Jog Belfast

Jog Belfast is a free, ten-week 'Couch to 5K' programme built for absolute beginners who've never run before. It's run in three phases across the year, each drawing around 1,000 registrations for 600 to 700 places, and it's open to people of all backgrounds and abilities. The September 2026 sessions started on 21-22 September, running twice weekly for around an hour each. It's part of Belfast's European City of Sport 2026 programme, run by Active Belfast Partnership with leisure partners GLL and ACES.

The sessions are held in groups at safe, secluded venues across the city, led by qualified coaches. You'll start with long periods of walking and short running intervals, and each week the running builds until you can complete a 5K parkrun in the final week. It's designed to be accessible: 12% of participants have a disability and 90.5% are women. People who've done it describe it as friendly and motivating, and hundreds of graduates have gone on to join local athletics clubs. A few have even gone on to run marathons.

There are venues all over the city, so you can find one close to home: Victoria Park, Waterworks Park, Girls' Model School, Ormeau Park, Colin Leisure Park, the Linen Quarter BID area in the city centre, Dixon Playing Fields, Loughside, Andersonstown Leisure Centre and Falls Park. The whole thing is free of charge.