RUNNING ADVICE, SUPPORT AND CHARITY FUNDRAISING

Huawei has developed an increasingly sophisticated range of running watches, but the watch itself is only part of the experience. Behind Huawei's wearables sits Huawei Health, the app used to connect your watch, examine your running data, manage training and bring together information about your wider health and activity.

Google Pixel Watch has developed significantly since the first model appeared in 2022. Originally positioned primarily as Google's flagship smartwatch, the range has gradually gained much more sophisticated fitness and running features through the integration of Google's Wear OS platform, Fitbit technology and the wider Google Health ecosystem.

Salomon is one of the biggest names in trail running, with shoes designed for everything from muddy woodland paths to technical mountain terrain and ultramarathons. The French brand has also developed a much broader road running range in recent years, giving runners far more choice than its traditional off road reputation might suggest.

Craft may be a familiar name to runners who know the brand for technical clothing, base layers and cold weather running kit, but its running shoes are still considerably less familiar than those from ASICS, Brooks, HOKA, Nike or New Balance. That is beginning to change. Craft now has a substantial footwear range covering everyday road running, faster training, carbon plated racing, trail running and shoes designed to move between road, gravel and lighter trails.

Looking for a fast autumn marathon in one of Europe's most distinctive cities? The TCS Amsterdam Marathon should certainly be on your list. With a start and finish at the historic Olympic Stadium, a famously flat course and sections through Vondelpark, beneath the Rijksmuseum and alongside the Amstel River, it combines serious racing credentials with an excellent city break.

The Barcelona Marathon has grown into one of Europe's major city marathons, offering runners the opportunity to complete 26.2 miles through the heart of one of Spain's most fascinating cities. Officially known as the Zurich Marató Barcelona, the event has grown rapidly in recent years, with all 32,000 available places for the 2026 race selling out.

True Motion may not yet have the same recognition as Asics, Brooks, New Balance or adidas, but the German running shoe company has developed one of the more unusual approaches to footwear design. Instead of dividing runners into traditional neutral and stability categories, True Motion has built its shoes around a distinctive U-shaped midsole technology designed to influence how forces are applied beneath the foot.

If you have noticed more runners wearing headphones that seem to sit outside their ears rather than inside them, there is a good chance they are using open ear headphones. They are becoming an increasingly popular option for running, particularly for people who want to listen to music, podcasts or audio coaching without completely blocking their ears.

Running a marathon is a major challenge, but it can also be an opportunity to raise a significant amount of money for a cause that matters to you. Whether you have secured a guaranteed place in a marathon such as Manchester, Brighton or Edinburgh, or gained your own place in an event such as the London Marathon, setting yourself a £1,000 fundraising target can give your training and race day an additional purpose.

Running shoes are complicated products. A typical pair combines engineered textiles, cushioning foams, rubber, plastics, adhesives and numerous smaller components, often made from materials that are difficult to separate once the shoes reach the end of their useful life.

361° may not yet be one of the first names that comes to mind when UK runners think about running shoes, but it is a much bigger and more established sports brand than its profile in Britain might suggest. Founded in China in 2003, the company now produces everything from everyday road running shoes to trail footwear and lightweight carbon-plated racing models.

In this episode of the Sapphire Running Zone podcast, Tim Rogers talks to Sophie Badman, an Events Fundraiser at Samaritans, about her own running journey and the fundraising lessons she has learned along the way. As someone who has raised money through her own running challenges and who now supports other charity runners, Sophie has experienced fundraising from both sides.

Huawei has become a much more serious name in running watches than many runners realise. The company may still be better known for smartphones and general smartwatches, but its latest wearables include advanced satellite positioning, detailed running metrics, structured training features, route navigation and increasingly sophisticated heart rate monitoring.

Samsung Health is Samsung's main health and fitness app and the central place for viewing exercise, activity, sleep and other wellness information collected by compatible Samsung devices. For runners using a Galaxy Watch, it is where much of the information recorded during training can be reviewed in more detail after a run.

Running headphones have to do rather more than ordinary headphones. They need to stay securely in place while you move, remain comfortable as the miles build, cope with sweat and rain and provide enough battery life for your longest runs. If you run outdoors, you also need to consider how much you can hear of the world around you. That makes choosing running headphones about much more than sound quality.

Amazfit may not have the same long history in running as Garmin, Polar or Suunto, but it has developed into a serious alternative for runners looking for plenty of features without necessarily paying premium sports watch prices. Its current range stretches from affordable GPS watches for beginners to sophisticated marathon, trail and outdoor watches with dual-band GPS, offline maps and advanced training metrics.

One of the most sought after half marathons anywhere in the world, the New York City Half Marathon is another for the bucket list. It starts in Brooklyn and finishes in Central Park, through the heart of New York City and famous landmarks such as Central Park, Times Square, and Grand Central Station. It doesn't get much better than that. It's tough to get a spot but there are ways.

Buying a Suunto running watch is only part of the Suunto experience. Much of what makes the watches useful happens inside the Suunto app, where your activities are analysed, routes are created, workouts are planned and longer-term training trends can be monitored.

Before you part with your hard earned cash make sure you carry out plenty of research into your next running event.

Getting your own race entry, or place, as it's sometimes known, gives you complete freedom over what you do with it. You can simply concentrate on your training and enjoy race day, or you can use that place to raise money for a charity that matters to you. You don't need to have received your entry from a charity to fundraise for one. If you entered the race yourself you can still choose a charity and turn your race into a fundraising challenge.