your usual loop. Plan a well-lit route you're comfortable with, whether that's along main roads, a well-lit riverside path or a park that stays open and busy. Wear something bright, take a head torch if any of your route is unlit, and let someone know where you're going.
It's also worth protecting the walks and small bits of movement around your runs. The research suggests that lighter activity can dip during winter, even when more vigorous exercise barely changes straight after the clocks go back.
And if you can, don't do it alone. Running with other people makes it easier to get out of the door on dark evenings, gives you company on familiar routes and gives you an extra reason to stick with your routine.
That's a big part of why we built Run Love Sprint. We're helping runners find people to run with across South West London, whether they're looking for a training partner, a social run or simply some company through the darker months.
The clocks may change, but your running routine doesn't have to disappear with the daylight.
Sources
- Terra Research, What happens to running when the clocks go back (opens in a new tab).
- Ferguson, T. et al. (2024). The Annual Rhythms in Sleep, Sedentary Behavior, and Physical Activity of Australian Adults (opens in a new tab). Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
- The Royal Parks, opening times for Greenwich Park (opens in a new tab) and Richmond Park (opens in a new tab).
This article is for general information. Always follow local park rules and opening times, choose routes appropriate to the conditions, and take sensible precautions when running in the dark.
