Running in a rectangle

Who doesn't love four-day bank holiday weekends? What a marvellous invention. First you get a normal two-day weekend and then you get another one without having to work for it. Fantastic! I put my free time to good use by doing absolutely nothing on Friday or Saturday; not a sausage. So this morning I needed a fix and I needed it bad; luckily so did Mike, Adam, Craig, Mark, Amanda and Josiane. OK I know that we're all candidates for the twelve-step program but who's got the time? We're too busy chatting, heading over to Holloway and avoiding the hills. The plan today, as enforced by Adam, was to bring the run in at 10km; no less and certainly no more.

As it happens we might have achieved this had we not taken a wrong turn on the Parkland Walk and ended up on Crouch Hill rather than Highgate Hill. With Ally Pally shimmering in the distance like a desert mirage I was all for pressing on to visit its verdant slopes but sadly it remained but an illusion; my enthusiasm was not shared by the group! Instead we took the gentler path through Queens Wood where I, at the very least, managed to lead us up the rugged north slope of this vertiginous valley. A welcome treat.

Is this the face of a 2011 London marathon finisher?

As is so often the case the pace inched up on the stretch back to the cars and by the time we flew past Kenwood House we were scattering dog-walkers and joggers like nine-pins. Ah the exhilaration of running freely on a beautiful summer's day in the sure knowledge that you've earned an hour or two with the Sunday paper! Maybe a perfectionist might complain that the route ended up being a good 30% longer than the advertised distance but seriously - who's counting?

Distance: 8.5 miles

Time: 1h 14m 47s