The Heath is great. It lacks the outright size and beautiful vistas of, say, Richmond Park, but I maintain it is probably the most compelling place to run in London.
I pulled a full circumbobulation in the quest for distance. The best way to clock up miles is to get lost on the paths inside, of course. That just makes your route nigh impossible to measure. I suppose I should invest in a pedometer.
I approach through the lovely back-lanes from the West.
The woods of the West-Heath are a very nice destination in an of themselves. On the left of the path is Golder's Hill Park and to the right lies the Hill Garden and Pergola (the Heath's best kept secret), both subjects of runs in the near future.
Frozen ponds in the middle of the wood.
A trip along the Heath's perimeter road (Spaniard's Road) and back on to it from the North brings on out on the Kenwood estate. Superbly scenic, grey morning notwithstanding.
The side of Kenwood House
The variety of the Heath holds continual appeal. The southern portions all the way along are quite highly frequented, but so much in the way of lonely glens, dells, paths, trails, ponds and hillocks are offered to those who venture further in.
Wide open spaces.
The contours of the Heath are one of my main reasons for loving it. It is a brilliant landscape. This is of course a two edged sword because the gradients are absolutely torturous to anyone trying to maintain a half-decent pace. I ended up running almost exactly 10 miles in 77 minutes which equates to both 7.7 miles per hour and 7.7 minutes per mile. Very neat figures, but the hills took their toll. My personal best over long distance is 13 miles in 97 minutes which is a 7.5 minute mile. Interestingly enough, that was almost entirely along the canal. The non-flat and non-uninterrupted undulations of the Heath clearly make for extra arduous training.
My favourite Hill of Punishment.
400 meters of joyful-joyful.
Masochistic cyclists only need apply.
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