APPS
Mini meme
Has all that outdoorsy gear given you an appetite for fitness and, y’know, actually leaving the sofa? These free phone apps will help you hit the road…
NHS Couch to 5K
Presumably realising fewer Brits would need the NHS if they could run 5km without their kneecaps falling off, the Department of Health partnered with the BBC to get you off your bottom. It’s a great take on the now established couch-to-5K formula, with celeb voices urging you along, settings that let you adjust your desired rate of improvement, and no need to pay for the privilege. £free / Android, iOS
AllTrails
Most running apps care how far you run –not where. But AllTrails is all about new and interesting routes to follow. There are loads of built-in ones to try (and to download for offline use if you subscribe); you can also make your own on a PC or Mac and squirt them across to your phone. Distances and elevations are provided, and you can make your maps as public or private as you wish. £free (IAP) / Android, iOS
Runbit
When traditional running apps don’t get you moving, maybe games will? Runbit is a digital treasure-hunt where you grab virtual objects placed on local streets. A sort of real-world Pac-Man, then, which should be fun when exercising with kids. Just be aware that routefinding to the next target is as the crow flies, so don’t vault over a fence into someone’s rhubarb patch and try to blame your phone. £free (IAP) / Android, iOS
ZRX
The app formerly known as Zombies, Run! now has a name that sounds like the noise you’d make when accidentally inhaling a fly while out r
