RUNNING ADVICE, SUPPORT AND CHARITY FUNDRAISING

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.

The Fitbit app has evolved into Google Health, marking one of the biggest changes to the fitness platform since Google acquired Fitbit. This is much more than a new name and logo because Google Health is designed to bring exercise, sleep, recovery, wellness information and connected health data together within one central app.

Garmin has become the benchmark by which most running watches are judged. Whether you're training for your first 5K, chasing a marathon personal best or preparing for an ultramarathon, there is a Garmin watch designed specifically for your goals. Few brands have invested as heavily in running technology, and that experience shows in both the hardware and the software.

Online fundraising platforms have transformed charity fundraising, making it possible to collect sponsorship from friends, family and supporters anywhere in the world. However, many runners still receive a significant proportion of their fundraising offline through cash donations, sponsorship forms, workplace collections and community events.

COROS has grown from being a relatively new name in the running world to one of the most respected manufacturers of GPS running watches. While Garmin remains the market leader, COROS has built a loyal following by producing lightweight, reliable watches that focus on helping runners train more effectively rather than trying to be full-featured smartwatches.

If you own a COROS running watch, the COROS app is where all of your training comes together. Every run, ride and workout recorded on your device is synchronised to the app, allowing you to analyse your performance, monitor your progress and plan future training sessions. Like Garmin Connect and Polar Flow, it is much more than somewhere to store your activities. It acts as the control centre for your entire training journey.