London - England

Tower Bridge (taken on Instagram) where the route gets going

Okay I know I am biased being English and all but London is surely the greatest city on the planet?

Yes it rains a lot, the roads are carnage and everybody is in an almighty rush, but there really is just something for everybody.

Whether you like sightseeing, sporting amphitheatres, Oxford Street, the West End, museums, galleries, striking architecture, innovative leading commerce or vibrant nightlife and elegant parks, All and more can be found in London.

The Tube can be both frustrating and crowded for Londoners but for tourists it offers one of the best public transport networks in the world. In addition, connections to both Heathrow and Gatwick Airports meaning you can be North America, Europe, Asia and Africa in as little as 6 hours. 

For this route I tried to capture as much of London's wide reaching appeal as possible...

The run started at the Tower of London, home to the crown jewels on the north side of the Thames (nearest tube stop is Tower Hill on Circle Line) and led me east only a matter of metres to Tower Bridge.

After crossing over to the south bank, I turned west staying close to the public walkway as much as possible, passed Belfast and Hay's Galleria until I reached London Bridge.

There were some works taking place on the Thames footpath on other side of the road so I decided to cross back over to the north bank using both the wide pavements and cycle lanes.

Back on the north bank, simply follow the signposted Thames West Path all the way to St Paul's Cathedral. The imposing dome will shortly be visible to your right but instead you will continue under Southwark Bridge to the Millenium footbridge.

Millenium Bridge links St Paul's Cathedral to The Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. It featured in Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

I crossed back over to the south bank on Millenium Bridge upon reaching Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. Dubbed the wobbly bridge because of initial problems when opening in 2000 to mark the millenium, the bridge closed for two years while engineering work took place.

From here it was just a case of kicking on further west towards the Southbank Area, a hotspot for tourists, passing London Television Studios and the National Theatre en route.

Once you reach the London Eye & London Aquarium, just be careful as there will be a lot of congestion on the footpath on weekends in particular. 

As you no doubt have noticed by now to your right - it's only BIG BEN!

Taking in the historic views of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, turn right at Westminster Bridge and cross the Thames for the fourth and final time - beware though that it is difficult not to stop and stare in appreciation of its sheer beauty at this point!

Continuing west past Westminster Abbey to St James Park on Great George Street, real London first-timers can take a right for two streets and have a look at Downing Street before looking back to Great George.

Westminster offers some of London's most iconic skylines. The route crosses Westminster Bridge seen here

 Westminster is probably my favourite part of London as it combines everything foreigners typically love about the UK - the monarchy, the iconic sites and British traditions - with beautiful parks such as St James Park and Hyde Park, separated by Marble Arch & Buckingham Palace.

Carrying on west you will reach beautiful St James Park before getting your first glimpse of the world famous Buckingham Palace. Queen Victoria was the first Monarch to live in the Palace in 1837.

Passing the Palace to the right you will now be faced with Marble Arch. A long straight gradual incline to the monument flanked by the Gardens of Buckingham Palace and Green Park.

From here it is just straight across the roundabout using the underpass and into Hyde Park. This is where you can see lots of other runners as you begin to run west towards High Street Kensington where this route ends.

The Park is glorious all year round and hosts several concerts throughout the summer. Famously in 1969 the Rolling Stones performed with well over a quarter of a million people in attendance. There is also a memorial for the victims of 7/7 terrorist attack in 2005 and the Park will also host the triathlon in the London 2012 Olympics.

The downside of running from east to west means you tackle a very long relatively steep incline for the best part of a mile! Passing the Royal Opera House as you cross the road into Kensington Gardens, you will then exit to your left out of the Queen's Gate entrance.

Now on Kensington High Street, the tube stop is just ahead of you on your left hand side. The route in total was around 6.8 miles and is certainly one of my favourites.

The downside is that in the early part there is quite a bit of congestion on the footpaths so it is hard to get into an early rhythm, but by the time you reach Westminster Bridge you can open your legs and take in London's finest landmark and some spectacular parks to get you away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

If you are visiting London for the first time, 100% take in this route as you will not be disappointed!



Not London's biggest park but certainly one of the most popular - Hyde Park



Summary:

Start - Tower of London/Tower Bridge

Journey - Cross Tower Bridge to south bank, run west along river wall. Cross London Bridge and follow north bank to Millenium footbridge. Cross and continue along south bank to Westminster Bridge. Follow Great George Street to Buckingham Palace, west to Marble Arch and into Hyde Park. Follow park through to Kensington High Street.

Finish - High Street Kensington Tube Station

The Algarve - Portgual

The Algarve in Portugal may be world renowned as a haven for golf lovers, but it certainly has a lot to offer runners too.

It is not actually a city itself, but a group of towns and small cities. Located on the southern most coastline of Portgual, the area mostly has good weather all year round making the most of all the beautiful sea walks, beaches and golf courses.

I was here on a golfing trip but made sure to pack my trainers. Our hotel was located in Carvoeira in Lagao, a small quaint coastal town set on a bay, with dramatic clifftop views out to sea. A really cool little place, the kind you would just stumble across rather than plan to visit.

In case you are thinking I am some kind of high roller, let me just say now that I won this holiday in golf tournament, otherwise I would be probably be in the airport holiday inn!

I wanted my run to try and incorporate some of the cliffs and beaches as I knew with so much golf lined up during the day, there wouldn't be much time to visit them otherwise.

Setting off from the hotel on Estrada do Monte Paraiso, I travelled eastbound from the middle of the town and towards the more rural part of the coastline. The idea of this route was that with this would let me get a better view of the coast without the obstruction of the hotels and villas that line the cliff tops.

If you're going to run in Portugal, it goes without saying bring your sunscreen because it gets VERY hot...The sea breeze often disguises the fact and next thing you know you are burned, so definitely be prepared. Nobody wants to look like a tomato by the pool!
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The western part of the Algarve is full of secluded coves and beaches like this one near Carvoeira

The street was one way but soon joined up to the main road running through the town. However because this is such a tiny town in every sense of the word, the 'main' road is nothing more than your average single carriageway with pavements on either side.

The road does though connects a lot of the resorts and residential areas to the town so it gets quite busy in the evenings with people heading out to eat.

Now running east parallel to the coast on Estrado do Farol, you get glimpses of the bay with all of the fisherman and yachts through gaps in the buildings to your right, but the best views will come later - be patient.

Another feature of the Algarve is the cuisine. Man the seafood is so good here! With so many tourists, there are a bunch of good restaurants and you don't need to pay silly prices because there is so much competition. Being a seaside town, you know it is all going to be fresh (hopefully!).

The road travels through the central shopping area full of gift shops and local independents, and then the further east you travel the more you come across first hotels, and then villas and retirement accommodation.

As it heads east, it really gets interesting as the road begins to weave left and right up and down some really surprisingly big hills. However your reward at the top of each climb is a spectacular out to sea.
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A beach near Vale Do Lobo

As to probably be expected on the cliff tops, this is one of the most undulating of all of the routes I have created so be prepared for some real steep climbs. Probably best to run in late afternoon before dinner or early in the mornings. I ran at around 4pm after golf.

After 4.9km, the road came to an end at the top of one of the cliffs. I allowed myself a short break to really take in the coastline.

Similar to many clifftops, the formation and erosion of the rocks creates several small coves and caves below, with at least ten or more secluded little beaches. Some have been manipulated to offer tourist friendly beach bars offering deck chairs etc whilst others are 100% untouched, with only natural gradual stepping stone like access.

Satisfied, I simply followed this route back to the hotel. Not one of the longest, measuring in at just under 10km in total, but with the heat, the hills and golf it was just about right.

Another great route if in the Algarve is to pick up the beach at Vale do Lobo, follow all the way west to Vilamoura and then weave your way back. The beaches here are more traditional so you can include an actual run along the beach without running into a cliff or a cave!
Offering some fantastic views along one very quiet road, it is a nice little run that I would certainly repeat if I went back. Now for some seafood!

You can follow me and my blog on Twitter @fairboyruns, Instagram @tomlfairbrother or on Facebook. You can also follow my running progress on Power of 10


Summary:
Start - Estrada do Monte Paraiso, west Carvoeira
Journey - East on Estrada do Farol, follow road all the way until it finishes at dead end 4.9km. Repeat route home. Spectacular views of coastline and out to sea.
Finish - Restaurante O Boteco, Estrada do Monte Paraiso, west Carvoeira

Beijing - China

Ready to run? The view from my hotel window in Beijing

Okay first of all, if you are reading this in Beijing, congratulations, you got a Visa! After two seperate trips to London filling in various forms, obligations and photo sessions, I got in. And boy was it not worth the effort. I previously described Luxembourg as grey and bleak. But compared to Beijing that place looks like paradise.

Probably a little harsh, but there is just such a huge difference in cultures that I cannot see why you would come here for anything other than business. That may sound like a typical English thing to say as we are renowned for liking our comfort zones, but I am usually very open to experiencing and seeing different ways of life. But China was just a step too far for me.

My favourite city is Rio de Janeiro, so I guess I should have expected China to not be my thing, and man this is not Rio! Everything is so controlled, there seems to be no freedom, character, spontaneity. Almost a feeling of fear. 

There is just such a methodical, disciplined feel wherever you go, which is very surprising as the Chinese are such fantastic innovators when it comes to architecture, construction and technology. 

Anyway back to the running, which is why you are reading this. I arrived at night, I was here with my friend, and after looking out of my window in the morning, (see above) I have to say, and I really shouldn't, this is one place where the treadmill actually looked reasonably tempting!

Resisting, we laced up our trainers and hit the streets, assuming it was okay to run on the roads in China. From our hotel in Dongxiaokouzhen in the north side of Beijing we set off south towards the Olympic Park. The reasoning for this was that if exercising in public is going to be okay anywhere, surely it would be there!

We stumbled across a park, which Google Maps later revealed to be Dengsheng Culture & Sports Park (our Mandarin is not the best!) and preceded to navigate our way from the northern tip in a full circuit, exiting the park through the south eastern exit.

Now you may be thinking this was some ellaborate spectacular high-tech park. Let me tell you it was not! A concrete walkway made it a nice clean surface for running but there were really no points of interest or highlights, other than a couple of small lake/ponds. NY Central Park this is not.

Being 6 foot 2" and 6 foot respectively, wearing shorts and woolly hats, it is fair to say that we probably didn't blend in too well, so it was good thing that the place was absolutely deserted. Okay it was a weekday but I cannot recall seeing a single soul in the whole park.

Proceeding south on Heiquan Road, which crossed over the River Qinghe before becoming Lincui Road, we reached the Olympic Park - although there was still no sign of the 2008 Olympic Stadium dubbed the Bird's Nest.

With asking for directions out of the question and neither of us having our phones on us just for precaution, like Forrest Gump we just kept running!

Having now travelled 2.5km to this point, we were both still fresh despite the usual poor night's sleep after a fly day and arriving in a new country/time zone.

We followed Lincui Road all the way south until it eased left (east) becoming Ao Lin Xi Lu Road, meandering through the middle of two relatively small green areas which I presume are more parks (obviously to keep up with the demand from people using them!).

After 6.2km we got a glimpse of the Nest much to our relief and one final push south on Thanchen East Road and a left on the imaginatively named National Stadium North Road saw us reach our destination.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Stadium, dubbed the Bird's Nest - for obvious reasons

The highly impressive stadium holds 91,000 people and it has to be said, is absolutely extraordinary. Allegedly almost 5,000 local residents were forced to move from their homes from near the site, something which seem ridiculous given the sheer size of the city.

Satisfied with our morning's work. We set off back north towards our hotel. Neither of us said it at the time, but I am not sure either of us was 100% sure of the way back!
Probably even more spectacular than it's more infamous neighbour is the National Aquatics Center. In a city of pathetic fallacy where the grey gloomy weather seems to mirror much of its surroundings, these two achitectural beacons stand out as what could be possible if the state allowed the people to flourish.

Looking like a gigantic series of bubbles, it is one of the most imaginative and striking structure I have ever seen.

The temperature in Beijing can get very cold so definitely pack your cool weather running gear.

It was now just a case of following our tracks along the same route, which by the time we reached our total measured at just over 15km. Further than perhaps we had planned, but actually in the end what turned out to be one of the better runs overseas.

You can follow me and my blog on Twitter @fairboyruns, Instagram @tomlfairbrother or on Facebook. You can also follow my running progress on Power of 10

Summary:

Start - Dongxiaokouzhen

Journey - Through Dengsheng Culture & Sports Park then south on Heiquan Road, Lincui Road and east on Ao Lin Xi Lu Road. Finally south on Thanchen East Road and east on National Stadium North Road. Lap of Bird's Nest Stadium, past Aquatic Center and follow same route home. 

Finish - Dengsheng Culture & Sports Park north exit.