How to plan a glow walk route

The route decides almost everything else: how many marshals you need, how many walkers you can take, and whether people come back next year. Choose it before you set a date.

Start with the finish

Find the place where you would most like a crowd to arrive in the dark: a bandstand, a pier, a school hall with its lights on, a field with a view. Then work backwards to a route that ends there. The finish is where people linger, where the total is announced and where the photographs are taken.

Loop, laps or out-and-back

Shape	Good for	Watch out for
Single loop	Most public walks	Needs a continuous path of the right length
Laps of a short loop	Schools, small sites, mixed abilities	Counting laps; faster walkers passing slower ones
Out-and-back	Seafronts, towpaths	Walkers passing in both directions on a narrow path

A lapped course is underrated. It keeps everyone close to toilets and first aid, lets each walker choose their own distance, and needs very few marshals.

Pick the distance for your slowest walkers

At the easy pace of a mixed group, allow fifteen minutes per kilometre. Five kilometres is about an hour and a quarter, which suits most crowds. If you want a longer option, add a second loop that returns past the start, so walkers can decide on the night.

Check the ground

Walk the route and note:

• Surface. Tarmac, hard gravel or short mown grass. Mud and loose stone are hard in the dark.
• Width. Find the narrowest point. That is your capacity.
• Gradient. A gentle route keeps wheelchairs, buggies and older walkers in the event.
• Gates and bridges. Each one is a queue. Can it be held open?
• Crossings. Every road, cycleway or car park entrance needs a marshal.
• Water and drops. Mark and marshal any unfenced edge.

Then walk it again at dusk. This second walk is the one that matters.

Place the lights-on point

Choose a spot about a third of the way round where the path is straight or curves gently and there is somewhere a little higher to stand. This is where everyone switches on together and where your photographer should be. A long curve of lights is the picture that sells next year’s event.

Place the moment

If the walk has a memory point, a silence or a song, put it just after halfway, somewhere sheltered and quiet. Leave room for people to step off the path without blocking it.

Draw the map

Mark the start and finish, direction of travel, every marshal position with a number, the lights-on point, water, toilets, first aid, the short-cut and vehicle access. Number the marshal positions in walking order. When someone phones control and says “position six”, everyone knows where that is.

Tell the neighbours

People living beside the route will see several hundred lights go past their windows. A short note through the door a week before, with the date, times and a phone number, prevents most complaints and often recruits a few walkers.

Next: night walk safety checklist.