Come with me on my longest marathon training run through the streets and parks of London. The course I primarily followed was a 20-22 miler found online courtesy of the Serpentine Running Club.

It’s a cool, misting Saturday morning, perfect for a marathon training run. Pacing will be a problem on this route. We’ll just do the best we can and enjoy the route.

Let’s start just north of the South Kensington station making  our way on the street between the Victoria & Alfred Museum

and the ever popular Natural Science Museum.

At Mile 2, we’re moving into Hyde Park.

At mile 3, we’re at the Buck Hill Gate of Hyde Park.

Mile 4 & 5 takes us through Kensington Park past Kensington Palace and its gardens.

By Mile 6, we are headed south looking at the Chelsea Kitchen restaurant across Kings Road.

Mile 7, just down the road we find the Chelsea Football Club.

 

Mile 8 brings us to Imperial Wharf. And here is where we get a bit confused, with traffic rerouted and pedestrian walkways closed. We’ll put on a couple of miles chasing in circles until a fellow runner helps us find our way to the Thames path.

 

Mile 10, the rain begins to pick up as we pass the beautiful small Cremorne Gardens. We’ll forego the photo since the rain is hampering the view.

Mile 11, here we go crossing the Thames River for the first of several times on this route. We take the Battersea Bridge across to Battersea Park.

At mile 12 through Battersea Park, there is plenty of open space and beautifully maintained playing fields as well as a fantastic track.

From Battersea, we head back across the Thames on the Chelsea Bridge. The sky in the photo below tells you we have more miles of sloshing to go.

Mile 13, we are passing Pimlico Park. and stopping a moment to enjoy this little jewel. The rain lets up a bit just in time for a photo.

It’s then time to cross the Thames again, this mile on the Vauxhall Bridge.

It’s also an opportunity to see the Thames at low tide.

Through Mile 14 & 15, the crowds along the river are so thick that anything more than a fast walk isn’t possible without moving away from the river and chancing getting lost. (Didn’t I warn about pacing problems earlier?)

It does provide the chance to do some touristy stuff  as we walk past the skateboard park

and get a photo with river traffic, Parliament and Big Ben in the background.

By Mile 16.5, we are at the Tower Bridge.

Back in London at Mile 18, we’re making our way across through heavier rain and heavier tourist pedestrian traffic. They are  undeterred by the rain so we’re in for another mile or so of fast walk/jogging.

Most of the crowd is here to see London Tower which is worth seeing in any weather with probably 1500 years of history within its walls.

Now heading back to our start up Westminster, we are around Mile 19 and we hear church bells ringing as we edge along the perimeter of Saint James’s Park.

Having picked up extra mileage through our mistakes on the course in Chelsea, we don’t complete the area around Green Park but as we approach Mile 20, we do get a chance to peer in to Buckingham Palace.

 

Finally around Mile 21, we pass by the Marble Arch and back into Hyde Park.

We run along it perimeter until it joins Kensington Park. Here, we will cross the street and cut around the amazing Royal Albert Hall with the rain still coming down.

Wet and weary, let’s finish up on the backside of the Natural History Museum and call it a day.

Although it was a bit of an unorthodox run, the miles are done. Thanks for joining me. It’s always good to have someone along putting in the miles.