For a few years I imagined a half marathon that follows the Thames Path in London crossing every bridge along the way. On a chilly day in November, with only minor route planning on Google Maps, I gave it a go.

The route starts at Westminster Bridge, heading east towards Tower Bridge. The rules are that every accessible bridge must be crossed and each side of the river covered. This means a zig-zagging route up to Tower Bridge, then the opposite zig-zag back to Westminster and onwards to Chelsea Bridge. This marks the final turn back eastwards, finishing at County Hall on the South side of Westminster Bridge.

My Garmin read 14.1 miles at the end, 1 mile over a true half. Staying tighter to the river would have carved off most of that extra mile. I made this first attempt on a busy Saturday afternoon, and the crowds around Tower Hill and County Hall meant that a diversion was needed at times. My run took nearly 3 hours, mostly due to lack of carbs the day before and a very crowded route that became a slow walk in some parts. An early-morning crowdless route would be do-able in under 2hrs.

Its a great route for views of London and never boring. Its unlikely to be practical to be run as a large organised event due to the many road crossings and narrow alleys, but it works well for small groups.

Here's the details... (N) and (S) indicate North or South direction of travel across the bridge.

Map - London Bridges Half Marathon 1.png

Section 1

Start at Westminster Bridge North side by the Houses of Parliament
Head east along the Embankment towards Tower Bridge
Cross Hungerford Footbridge (S), head east
Cross Waterloo Bridge (N), head east
Cross Blackfriars Bridge (S), head east
Cross the Millennium Footbridge (N), head east
Cross Southwark Bridge (S), head east
Cross London Bridge (N), head east
Cross Tower Bridge (S), now start heading back towards Westminster

Section 2

elevation_profile - London Bridges Half Marathon 1.jpg

Cross London Bridge (N), head west
Cross Southwark Bridge (S), head west
Cross the Millennium Footbridge (N), head west
Cross Blackfriars Bridge (S), head west
Cross Waterloo Bridge (N), head west
Cross Hungerford Footbridge (S), head west
Cross Westminster Bridge (N), head west
Cross Lambeth Bridge (S), head west
Cross Vauxhall Bridge (N), head west
Cross Chelsea Bridge (S), now start heading east back towards Westminster

Section 3

Cross Vauxhall Bridge (N), head east
Cross Lambeth Bridge (S), head east
Finish at Westminster Bridge, south side by County Hall

GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Thames Path, Jubilee Walkway, Jubilee Greenway
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 4, CS3, CS8
Maps:
- OS Explorer Map (161) London South, Westminster, Greenwich, Croydon, Esher & Twickenham
- OS Explorer Map (173) London North, The City, West End, Enfield, Ealing, Harrow & Watford

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Richard gower15 November 2014Run, Half Marathon, London, Middlesex, EnglandComment

Cycling London's Capital Ring

View to the city on the northern section

Start & Finish: Old Deer Park Car Park, Park Lane, Richmond, TW9 2RA
Distance: 127 km / 79 miles
Elevation Change: + / - 1,017m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (Walk): Thames Path, Wandle Trail, Green Chain Walk, King John’s Walk, Explore Charlton Trail, Jubilee Greenway, The Greenway, Lea Canal Towpath, Lea Valley Walk, New River Path, Grand Union Canal Towpath
Other Routes Touched (Cycle): NCN 1, 13, 20, 21, 4 / CS 1, 2, 3
Guidebook: The Capital Ring by Colin Saunders. Arum Press.
Maps:
- OS Explorer Map (161) London South, Westminster, Greenwich, Croydon, Esher & Twickenham
- OS Explorer Map (173) London North, The City, West End, Enfield, Ealing, Harrow & Watford

The Capital Ring is a 78 mile walking route circling inner and central London. It was established in 2005 as a continuous signposted route that takes in many of London’s parks and green spaces. Whilst there are many books and articles detailing how to walk it, there’s very little in the way of advice for cyclists. That’s probably intentional as some parts, particularly Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common, specifically prohibit cycling along the route.

My first attempt at cycling the Capital Ring was in 2013, 6 months after a successful 2-day adventure on its big sister, the 150 mile London Loop. Having found the Loop relatively straightforward I considered the Ring to be easy. My first attempt with 2 friends failed spectacularly with a combination of my ineffective navigation, Brian’s broken bike and Ray’s broken body. A broken chain en-route to the start and some confusion over the meet-up point meant an 11 am start, far too late for a 70+ miler on an autumn day. We decided to see how far we could get and less than 20 miles in we realised it wasn’t going to happen. We ended up with a smaller 45 mile trip. A nice day but we hadn’t conquered the Capital Ring.

I’d learnt my navigation lesson by the 2nd attempt 1 year later. Previously I’d been relying only on Colin Saunders’ excellent guide to the route. It's appropriately detailed and, whilst great for walkers, it's not something that you can read whilst cycling at speed. Although the route is well signposted it'seasy to miss the signs every now and then. The solution for attempt 2 was a handlebar mounted iPhone case and a cycling app with a GPX file of the route. This was the single most important reason that we were able to complete the route in a day.

The route itself is a well thought-out mix of some well-known and unfamiliar parts of London. Although the official start is the Woolwich tunnel on the eastern side, you can pick it up wherever you want. We started on the far west at Richmond Bridge going anti-clockwise. This gave us some amazing early-morning views across Richmond Park and some great photo opportunities with the deer. The official Capital Ring route through the park prohibits cycling so its important to take a detour here to avoid annoying the early morning walkers and the potential £50 fine for cycling on the wrong paths.

The rest of the south side is fairly scenic taking in Wimbledon Common, Streatham and on to Eltham. The route crosses the river at the Woolwich Foot Tunnel before the less than scenic parts around London City Airport and Barking. The route gets interesting again when it joins a long stretch of converted railway called the Greenway taking you to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The North London section is mostly a nice combination of canals and parks with some busy sections around the A1/A406 road links near Brent Cross. This section reaches its literal peak at Harrow On The Hill which, based on our chosen start point, came just as the sun went down and tiredness set in. From Harrow it's down-hill all the way back to Richmond Bridge. The official route takes advantage of canal and stream towpaths although we took an alternative road-based route trying to avoid falling into the Grand Union in the dark.

Our experience proved that cycling the Capital Ring is both practical and rewarding. There’s no detailed guide to cycling the Ring yet, so I recommend some careful planning and being prepared for some spontaneous detours. I would say that ~90% of the route is cycle friendly with easy alternatives for the rest. A good GPS device will help you get back on track when you get lost or need to make a detour to avoid a muddy hill. For enjoyment go for 2 days and take a slow pace. This will give you time to read the guide book as you go and learn about the interesting places along the way. The 1 day version we did becomes a very different experience altogether as it's more of a physical and navigational challenge. Either way it's an incredibly rewarding route and a unique way to see the Capital.

Capital Ring Elevation Profile

The Capital Ring and The London Loop

London Loop in Blue, Capital Ring in Red. Base map from OpenStreetMap

More London posts

City of London Boundary Walk

Cycling The London Loop

London Borough Tri-points

London's Coal Duty Posts

London's High Points

London's Protected Views

parkrun: LonDone

Walking The London Loop and Capital Ring

Walking The River Fleet

Walking The Roman London Wall

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Richard gower19 October 2014Cycle, NCN, Thames, London, Middlesex, England Comments

Royal Parks Half Marathon

When: October 12th 2014
Where: London, UK
Course: Start and end in Hyde Park via Green Park, St James', Westminster Bridge and The Embankment
Other routes touched (walk): Thames Path, Jubilee Walkway, Jubilee Greenway, Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk
Other routes touched (cycle): None
Finish time: 1:47

The London Royal Parks may have been my 17th Half Marathon, but it was by far my most important. This year I was running for Cancer Research UK as the first event in Growlerthon2015, my year of fundraising. I’d been trying to get into this race for years but always missed out via the public ballot. Running for a charity is great way to guarantee a place, and it comes with the responsibility of raising enough money for them.

The race is hugely popular as goes through some great London scenery. There’s 3 of the Royal Parks: Hyde, Green and St James, plus Buckingham Palace, Parliament Square, Westminster Bridge, the Embankment and Admiralty Arch.

October 12th was a beautiful Autumn day with excellent running conditions. I’m not fond of running in the heat and that day was nicely chilly. The flat course, the buzz of the crowds and Timi and her parents there to support all contributed to a great race and a Personal Best of 1:47.

A very large glass of wine helped to finish the day and was the decider to return in 2015 for the 42 mile Royal Parks Ultra.

route-27071942-map-full - Royal Parks Half.png

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Richard gower12 October 2014Run, Half Marathon, London, EnglandComment

Hillingdon Half Marathon

When: March 23rd 2014
Where: Hillingdon, Middlesex, UK
Course: All-road loop around Hillingdon and Brunel University.
Other routes touched: Celandine Route
Finish time: 1:53

route-27066997-map-full - Hillingdon Half.png

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Richard gower23 March 2014Run, Half Marathon, Middlesex, London, EnglandComment

Vertical Rush Tower Run 2014

When: March 4th 2014
Where: Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London
Floors: 42
Steps: 932
Finish time: 7 minutes, 42 seconds (nearly a minute faster than last year)
Charity: Shelter
My donation / sponsorship total: £200

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Richard gower4 March 2014Run, Tower Run, London, EnglandComment

Grand Union Half Marathon

When: November 10th 2013
Where: Cowley (Middlesex) to Watford (Hertfordshire), UK
Course: Point to point: Grand Union towpath from Cowley recreational ground, ending in Cassiobury Park
Other routes touched (walk): Grand Union Canal, London Loop, Colne Valley Trail, Hillingdon Trail
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN Route 6, 61
Finish time: 2:03

route-27047798-map-full - Grand Union.png

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Richard gower10 November 2013Run, Half Marathon, Canal, Colne Valley, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex, LondonComment

Betsom's Hill: Kent County Top

Significance: Highest peak in Kent (Historic CT)
Member of: N/A
Parent Peak: Botley Hill. NHN = Botley Hill
Elevation: 251m
Date “climbed”: 3rd November 2013
Coordinates: 51°17′18″N 0°03′26″E
Route Start / End: Parking / Bus stop on A233
Route Distance: 0.2 km (0.1 miles)
Route Elevation Change: +/- 2m
Subsidiary tops on route: None
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched: None
Map: OS Explorer Map (147) Sevenoaks and Tonbridge
Guidebook: The UK's County Tops (Jonny Muir), Walking the County High Points of England (David Bathurst)
Links: Wikipedia (Kent), Wikipedia (Betsom’s Hill), Peakbagger, Hillbagging

I bagged Betsom’s Hill, the high point of the Historic County of Kent, in 2013 as a part of series of quick high-point drive-bys. It’s just over the border with Greater London so it can bagged within a short walk with Westerham Heights, the high point of Greater London. Nothing to see at either high point so do it on the way to much more interesting destinations along the North Downs Ridge.

Red = Betsom’s Hill. Green = Westerham Heights. Actual summits not accessible — Red = Betsom’s Hill. Green = Westerham Heights.

OTHER HIGH POINT IN Kent

Holly Hill (172m): Medway Towns Unitary Authority High Point

Greater London Borough High Points formerly within Kent

Westerham Heights (245m) Bromley Borough High Point
Shooters Hill (132m) Greenwich Borough High Point
Sydenham Hill (112m) Southwark and Lewisham Borough High Point
Langdon Shaw (83m) Bexley Borough High Point

Back to English County Top Index

Richard gower3 November 2013Trek, UK County Tops, Kent, London Borough High Point, London, EnglandComment

Ealing Half Marathon

When: September 29th 2013
Where: Ealing, Middlesex, UK
Course: Residential roads around Ealing. Dull
Other routes touched: N/A
Finish time: 1:54

elevation_profile - Ealing Half Marathon.jpg

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Richard gower29 September 2013Run, Half Marathon, Middlesex, London, EnglandComment

Richmond Half Marathon

When: March 31st 2013
Where: Richmond, London, UK
Course: Figure of 8 loop on Thames Path and nearby roads surrounding Richmond upon Thames, Key Gardens and Petersham
Other routes touched (walk): Thames Path, Capital Ring
Other routes touched (cycle): NCN 4
Finish time: 1:59

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Richard gower31 March 2013Run, Half Marathon, London, EnglandComment

Cycling The London Loop

The London Loop is a ~130-mile circular walking route of outer London. Although intended for walkers only, much of it is cyclable with just a few diversions from the main path. I completed it in a 2-day micro-adventure back in 2013. Please note that both the London Loop and Capital Ring were designed for walking. Much of both routes can be cycled as there’s many sections on cycle routes and roads. Some sections are on footpaths that should not be cycled so be prepared to find alternative routes around these.

Day 1: Southern Section: Harefield to Dartford

Start: The Coy Carp, Copperhill Lane, Harefield, Uxbridge UB9 6HZ
Finish: Grotty hotel near the Dartford Crossing, Kent
Distance: 110 km (68 miles)
Elevation Change: + 1.046m / - 1,082m. Net -36m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (Walk): Colne Valley Trail, Hillingdon Trail, Grand Union Canal Towpath, Celandine Route, Shakespeare’s Way, Beeches Way, Thames Path, Thames Down Link, Hogsmill Valley Walk, Town and Down Circular Walk, Sutton Countryside Walk, Vanguard Way, Greenwich Meridian Trail, Cray Riverway, Darent Valley Path
Other Routes Touched (Cycle): NCN 1, 125, 20, 21, 232, 4, 6, 61
Guidebook: The London Loop: Recreational Path Guide by Colin Saunders
Maps:
- OS Explorer Map (172) Chiltern Hills East
- OS Explorer Map (160) Windsor, Weybridge & Bracknell
- OS Explorer Map (161) London South, Westminster, Greenwich, Croydon, Esher & Twickenham
- OS Explorer Map (162) Greenwich and Gravesend

Day 2: Northern Section: Dartford to Harefield

Start: Grotty hotel near the Dartford Crossing, Kent
Finish: The Coy Carp, Copperhill Lane, Harefield, Uxbridge, UB9 6HZ
Distance: 92 km (57 miles)
Elevation Change: + 967m / - 962m. Net +5m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (Walk): Havering Green Ways, Greenwich Meridian Trail, Lea Valley Walk, New River Path, Pymmes Brook Trail, Colne Valley Trail, Hillingdon Trail, Grand Union Canal Towpath
Other Routes Touched (Cycle): NCN 1, 13, 136, 3, 6, 61
Guidebook: The London Loop: Recreational Path Guide by Colin Saunders
Maps:
- OS Explorer Map (173) London North, The City, West End, Enfield, Ealing, Harrow & Watford
- OS Explorer Map (172) Chiltern Hills East

You can't cycle over the Dartford Bridge or under the tunnel but there is a free service that drives you and your bikes through. There's a free phone at the entrance to the tunnel on either side.

The London Loop and Capital Ring

Part 1: Source To Oxford

Start: Thames Head Inn, Tetbury Rd, Cirencester GL7 6NZ (alternative = Kemble Railway Station)
Finish: Oxford YHA, 2A Botley Rd, Oxford OX2 0AB
Distance: 86 km (53 miles)
Elevation change: +96m / - 254 m / Net -158m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (Walk): Thames Path, Wysis Way, Oxford Green Belt Way, Shakespeare’s Way
Other Routes Touched (Cycle): NCN 45
OS Map(s):
- OS Explorer 168 Stroud, Tetbury & Malmesbury
- OS Explorer 169 Cirencester & Swindon
- OS Explorer 170 Abingdon, Wantage & Vale of White Horse
- OS Explorer 180 Oxford, Witney & Woodstock

Part 2: Oxford To Hurley Lock

Start: Oxford YHA, 2A Botley Rd, Oxford OX2 0AB
Finish: Hurley Lock, Mill Ln, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5ND
Distance: 57 miles / 91 km
Elevation change: +312m / - 339 m / Net -27m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other Routes Touched (Walk): Thames Path, Shakespeare’s Way, Oxford Green Belt Way, European Walk E2: UK South East England, The Ridgeway, The Chiltern Way Berkshire Loop
Other Routes Touched (Cycle): NCN 4, 5, Chilterns Cycleway
OS Map(s):
- OS Explorer 180 Oxford, Witney & Woodstock
- OS Explorer 170 Abingdon, Wantage & Vale of White Horse
- OS Explorer Map 171 Chiltern Hills West, Henley-on-Thames and Wallingford
- OS Explorer Map (172) Chiltern Hills East