Mind the Miles: A Half-Marathon Running Route Through London
- Holly Opatz
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
I finally made it to the United Kingdom! While it may have been one of the first English speaking countries I had visited in a long time, the culture of London felt anything but familiar. From the driving on the opposite side of the road, double-decker buses and another foreign power socket - London met me with lots of surprises. The city was so much more than the image I had conjured up in my head from all the British movies and pop-culture I had seen. Running through London felt like a museum, a postcard, and a pulse all at once —dear, layered, and never-still. London did not disappoint.
Tour Guide on Point
I must say, I owe a lot of my spectacular experience to Ramón who had lived in this incredible city when he was younger, working in restaurants and hotels that could make up another city tour on its own. I had the perfect tour guide. He knew the route, the sites, the best photo ops, the best hole-in-the-wall pubs and cafes. The evening we arrived, we properly carb-loaded with a breakfast treated by one of Ramon’s previous bosses at Drury Cafe, a dinner of Indian curry at Eastern Eye in the Brick Lane neighborhood, a sweet matcha ice cream treat from China Town, and a night cap pint at Waxy O’Connor’s. Needless to say, we slipped easily into carb-coma slumbers back at our East London Airbnb.
We woke the next morning to uncharacteristically sunny skies and perfectly brisk temps. We marched out the door to grab a coffee from our neighborhood cafe, affectionately named Fuckoffee, then laced up for a sightseeing half marathon. Passing through the heart of the City of London, I was amazed how the exquisitely designed modern architecture perfectly blended in with the more historic sites such as The Monument to the Great Fire of London or the the Tower of London, where old stone walls echo with the footsteps of centuries.
From the Tower to the Thames
We then made our way towards the river, my excitement building seeing the London Bridge come into sight — and the Fergie song playing repeatedly in my head. Heading in the other direction of the London bridge, we made our way over to our Thames River crossing via the iconic Tower Bridge (Not the same as the London Bridge, contrary to popular belief). The morning was crisp (16°C), the sky clear, and the river mirrored the city’s energy: calm on the surface, powerful underneath.
On the other side of the river, Southbank was buzzing but runnable, filled with cyclists, early-morning walkers, and the smell of espresso from riverside cafés. We took a long pause for some jumping photos to show off the City of London Skyline, and Ramon’s new running outfit complete with his new On Running shoes. We passed the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe, where the ghosts of art and poetry seemed to jog along with us. Looking out across the Millennium Bridge gave us one of those full-body-grin moments—St. Paul’s Cathedral glowing ahead, the river shimmering below.
Postcard Moments & Royal Family Confusion
As we made our way to Westminster, Big Ben greeted us like an old friend. We snapped a ton of pictures of this magnificent landmark from beneath the London Eye Ferris Wheel. Crossing the bridge toward the Palace of Westminster, I happily screamed “The Queen!”, as we passed by, knowing full well that the Queen is dead, but still mindblown to find out this is not where she once lived.
Passing through Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, a few kilometers later we stumbled upon the true home of the Royal Family, the Buckingham Palace. This was the one area of the run that felt cramped, which even prompted some tourist to let us know, “shouting, find another route mate!!” I wanted to shout back something with a lot of “c-words” and “bloody” like a proper English lad, but I refrained and decided we were just having a better day than him :)
Next, we looped through St. James’s Park, which might be the prettiest part of the whole route: flower beds bursting with spring, ducks casually dominating the footpaths, and Londoners lounging with their flat whites. It smelled like earth and energy and just a touch of sunscreen.
Green, Greener, Greenest
From there, we surged into Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, the lungs of the city. After stopping for an iced tea that quite literally saved us from dehydration, we were able to settle into a “steady” pace as we curved around the Serpentine, dodging dogs and soaking up the sun. Families picnicked, couples strolled, and there we were—sweaty, smiling, and exactly where we wanted to be.
Popping out of the park, we made another pit-stop at a local running shop Runners Need, to scope out some ideas for a future project (more to come:)) and more hydration. We ended our route near South Kensington, hearts full and legs feeling every meter of the 21km. We traded a stretching session for a look around Harrod’s where we came out with a mini lobster roll/sandwich combo pack. Not the typical post-run meal, but it hit the spot along with the luxurious Baklava from across the street at Hafiz Mustafa.
The Refuel and Recovery
The calorie replenishing didn’t stop there though. For a proper lunch, Ramon showed me his all time favorite burger spot, Bleecker Burger in Victoria. It lived up to the hype in a way I cannot even describe. We later freshened up for a drink at Sushi Samba with golden hour views of London and a super special dinner at the Turkish Restaurant, HAZ, owned by the same family Ramon used to work for nearly ten years ago. The Queen might be dead, but during that dinner, we certainly felt like royalty.
We had every intention of making it to Covent Garden and Camden Town that evening, but we thought it best to end the night on a high note (we would want to upset our Turkish Coffee readings). We did later make it to both areas, perfectly rounding out our trip over the next couple of days - along with meeting my friends from good ol’ Minnesota!
I could also go on and on about how well we ate in London, but if you’re still reading this far and want additional food recommendations here they are:
Barbican Cafe - Don't sleep on the Full English Breakfast - it was to die for.
Rosa’s Thai - Multiple locations all over but go for the mango sticky rice!
Pilgrim Pizza - Order the one with burrata and balsamic glaze
Cheeky Scone - layer on the clotted cream (it sounds gross but trust me)
Q Beef Noodles - Sichuan Beef Noodles: AMAZING
A Farewell Tempo Run
Something had gotten into me over this trip where I felt the need for speed after too casually perusing our long run exploration adventure. Maybe one day I’ll learn to sit still, but Strava just so happened to suggest this route along Regents Canal and I just couldn’t pass up. I’m so glad I didn’t! My legs felt surprisingly awesome for the pick-up kilometers and I managed to avoid any head-on collisions along the paths’ low-overhead clearance footbridges. Mind you, the whole running-on-the left side of the road was still a challenge but again, another perfectly sunny day in London?! I couldn’t let it go to waste.
Final Thoughts
I’ll admit though, the slower, steady exploration run was where all the memories were made. It’s where I learned where the Queen lived, where I guzzled the best Lipton Iced Tea of my life, where I saw the largest pond swan in existence and where I got to share every mile with my beloved tour guide that mentioned countless times how much he loved his running outfit of the day.
All jokes aside, this London exploration run was something I had been looking forward to for some time now and it did not let me down. Every step was filled with “must-sees” and every calorie burned was replenished more than sufficiently. But it was the silly memories and the kindness and generosity of the people that shared the experience with me that will stick. The images of Big Ben and Buckingham palace will fade, but London has shown me it has so much to offer that I will certainly be back for more.