Jogging through Hyde Park, London

Patch of Daffodils!
More photos from the jog are here!

The thought of jogging down polluted noisy streets of London is far from appealing. Unless ofcourse you are no stranger to the city and are aware of the numerous beautiful parks sprawling through the centre of the city!

One Sunday, several weeks ago, the sun decided to be generous and was shining so bright. I decided the day was brilliant to be out and about and train for the RFGR pledge. Very surprisingly, I didn't even have to coax Mark to come out with me. A simple “Would you like to go jogging with me in the park?” yielded a prompt “Sure!” (I am used to hearing a loud groan instead).

We jogged down to the main road i.e. Bayswater Road, past the famous Sunday art-displays and entered Hyde Park. I had checked the map for areas of the park we hadn't seen. Come on, follow the map, and jog with me!

• Down Bayswater road to Marlborough Entrance
• Then further to the right past Buckhill's lodge and victoria gate lodge
• Across the road and the yellow 'dirt track for horse riding'
• Down the diagonal path that goes past the Central Royal Parks Nursery and then down to the Sheep Trough. There is a hand pump at the sheep trough and Mark tried to pump water out of it but it appeared to be no longer in use.
  
• Further on to the new lodge, we took a look at the information centre then ran back up and to the right and stopped between new lodge and reformer's tree to exercise (jumping, skipping, cross-touching toes, jumping jack/ star jump). You name it, we did it. Ofcourse, the exercise routine was filled with laughs and giggles because Mark was a little stiff from lack of exercise - all the more reason to do it! Especially, if you sit at the computer all day the way we do.
• Then we went on to reformer's tree and headed down south to the river Serpentine, and back up towards the east, along the river path.
  
• We stopped at the boathouse which has a tourist shop = children's paradise = parents’ hell and decided to update ourselves on the latest ‘cool kids’ paraphernalia. Fancy-pants pencils, erasers, pens, and toys in bright colours and all shapes and sizes were overflowing from every shelf.
• When a kid started crying, probably due to a demand unmet, we quickly took leave and continued jogging. A gust of wind blew my cap off and luckily I was able to save it in time before it flew off into the river. By this time the breeze was very strong and it was starting to grow cloudy and chilly.
• So we headed back north again. Mark stopped at the 'Norwegian War Memorial' which is literally a giant piece of 'natural rock' with a plaque. The Norwegians gifted the rock to the British as a token of thanks for saving their lives in World War 2. There was a plaque at the back of the rock as well. While Mark was peering at it, I to play a trick on him. I took off quietly, up the hill, towards policeman's path, turning occasionally to see if Mark had noticed. He hadn't but by the time I turned again, he had noticed and was laughing helplessly. He started chasing me and knowing that Mr. Super Long Legs would reach me in no time, I stopped at a patch of spring daffodils that were just starting to bloom. Mark told me had no idea I wasn't right behind him and had to say something to me only to find that I was 250m away, running at top speed. Oh, we laughed for the longest time (and continued to laugh about it all day).
• We then jogged down to the main road (west of policeman's path) and jogged up the bicycle/foot path and exited at Victoria Gate.

What followed after? A scrumptious brunch of eggs, bacon (not for me, I’m vegetarian!) and fresh bread, cooked by Chef Mark. By the time it was over, we were so tired and full, we fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon as a storm cast itself on London city in full swing.

Do you reckon you will go for a run in your city this weekend? If this post has entertained you or better still, motivated you to go and explore hidden delights about town as you jog, please sponsor me!

Cheers,
Aakanksha/ Ace