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Showing posts from June, 2021

The street libraries of Lewisham

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 It can be hard to think of a new route when you have run a half marathon from your home 57 times. Sometimes you need something to engage with, to draw you from a to b. This time I decided on trying to visit all the street libraries in the area. These have popped up outside various homes and offer a free book to take away in exchange for leaving one behind. As a regular user I knew where several of them are located and it seemed as though I could get round them all in about 13.1 miles. I started with the one on Springbank Road by the train station in Hither Green. Next stop was Hither Green Lane just up the hill and around the corner. Third was the children's one in Mountsfield Park. Sadly damaged by vandals. The newest one has recently been set up in George Street. It was a longer run out to the converted telephone box on the A20. Lastly a long run through Brockley and Crofton Park to the street library on Perry Hill.

Running the River Peck

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Surrey Quays This was my second river run following on from the Ravensbourne last June .  The River Peck is a tributary of The Earl's Sluice and is the source of the name Peckham which means 'the village of the River Peck'. The waters emerge from beneath One Tree Hill in Honour Oak. The Oak that currently stands there was planted in 1905 although the hill is named after the previous tree where Elizabeth 1 once had a picnic beneath its branches. The Oak of Honour I descended the hill along the steps and pathways to Brenchley Gardens and headed towards Peckham Rye Park. This took me past Honour Oak Reservoir, the largest underground brick reservoir in Europe. I reached the park and had my first glimpse of the river as it appeared from under the road and meandered through the park and its Japanese garden feeding a couple of ponds on the way. The majority of the river has been enclosed since the 1820's and so I wouldn't see it again until I reached the Thames. The only

Zabou and the London street art trails - Tottenham and Angel

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It was time for another long run to collect more Zabou street art sightings. Four were available in north and central London so I mapped out a route that would take me up to Tottenham and back down to Angel; roughly a marathon distance. Rather than run through the city I chose to use the River Lea as a more attractive route to N11. Once through the Greenwich tunnel and Canary Wharf I joined the Lea Trail. The rain was falling hard and I was soon soaked through. Hard to think that a week before we had been in the middle of a heatwave. Soon I arrived in the Olympic Park and took a small detour to visit the ground of Leyton Orient FC. A shortcut through Leyton Jubilee Park brought me back to the trail at Hackney Marshes. The rain had now eased and the next section of the river really is stunning. The reed beds and reservoirs, cormorants and narrow boats giving the feeling that you are in the middle of the countryside. At Tottenham Marshes I turned into Tottenham Hale and found the A10 whi

Like the Wind article

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 I have just had an article published in running magazine Like the Wind. It is a quarterly magazine for runners, by runners. My piece appears in Issue 28. It is a great magazine for those who really love running and being inspired by other runners. Find out more here: Like the Wind magazine

Zabou and the London street art trails - Chiswick

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  French street artist Zabou has made quite a name for herself in recent years. She is London based but travels around the world painting realistic murals. On her website www.zabou.me she describes her work like this: "Working mostly with spray paint, Zabou creates large-scale black and white portraits with colourful backgrounds. Her artworks are both striking and thought-provoking, and focus on the expression and emotions of her subjects. She likes to push visual and spatial boundaries, sometimes creating playful pieces. Zabou explores various themes, finding inspiration in the history and the surroundings of where she paints. Her artistic world revolves around humans, art, music, movies, nature, empowerment, love and many more." She has made work in Indonesia, UAE, Cyprus, Israel, Colombia, Haiti, USA and all across Europe. Her pieces can also be found in the Saatchi gallery in London. I first discovered her work while running around my local area and this led me to find ou

Hitting the trails

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 The temperature has soared over the last week. Following the coldest and wettest May on record we have pure sunshine and 28 degree heat. Lovely weather to be out in, but not great for running. The last thing I wanted to do is go out on the streets of London with the humidity and pollution. Instead I took a look at the map and scanned for some nice easy to reach trails. Thankfully there are plenty just outside the south of London. On Saturday I decided to aim for the North Downs Way which runs parallel with the M25. Within half an hour I was at Biggin Hill and parked at the nearest safe point. A short bimble through some streets brought me to Tatsfield. I headed east and found a beautiful wooded area which protected me from the sun. I had brought plenty of fluids and a bar of Kendal Mint Cake to keep me going. Soon I was climbing through open fields with panoramic views over the Surrey Hills. My quads were burning and it felt good. What goes up must come down and I made up time scrambl

52 Half Marathons in 52 weeks - completed

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At the beginning of the year I set myself a challenge to run 52 half marathons in the year - one per week. The aim was to give myself something that would stretch me, but wouldn't become all consuming. What I didn't take into account was that it is not the size of the challenge that is the problem, it is my obsessive nature. Run like there's no tomorrow As usual I failed to pace myself and went at it like a marathon newbie tearing away from the start line. Rather than the planned single 13.1 run per week I found myself seeking to do the distance every time I ran. Time for a 10k? Well that's half way to another one ticked off. 10 miles? Only a parkrun to get one closer to my goal. The more obsessed I became, the more obsessed I became. At one point I did 10 in 10 days in order to boost the total. Through the teens, twenties and thirties I ran. The forties seemed to take longer, but then it was the final stretch and I hit 52 on 10th June, just 23 weeks into 2021. Route pl