February 2014 Archives

I am preparing to run this year's London Marathon. As one of my training run I will be running a big chunk of the course next weekend. In preparation for this I have been putting together some notes on navigation and sites along the way. I am putting this out there in case it is of interest to other runners, or similarly obsessed people. I plan on using it as part of my visualisation process for race day. This is based on the 2013 course, but I don't expect much in the way of changes. It is also just one of the three possible routes for the first couple of miles as different starting pens feed slightly different routes at the start. From Mile 3 onwards everyone runs the same route.

The official course map can be seen as a PDF here. The start I am describing is the Blue Line from Greenwich Park.

• Start heading East on Shooters Hill Road from Greenwich Park
• Straight through first circle
• Right to stay on Shooters Hill Road just before Mile 1.
• Left on Charlton Park Lane
• Bear right at park to stay on Charlton Park Lane, pass Mile 2 along here somewhere.
• Pass Queen Elizabeth Hospital on the right.
• Cross Stadium Road and Charlton Park Lane becomes Ha-Ha Road
• Next Left turn Left onto South Circular Road
• Go down past Mile 3 and almost to the river, then at big circle go Left onto Woolwich Church Street
• At next circle take a slight Left (mostly straight) onto Woolwich Road
• This road changes names a couple of times but you stay on it for a bit over two miles into Greenwich to pass just south of Greenwich Park. You will pass the Mile 4, 5 and 6 markers along this stretch,  the last just before you reach Greenwich Park.
• Woolwich becomes Trafalgar Road
• Trafalgar becomes Romney Road (at Royal Naval College)
• Cover stretch between Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum, then go Right onto King William Walk
• Run past Greenwich Pier, loop left around the Cutty Sark.
• Turn right on Creek Road, pass the Cutty Sark DLR stop.
• Cross over Deptford Creek and then pass Mile 7.
• At intersection with Deptford Church Street go slightly Right (mostly straight) to stay on Creek Road
• Creek Road becomes Evelyn Street and then Lower Road right around Mile 8.
• After a bit over a mile, very close to the Surrey Quays Overground Stop (which you might not see!) go Right onto B205 (just after 'The Surrey Docks' pub?) You will see the massive Tescos and will turn just before it.
• At circle go Left onto Surry Quays Road (passing behind the massive Tescos and other shops). Pass Mile 9.
• Right onto Canada Street
• Right onto Quebec Way
• Left back onto B205 (Redriff Road)
• Redriff Road becomes Salter Road (but stays B205), along this next stretch you will pass Miles 10 and 11.
• After about 1.5 miles on B205 (after Quebec Way) Pass Rotherhithe Station
• Right turn at circle onto Jamaica Road
• Pass Bermondsey Underground Stop
• Jamaica Road becomes Tooley Street right around Mile 12.
• Right onto and across Tower Bridge
• Right onto A1203 (East Smithfield). Pass Mile 13.
• When you cross Dock Street (on left)/Vaughan Way (on right) you are at the halfway point!

• East Smithfield becomes The Highway
• Pass King Edward Memorial Park
• Arond Mile 14 you will hit Limehouse Link and turn right onto Narrow Street
• You will pass The Narrow (a Gordon Ramsey pub) on your right and then cross a bridge over the inlet to Limehouse Basin.
• Narrow Street becomes Limehouse Causeway
• At Westferry DLR Station turn Right onto Westferry Road
• Go through two traffic circles, Mile 15 is just after the first one, you will hit this second circle again shortly after mile 18.
• Stay on Westferry Road all the way down to bottom of Isle of Dogs, about 1.5 miles. You will pass Mile 16 along this stretch.
• Left to head north onto East Ferry Road at the Lord Nelson pub (you will turn into the street just before the pub)
• Pass Mudchute DLR at Mile 17.
• East Ferry becomes Limeharbour
• Left onto Marsh Wall
• Pass South Quay DLR
• Pass Heron Quays DLR (on your right)
• Hit Mile 18  and then enter the traffic circle with Westferry Road (which you passed through just after Mile 15). Go right onto Heron Quays Road
• You now run back and forth and back again across this one part of the Isle of Dogs.
• Pass Heron Quays DLR (on your left)
• Heron Quays Road becomes Bank Street
• Left onto Upper Bank Street. You will see a large red flower sculpture on your right. Pass Canary Wharf Underground
• Left onto South Colonnade, run along Canada Square and pass Canary Wharf DLR.
• At end go right and then right onto North Colonnade at Mile 19. Run along North side of Canada Square
• Stay on North Colonnade and then it becomes Trafalgar Way
• Right at first Circle to stay on Trafalgar Way
• Second Exit at big circle to pass over a large road and go north on Cotton Street (Aspen Way is the very large road)
• Left onto Poplar High Street and on to Mile 20.
• At end bears slightly left and becomes Ming Street
• Merge onto West India Dock Road, pass Westferry Station again.
• At largish intersection go Left onto Commercial Road. Pass over the Limehouse Cut canal.
• The Run Dem Crew Mile 21 Cheering Section should be just a block or two ahead!!
• Pass Limehouse Station
• Left onto Butcher Row
• Right at Limehouse Link back onto The Highway (you are now passing slower runners approaching Mile 14)
• Route now doubles back along The Highway which turns back into East Smithfield around Mile 22.
• Pass Tower Bridge and now run along the north side of the Tower of London.
• Right on Tower Hill for one block and then Left on Lower Thames Street, run past Tower Hill Underground.
• Lower Thames becomes Upper Thames as you run past the London Monument and London Bridge. Mile 23 is just past London Bridge.
• Upper Thames becomes Victorian Embankment. You will pass through a longish tunnel and emerge at Blackfriars Bridge at Mile 24.
• Stay on the Embankment to Westminster Bridge. You will pass Temple Underground, and then Waterloo Bridge, and then
• Pass Embankment Station and Hungerford Bridge at Mile 25.
• You now have your last uphill up to Westminster Bridge. Turn Right onto Bridge Street and run along the Palace of Westminster (Parliament).
• Bridge Street becomes Birdcage Walk
• Past St. James Park Underground as you run the length of St. James Park.
• At the end of the park turn Right to stay alongside St. James Park at west end of park, pass Mile 26.
• Pass Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace
• Right onto the Mall
• FINISH!!!!

As many of you know, there is a new running magazine in town. It's the creation of my friends Simon Freeman and Julie Kummer, and is beautiful on many levels. Printed on heavy stock it feels quite satisfying in one's hands. The artwork is fantastic. The writing is a refreshing change from your typical running magazine. No diet hints. No magical training tips. No reviews of some piece of kit you absolutely must have. Nope, just stories about running. How people became runners, why people run, what running means to someone. All very personal.

The magazine is called Like The Wind, and you can order your own copy at their online shop.

I can offer you a taste of what is in the magazine as I happen to have written one of the pieces. The artwork is the creation of Andy Wyatt. Andy read the piece, and offered to create something for it. As I work in the film business he thought that I should have my very own Saul Bass-inspired film poster. I hope you like the artwork as much as I do. For those who wonder about such things, yes that is meant to be me on the poster. And no, it isn't a coincidence that there are five footprints.

[Don't worry if you are having a hard time reading the text below, the image is a hyperlink to a PDF version of the story! You are welcome to download this file. All I ask is that if you share this anywhere you make sure to point people towards the Like The Wind website when you do so.]