5 miles of sunshine and smiles for the fourth week of LSE runs.

This week was all about taking in the parks and we ran through, Green Park Hyde Park and St.James Park. We also managed to fit in an extra little park on the way back by heading down to Embankment Gardens.

Along the route we also saw:

• Trafalgar Square
• The Mall (and the famous last stretch of The London Marathon)
• Wellington Arch
• Rose Garden of Hype Park
• Buckingham Palace
• Horse Guards Parade

Here’s a link to the route we took.

Tonight was week 3 of the 2019 LSE Summer run clubs and we had 9 students come along for a run around London checking out the sites.

My initial plan was to do a short run to one of the parks nearby with a few activities based fitness session. I told the group my plan and there were a few comments that they were looking forward to doing a 10km run. Not wanting to disappoint the group we had a vote and the 10km was the winner.

We headed down the Embankment to towards Blackfriars Bridge, due to the work going on at Blackfriars, it took us a while to cross the street. Once we got across the street we headed back along the walk by the river where we encountered a lot of run commuters and walkers. We came to Tower Bridge and I noticed there was no traffic going across the bridge and that the vehicles had been stopped. The bridge security staff where out doing crowd control, upon enquiring was was going I was informed the bridge was going to be opened for a boat to pass through. We stooped to watch the opening and closing of the bridge. Not many people living in London witnesses Tower Bridge being open despite the list of opening times that is available online and on the bridge. Let alone for someone visiting the country, it was a great experience for the group those who had their phones on them where able to take photos and videos of this amazing moment. We stopped at Potters Field for the group to see the route of the London City Relay, where the volunteers on shift explained what was going on and what the run was all about. We continued our run towards Westminster Bridge where we ran along Whitehall then through Horse Gaurd Parade and stopped along the Mall for a butchers of the Palace. We continued our run and passed in Trafalgar square for a group photo then headed back to LSE via Covent Garden. We arrived back at LSE where we did some stretches and bid our farewells.

All the best to Francesco who returns back to Italy on Saturday

Some of the sites we saw today

• The Royal Courts of Justice
• Tower Bridge
• Potters Field
• City Hall
• London Eye
• Big Ben
• Cabinet Office
• 10 Downing Street
• Horse Guards Parade
• The Mall
• Buckingham Palace
• Trafalgar Square
• Punch and Judy
• Transport Museum

Last night was the first of the 2019 LSE summer run club, 12 students turned up all raring to go on our run tour of the capital. Before setting off the group was given an option of in choosing the direction to run left towards Tower Bridge or right towards parliament square? They choose towards Tower Bridge. We started with some dynamic warm ups getting them ready for the journey ahead. We set off by running along the side of the Royal Courts of Justice then headed towards the Victoria Embankment with some people dodging while trying to keep the group together. Our first major obstacle came at Blackfriars Bridge due to the ongoing construction work, it took us a while to cross the street but all eventually got across and headed to the Victoria Embankment towards tower bridge. While running along we were able to take in the view of the iconic buildings along the Southbank. We crossed Tower Bridge and ran along the river back to the Hungerford bridge then down to temple before returning to LSE where we did some squats to Moby's bring Sally Up. Followed by some stretches and a group photo.

Along the run route they saw the following:

• Tower of London
• Tower Bridge
• City Hall
• HMS Belfast
• Borough Market
• Golden Hinde
• Shakespare's the Globe
• Tate Modern
• St Paul's Cathedral
• OXO Tower
• National Theatre
• Southbank Centre
• Royal Festival Hall
• London Eye
• Hungerford Bridge
• Cleo Patra's Needle
• Somerset House