Industry perspectives

When was the last time you pushed a fistful of Jelly Babies into your face?

If you’re one of the seven million UK adults who regularly lace up and head out for a run, then it may have been as recently as your last long-distance race.

A pocketful of dusty, gelatinous tots has long been a secret weapon of the dedicated PB chaser (if you don’t believe us, try it). But this month, Uber Eats UK has rewritten the marathon menu for 2026. In a big, belly-busting way.

The Morsel Marathon is Uber Eats UK’s 26-stop tasting menu for London runners – a celebration of the capital’s vibrant food and running cultures. The food delivery favourite’s route explores the city’s greatest culinary quarters along a gentle 11km romp, but its dishes most definitely take precedence over its distance in this world-first event.

This isn’t a simple dot-to-dot of delicious dining establishments, though. The route has been meticulously planned in collaboration with Charlie Dark MBE, DJ, poet, and one of London running culture’s most influential figures thanks to his role in founding the famous Run Dem Crew. He’s a major part of why you’ll be tying up your laces, loosening the waistband on your shorts, and chowing through some of London’s best pizza, pastries, gyoza, bao buns, gourmet fried chicken, and stacks more through November. 

The day after completing her first Morsel Marathon, Uber Eats UK’s general manager, Merve Basci, joined us to talk the meals, the miles, and why we’ll all be filling our running shorts pockets with dumplings from now on.

Culture is a massive concept. On one end, it’s the vast, centuries-old tapestry of human creativity that builds civilizations and drives us forward. On the other, it’s the daily content that keeps us entertained – from the playlist you have on repeat to a TikTok skit with 5 million views.

Whether epic or everyday, culture serves one core purpose: it’s a space to tell stories, understand the world and bond over shared values. Culture acts as a catalyst for progress, inspires innovation and builds entire industries.

This year, SXSW London is showcasing the most exciting corners of contemporary culture through music, film and fundamental conversations across a program that sees culture, tech and business converge. One of its six core themes – ‘Culture Can Save Humanity’ – will spotlight how culture heals people and the planet, even in a fractured world.

Time Out sat down with Katy Arnander, Chief Programming Officer at SXSW London, to talk about this year’s lineup, why the UK capital is the perfect stage for these conversations and what "saving humanity" actually looks like in practice.

As Lewis G Burton, founder of Inferno and London Trans+ Pride, told us, “religious people have churches, queer people have clubs”.

These spaces are an intrinsic part of the queer experience, an infrastructure holding a community.

Today, that infrastructure - which survived, amongst so many other threats: criminalisation, Section 28, and the AIDS crisis - is under serious pressure.