Running the Capital Ring - part 2
On October 17th I attempted to run the Capital Ring with Matt Shimwell. You can read my account of our run here. I made it all the way from Grove Park to East Finchley before having to call it a day.
Sometimes you need to know when to push through and when to stop. I had certainly pushed through to get that far, but I also knew I would have to split the Capital Ring into two sections and return to complete the last part.
Just over a month later, the 28th November to be exact, I returned with Matt hoping to finish the route. We took the train to Finchley from Lewisham and arrived at 7 o'clock in the morning. It was very quiet, in part due to the lockdown, and incredibly cold as we set off.
I knew the first few miles as I had finished in Highgate Woods in October. This time there were less leaves on the trees and the darkness and early morning mist made for an eerie atmosphere. Highgate Woods became Queen's Wood and in no time at all we found ourselves in Highgate itself and entering the Parkland Walk.
This section is the one that I had looked forward to the most. Parkland walk is a 4km linear nature reserve that opened in 1873 and follows a former railway line which connects Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace. There were several other runners on the trail as we past under bridges and through abandoned platforms with trees lining the path and emerged in Finsbury Park.
From there we followed the river to Stoke Newington reservoirs, through Clissold park and into Abney Park cemetery. I was fascinated by the huge stone tombs and abandoned church with empty windows where stained glass used to filter the sunlight into cascades of colour.
A huge castle structure appeared as we left the cemetery and we were surprised to see it was a climbing centre. Apparently it wasn't a castle, but a grade 2 listed Victorian water pumping station.
We were now in Stoke Newington which has the largest Hasidic Jewish community in Europe. It was Saturday morning and dozens of men and boys dressed in dark clothes with long, black curls of hair hanging from their temples were on their way to the Synagogue. Many of them wore oversized, furry circular hats called Shtreimel.
I admired their courage to walk so conspicuously along the streets and wished the thought didn't even have to occur to me. The fact that what you wear and how you look, let alone what you believe should bring the threat of abuse and violence is nonsensical to me. The presence of uniformed security patrolling the streets added to the discomfort.
Our route now joined the River Lea and followed its path for several miles. We were both in good spirits and I felt strong both physically and mentally. How very different to the first run.
We ran at a slower pace than normal, partly to enjoy the run, but also due to Matt having covered almost 70 miles over the previous five days as part of the Centurion challenge to cover 100 miles in a week. We shared stories and observations and conversation flowed as smoothly as the trail beneath our feet; even the squelchy mud which we plunged through.
We passed Hackney Marsh and arrived at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Hundreds of barges of all shapes and sizes were moored along its length in various states of (dis)repair. I considered returning in the future and asking some of them to share their stories for a possible article.
A mile or so later our route joined the Greenway, a raised, firm, level path built on top of London sewers. We stopped for a toilet break and to devour a couple of lemon and blueberry cakes I had made to fuel us. The Greenway is a straight, boring section that we were pleased to leave when we finally reached Beckton District Park.
The Capital Ring passes through and under Cyprus DLR station to arrive at the docks. The area takes its name from Cypress housing estate which was built for workers on the Royal Albert Dock where it is located. That estate was named after the UK's acquisition of Cyprus in 1878. The architecture is quite bizarre and follows the light blue colour scheme of the DLR itself.
We stopped for a photo of London City Airport which sits in the middle of two docks. We could just make out the British Airways planes shrouded in mist. The route splits here with a shorter alternative route over the bridge to the Woolwich tunnel or the longer original route around the Albert basin and along the Thames. We took the 'proper' option that wound through some of the most derelict paths and overgrown areas of scrub we had seen. It was a relief to get to the foot tunnel.
The lift was too tempting and we avoided the stairs down although rather perversely chose to climb the ones at the other end! The lactic acid burn stuck with us for a few miles as we aimed for McDonalds and lunch. We are nothing if not healthy having scoffed down a pizza each during part one we now wolfed down salted fries.
Crossing the river had been a watershed moment. Being southside again we knew we were nearly home. 20 miles completed and just 10 remained, all of which were relatively familiar. The only part I had not run before was the next leg through Maryon and Maryon Wilson Park and it was such a pleasant surprise. The gentle hills and wooded areas lifted my spirits after the dingy aspects of Beckton and Woolwich. There were also animal enclosures containing sheep, goats, deer and peacocks.
This was the beginning of a large swathe of parks and countryside that was the highlight of the Capital Ring for me, just beating Richmond Park and the Parkland Walk. We passed through Charlton Park, Hornfair Park and Woolwich Common and climbed the steps through Eltham Common to Sevendroog Castle. This was the last climb of the day.
It was downhill now through the stunning woodlands of Jack Wood, Oxleas Wood and Shepherdleas Wood. We crossed Eltham Park North and Eltham Park South and as we turned a corner there was Paul Tonks who had run with us from Richmond on the first run. He was out for a run and had tracked us online. It was good to see a familiar face.
Shortly after we arrived at Eltham Palace. A trail took us past fields of horses, across the busy Marvels Lane and down another narrow passage beside the River Quaggy.
We crossed Baring road and the train line at Grove Park and after half a mile were back at the sign for Reigate Road where we had taken a photo to begin our run 42 days ago.
My legs had been a little stiff at times but I felt that I could easily manage another 10 - 20 miles. I finished on 32 miles for the day. The difference between my form on this day and the first run was stark. It was even more evident that I had not been in good condition to run those 50 miles, and how I had done so is beyond me. Despite taking two goes to finish the Capital Ring I was happy with having completed it and enjoyed tracing the black line onto my paper map of London.
I would have enjoyed the runs on my own, but nowhere near as much as I did having Matt as company on both days and Paul Tonks for 25 miles on day one. Not only were they good navigators, they were also great company and we enjoyed sharing our love of ultra running.
The icing on the cake was a wonderful unique medal handmade by Matt's two daughters. It will take pride of place in my collection.
