Adam in Runderland

Having completed my Blue Plaques of Lewisham Borough run I decided to try another Borough. This time neighbouring Greenwich. This has 16 plaques that stretch from Blackheath in the west to Eltham in the east. I began by making my way north through Lewisham and across Blackheath to Chesterfield Walk which runs alongside the western edge of Greenwich Park. Ranger's House has two inscriptions - neither on blue plaques but on the official page - one for Statesman and Author Philip Stanhope and the other for Field Marshal Garnet Wolseley.  Garnet Wolseley was said to be so efficient that the phrase "everything's all Sir Garnet" was used widely in the late 19th Century to mean "all is in order". Macartney House is just a little further on and has a plaque honouring General James Wolfe who was famous for defeating the French and capturing Quebec. Further down the hill the road becomes Croom's Hill and another two blue plaques ...

My fifth parkrun of the challenge was Greenwich. I expected it to be in Greenwich park - beautiful surroundings, wide paths, popular running park. No. It is in Avery Hill Park just outside Eltham, five miles away. Ok, so it is in Greenwich Borough but Avery Hill parkrun would make it much simpler. Anyway.... I ran over there after visiting all the Blue Plaques in Greenwich Borough which took me through Blackheath, Greenwich, Charlton, Shooter's Hill and Eltham. With 14 miles already under my feet I would need to be in good form to go sub-20. I used the fact I wasn't keen on traveling all this way again to motivate myself. The webpage gave me a good idea of the route. Three anti-clockwise laps starting at the cafe and finishing roughly in the same place. I asked a couple of runners about the dog-leg behind the trees and they clarified that it is actually a straight run to the path at the bottom. After a quick stretch I started my watch and set off at speed. I h...

As a newbie to the Capital I want to get my bearings as quickly as possible. What better way than to run around it? (responsibly, only once a day and obeying social distancing rules). So here is my London A-Z with information about the neighbourhoods I visited, some famous people who were born/live there and an accompanying photo. G - Grove Park Grove Park is a district of South East London, England within the London Borough of Lewisham. I ran through Grove Park on my way to South Croydon as part of my Lionel Stanhope challenge . Famous residents: Desmond Tutu. In March 1972, Desmond Tutu settled in Grove Park, where he became honorary curate of St Augustine's Church. H - Hither Green Hither Green is a district in south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham. It forms the southern part of Lewisham. Growing extensively with the arrival of the railways, Hither Green is characterised by late 19th and early 20th century Victorian and Edwardian dom...

There are hundreds of running journals available now. This is partly because there is a demand and partly because it's easy money. When I started running eight years ago I'd never heard of a running journal. The thought of writing down every run would have struck me as bizarre and very anal. As luck would have it I'm attracted to both these things, so when I read about the way logging your runs can help you improve I decided to start one. I don't remember seeing any of the now common sleek journals you can buy with spaces to enter mileage, times, weather, meals, weight, and heart rate. I just went to WH Smiths and bought a cool looking notebook. It was A5, black hardback with lined paper and a red ribbon to mark your page. My original format was simple, again like me, and hasn't changed greatly to this day. It looked like this: Date      Description      Miles 2014 That's it. Over time it has evolved and then devolved(!?) but is now just as ...

Lockdown gives you plenty of time to think. Unfortunately for me, rather than coming up with an idea worthy of Dragon's Den, or solving a serious societal issue, I come up with new ideas for running. No money in it, but it keeps me fit. My latest brainwave was to try and run to every Blue Plaque in Lewisham. The scheme began in 1866 and London has over 900 of them. You can find them on buildings both humble and grand honouring people that have lived or worked there in the past. It is run by English Heritage and you can find lists of them online . I'll admit to being slightly relieved that Lewisham has only 11 of them. This was short lived however as I realised how spread out they are and how big the Borough is. I plotted a route using Mapmyrun . This enables you to locate streets and plan your course. It also gives the approximate distance and I used it to guide me on the run. It was the hottest day of the year. I left home at 6:30pm with the temperature still a ...