Seeing the Rich & Famous for Lunch

Wednesday 4th February

Run #35

3.5k Runch Round Belgravia

After a pootle round a few of the roads behind my office on the #28 runch I had been thinking about the blue plaques I'd run past. Blue plaques have been gracing buildings since 1866 and are used as a marker that 'commemorates the link between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked'. Apparently there are over 800 in London by my recent jaunt made me think that there are probably a fair few more local to my office, so today I decided to incorporate as many as I could into my runch, and try and snap a pic of every one I passed.

Yes, I was fully aware this was a great excuse for a reeeeally relaxed pace run with plenty of stopping. But having clocked 15k already in my evening runs I wasn't up for feeling too guilty.

I googled a quick map of nearby blue plaques and constructed a haphazard route that I thought might do. Then made a thoroughly poor job of committing it to memory and forgot it at the first turn off the first road. But getting an understanding from the map that it was pretty much going to be like shooting fish in a barrel, I went where the fancy took me. Every now and then a road name popped up that I remembered from my map prompting more than one 180 about-face and several weaving across roads and unpredictable direction changes. I'm sure my Strava will suggest serious drinking had occurred pre-set off.

  

I hadn't really figured for the traffic after my last jaunt around Belgravia being fairly traffic-free. But this route took in a few more main roads and odd intersections and it was only after nearly sprawling Trainspotting style over the bonnet of a passing car (a Rolls Royce no less. Belgravia is nothing if not predictable) that I started exercising my green cross code.

 

Photo credit: trainspotters.canalblog.com

As expected the elapsed time was almost twice what the distance would suggest. But I had a load of fun, got to nosy through the window of some amazing house, and escaped unscathed from the bonnet of a car worth 10 times more than I earn in a year, so all things considered; a winner.