So, have you tried reverse running?

The fitterati’s latest trick? Jogging — but backwards. Katie Strick trials it without falling over

Katie Strick

I’M PLODDING along a muddy path on Wandsworth Common, glancing over my shoulder as a pair of mother sex change bemused glances. “Where are you going?,” laughs a passing dog-walker, whose labradoodle thinks I’m playing a game. “You’re going the wrong way!”

How little my fellow park-users know. I’m not taking part in some mad team-building exercise or the victim of a sad prank. The real reason I find myself running backwards (yes, really) through my local stomping ground? I’m attempting 2022’s hottest new fitness trend: reverse running, or backwards running, known professionally as retro running (it’s a legitimate sport).

According to a survey by PureGym, there has been a 50 per cent increase in online searches for reverse running recently and it’s the latest buzzword amongst London’s fitterati, particularly those looking to avoid or manage injuries, as apparently it reduces impact on your body. #backwardsrunning videos have been viewed more than 100,000 times on TikTok and there’s even a world championships each year.

When the next championships will take place is not confirmed, but there’s certainly a growing appetite among running circles, says Nigel Holmes, 50, a retro running gold-medalist. The software tester got into the sport by accident after coming across a championship in Manchester, and insists he’s only fallen over three times in the last decade (“I’ve fallen over much more going forwards”).