MF meets ultrarunner Jonny Davies, the man who ran the entire length of London’s Underground rail network in just 11 days
This September, ultrarunner and lululemon ambassador Jonny Davies set himself the audacious task of running the entire length of the London Underground network – at street level, visiting all 272 stations on all 11 of the lines. But to make his challenge even trickier, he aimed to complete it within 11 days straight: one line every day.
Anyone familiar with the Tube will know that the Waterloo & City line is by far the easiest route to follow, at just 2.5km long, with only two stations. The big one, which Davies ran on the final day, was the Central Line: 92km long, 49 stations.
The 31-year-old set himself strict parameters. Accompanied by a navigator, a physio and a videographer – mainly shadowing him on bicycles – he ran on London’s streets, from station to station, along the route of all the Underground lines, including any spurs off the main line. Fortunately, he avoided the DLR, the Overground and the new Elizabeth Line, as they are classed separately to the Underground. Although he tried as much as possible to run directly from station to station, certain obstacles made that impossible, which meant by the end he had covered 170km longer than the actual length of the entire Tube network.
Change of scenery
Davies says he had grown bored of running in London’s parks and longed to see the entirety of the capital, from the city centre all the way out to the suburbs. Inevitably, with so many busy streets to negotiate, it wasn’t easy to establish a running rhythm. Traffic, pedestrians and street crossings made each of his daily runs very stop-and-start.
“But I really enjoy running on roads,” he tells Men’s Fitness. “And having a rugby background, I enjoy sidestepping things as I run; having constant stimuli. There’s an element of risk involved.”
Davies is not built like your average ultrarunner. Standing at 6ft 4in and weighing 102kg, he says he often preferred running on the roads than on the pavements.
“I’ve got the braking distance of a steam train, so I’m conscious that I don’t want to run into someone on the pavement,” he says. “I don’t mind running on the road and nipping in and out of cars.”
Often, he ran in cycle lanes, with his support team pedalling behind, which understandably made him few friends with London’s cyclists. One area where he inadvertently transgressed the law was on the approach to Heathrow Airport, when following the Piccadilly line. The route took him through a road tunnel beneath the airport.
“You’re not supposed to run through that tunnel, which I learned when security guards told me as I reac
