Supporting Epilepsy Action Blog

Thames Path - Shepperton to Richmond

An early start this Saturday morning for another section of the Thames Path, this time getting the 8.20am train from Clapham Junction down to Shepperton with a colleague of mine - Geoffrey.  We had a quick wander down the High Street before joining the Thames Path, crossing to the South side for the section up to Richmond.

Despite the forecast of light rain all day, we were walking in T-shirts under blue skies for the duration, watching the many rowers, sailers and canoeists enjoying the Thames.  The Thames Path out here is again well sign-posted, but much less diverse than the previous sections I'd done in East London, or from Twickenham to Fulham.  For most of the way we were on dirt tracks surrounded by greenery, with expensive houses (and their boats) lining the River.

From Shepperton past Sunbury, heading to Hampton, we passed large Victorian Reservoirs - the Molesey being right next to the Thames - and it's extraordinary to think of these huge banks being built largely by man and horse.  From there we followed the big U-bend around Hampton Court and back up to Kingston and Hampton Wick, before the final leg towards Ham and Twickenham.  To finish at Twickenham - my original goal - would have involved crossing to the North side for the last mile, but that would have meant pavement walking away from the Thames, so we stayed on the South side, up to Richmond.

This gave me another view of the impressive Royal Star and Garter Care Home for ex-Servicemen and women, situated on Richmond Hill with its imposing view over Richmond and the Thames.

British 10km London Run

The British 10km London Run is a great race, if only because it takes you through some of the busiest streets of London, without having to run the London Marathon!

Starting at 9.35am on Sunday 12th July 2009, I arrived at Whitehall to drop my bag off at 8.30, and already the whole of Haymarket up Piccadilly to the start was full of people - the total number of participants is around 30,000.

From Hyde Park Corner down Piccadilly, the route carried us South to Pall Mall, through Trafalgar Square (past the 4th plinth!) turning left onto the Embankment.  Once on the Embankment it's a fairly quick course through underpasses and up past St Paul's, doing a loop before Tower Bridge then heading back along the Embankment to Westminster Bridge.

The only two criticisms I have of this race are the lack of a phased start (30,000 people all at once, with no zoning for different speeds makes it quite the scrum!) and the 180 degree turns you have to do on Westminster Bridge, then again on Victoria Street.

Nevertheless, after the 180 degree turn on Westminster Bridge, it's back up into Parliament Square, down Victoria Street, another 180 turn, and back to finish along Whitehall.

I finished in 53 mins 22 secs, which wasn't much over my 52 mins target, so fairly happy with that!

Great atmosphere, lots of fun, and some more exposure for Epilepsy Action!