A wonderful Spring day, a week book-ended by Bank Holidays and a Royal wedding in the offing; who wouldn't want to be living in London at such a glorious moment? With that in mind I took myself off to the parks for a classic lunchtime run as wedding fever drifted noticeably in the air; along Whitehall every lamppost sported a Union Jack, in Horse Guards Road motorcycle outriders practiced rounding up anarchists and outside Buckingham Palace a media circus of satellite dishes and celebrity suites was springing fully-formed from the earth:
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| Green Park is aptly named for the media scrum! |
As you might expect the crowds were simply enormous - far greater than normal - so I skirted around both them and the office workers spread-eagled on the grass for a lunchtime vitamin D top-up. Compared to a week ago the temperature was a good few degrees lower and with a frisky northerly blowing the smog away conditions were really quite pleasant. So I entered Hyde Park feeling quite lively, set off at 7 min/mile pace and didn't slacken for the entirety of the loop; a most satisfying result. Only when I got back down to the bottom of Green Park and the Victoria Memorial did I pause for a quick photo session. Oddly enough this is the first time that I'd actually jogged round to the front of the palace and I have to say that 2,300 tons of marble make for an impressive edifice:
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| Bronze winged ‘Victory’ on top of the Victoria Memorial |
After this it was a simple matter to head along Spur Road and back down to St James Park; well it would have been except for the cones, tourists and taxi-drivers perplexed by the temporary road layout. Ah well at least I survived to warm-down along the Embankment and enjoy a shower hot enough to wash the grit out of my eyes (note to future self: wear sunglasses when London is hot, dusty and windy - you won't regret it).
Distance: 7.9 miles
Time: 56m 58s
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