Quarterly Activity Reports

July - Sept 2025

Overview of activities

The second quarter of the year saw lots of guided running activity within the borough, culminating with Ealing Half Marathon, children’s Mini Mile races and Ealing Feeling 5k. These events saw circa 6,000 people running over the last weekend in September.

During the quarter we have hosted

• Blended Trail run around Horsenden Hill and the Grand Union Canal

• An ‘everyone welcome’ event with the opportunity to run one or more 1 mile laps around Boston Manor Park 

• Four training runs to support Ealing Half Marathon (EHM) runners. The runs showcase the route, allow entrants to meet runners of a similar pace and prepare runners for the famous hills of Ealing

• A 10km social run looping around the tube stations of Acton

• Interval and hill training sessions in Acton Park

• A workshop led by Newman Sports Psychology to help build ‘Mental Strength for half marathons’ in support of EHM

Activity Numbers

• Blended Trail Run – 24 runners

• Boston Manor ‘everyone welcome’ event  – 11 runners

• EHM Training Runs – 249 runners

• Acton tube station run – 14 runners

• Intervals and Hills in Acton Park - 16 runners

Engagement

Plans to transfer the operational responsibility for the 2026 edition of the Queen of the Suburbs Ultra event have progressed with a contract/license agreement signed with Krono Sports to manage the event. This will ensure the continuation and growth of the event and reduce the financial risk for the Charity.The date has been set as 24 May 2026.

WRE have joined the Ealing Regional Parks Community Advisory Group to represent the interest of the running community. 

WRE Website

The WRE website now contains a useful section of running related resources particularly for those who are new to running and looking to find information about how to start. This is complemented by another new section of trail running and walking routes throughout the area. These routes were devised for the regular Blended Trail social runs, which have been rebranded as Ealing Trail Runs, and will become a growing library of scenic places to run and walk.

WRE AGM

WRE held its first formal AGM on 15 Sept and invited representatives from the broader running community across Ealing. Attendees were able to hear about future strategy and plans and were invited to discuss how to work together to make Ealing a better place to live and run. 

Social Media

We use social media as key communication channels.  During the quarter:

• Facebook: WRE content had 45.1K views and reached 8.9k unique people. Followers increased by 57 from 636 to 693 (9% increase)

• Instagram: WRE content had 78K views and reached 7.2K unique people. Followers increased by 153 from 608 to 761 (25% increase)

• WRE Strava Club: 382 members currently, up from 337 (13% increase)

April - June 2025

Overview of activities

The first quarter of the new financial year was very much focused on making sure that the post-race actions were completed for The Queen of the Suburbs Ultra and Trail 25k event and, more importantly, working with partners to secure its future for 2026. The team spent time looking at feedback from both runners and volunteers and taking the learnings to ensure the 2026 event is even better.

During the quarter we have hosted

• Two Blended Trails runs around Osterley Park and the Hillingdon Trail

• 5km run around the nature trails of Boston Manor Park 

• Social run through the Brent River Park to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the park

Work has also started alongside the Ealing Eagles to set up the Ealing Half Marathon training runs. These provide a valuable training resource for those planning to run the half marathon in September.

Activity Numbers

• Blended trails – 58 runners

• Boston Manor Park Run – 10 Runners

• Brent River Park Anniversary Run – 24 Runners

Engagement

For the 2026 Queen of the Suburbs, we are in contractual discussions with Krono Sports and Camino Ultra to take up the licence to manage the event; this will ensure the continuation and growth of the event and reduce the financial risk for the Charity.

Early discussions have been held with:

• Mulberry Centre re potential partnership opportunities 

• Ealing Council re development of an Ealing regional park

WRE Ambassadors

After the first year, we decided to survey our Ambassadors to find out what we, and they, could do differently to make We Run Ealing more successful. The results demonstrated that whilst there is a continued willingness to support the WRE charitable aims, there is a need to remind our Ambassadors that the expectation is for them to create and take on responsibility for new activities as well as supporting existing events.

We have recruited four new ambassadors: 

• Simon Maughan

• Matt Mortimer Ryan

• Maria Ellis

• Caroline Rush

WRE Merchandise

In order to provide easier access to the WRE T-shirts and hats we have agreed that they will be available via the Ealing Half Marathon online shop from 1st August. 

Social Media

We use social media as key communication channels.  During the quarter:

• Facebook: WRE content had 16.3K views and reached 4.2k unique people.
  Our followers increased by 32 from 586 to 618 (5% increase)

• Instagram: WRE content had 13.3K views and reached 1.3k unique people.
  Our followers increased by 84 from 558 to 642 (15% increase)

• WRE Strava Club: 337 members currently, up from 317 (6% increase)

January - March 2025

Overview of activities

The final quarter of the financial year was always going to be a busy one with both an inaugural fundraising quiz as well as The Queen of the Suburbs Ultra event. In addition, we hosted a Blended Trails run and worked with Good Gym on a Food Bank run. 

Building on the interest in WRE merchandise we produced and sold some very timely and popular WRE beanie hats.

Queen of the Suburbs Ultra & Trail 25k

In support of QotS, four training runs were organized and gradually increasing in distance. They proved very popular not only with QotS entrants but also local runners who were marathon training. 

The 2nd edition of the QotS attracted over 200 runners with just over half opting for the 25K route. Participants came from not just all over Ealing but from further afield including David Bone (Winner of the Tunnel Ultra and co-founder of Camino Ultra), Alice Walker (Malaysian Road Ultra Record Holder) and Ealing local, Jess Furness (Ironman finisher and presenter at The Running Channel). Jess is aiming to complete 42 marathons in 2025, and The Queen of the Suburbs Ultra was her eighth.

The route started in Boston Manor Park and took in the sights of Ealing, such as Horsenden Hill, the Northala Fields mounds, Hanwell Viaduct and the Grand Union Canal, finishing at Dickens Yard in Central Ealing.

Local organisations and businesses also supported the event by providing locations for checkpoint and aid stations, plus start and finish venues. Any leftover food and drink from the aid stations and finish was donated to Ealing Food Bank.

Feedback from the event has been very positive and of the 55 volunteers supporting the event 100% said they would volunteer again.

Activity Numbers

Blended trails – 25 runners

Food Bank Run – 6 Runners 

WRE Charity fundraising quiz:

• 72 attendees

• 12 raffle prizes sourced from local businesses

• £1055 raised to support the charity

QotS

• Training runs attracted over 100 runners

• Event day - 258 entrants split 

o   110 for the 50k

o   148 for the 25k

o   Plus 55 volunteers

Engagement

Our activity on QotS provides an excellent opportunity to engage with local stakeholders including:

• Boston Manor Park – hosted the start of QotS

• Dickens Yard – hosted the finish of QotS

• Green Quarter – provided a check point and sponsor partner

The quarter has also seen engagement with:

• Ealing Police & the Safer Neighborhood team - safer running programme

• Ealing Council – sourcing marshals for schools XC and regional parks meeting

Social Media

We use social media as key communication channels and during the quarter

QoftS:

• Facebook: Our content had 26.7K views and reached 2,800 unique people. Our followers increased by 44 from 88 to 132 (50% increase)

• Instagram: Our content had 57.7K views and reached 10,400 unique people. Our followers increased by 184 from 326 to 510 (56% increase)

• Strava Club: 142 members currently

WRE

• Facebook: Our content had 20.8K views and reached 2,000 unique people. Our followers increased by 42 from 544 to 586 (8% increase)

• Instagram: Our content had 21.7K views and reached 1,900 unique people. Our followers increased by 114 from 444 to 558 (26% increase)

• Strava: 317 members currently