Lords of the Ring

The Loop as seen through the eyes of RW’S intrepid team

Leg 7 Kingston Bridge to Hayes and Harlington ( 12 miles)

Runners: Will Dupré, Ben

Bailey ‘Our night leg was hilarious. At one point we were literally running in circles in the pitch black of Bushy Park, with only each other, headtorches and lots of deer for company. An hour later we almost ducked as dawn planes came in to land right over our heads at Heathrow. It was a bold, brilliant and bloody tiring run.’ BB

Leg 6 Banstead Downs to Kingston Bridge ( 11 miles)

Runners: John Pickup, Adrian Murphy ‘ Doing the 11 miles between Banstead and Kingston at 2am was never going to be your average run. At night, the green space along the Hogsmill felt remote, but lowlevel mist made for a magical atmosphere. The highlight, though, was chatting to some drunken youths on Kingston Bridge and inspiring one of them to get up for parkrun the next day.’ JP

Leg 8 Hayes and Harlington to Upminster ( 7.5 miles)

Runners: Selena Ng, Kai

Ng ‘ This was a lovely, fast and flat route alongside many canals full of narrowboats, fishermen and swans with their signets nestling close by.’ SN

Leg 5 Hamsey Green to Banstead Downs ( 10.5 miles)

Runners: George Bull, Chris Pearson ‘ The London Loop, by night or day, is an amazing way to see the city with fresh eyes. On our night leg, we heard owls hooting, saw foxes, passed an observatory, ran through what felt like a wooded valley and crossed a dual carriageway. It’s all part of the fabric of the place we live in.’ GB

Leg 10 Moor Park to Elstree & Borehamwood ( 12 miles)

Runners: Anna Mcnuff,

Andy Baddeley ‘ It felt like we were miles away from everything. Big highlights for me were Anna Mcnuff’s tremendous company and the lovely stretch alongside Aldenham Reservoir.’ AB

Leg 4 West Wickham Common to Whyteleafe ( 10 miles)

Runners: Tom Suddaby,

Rick Pearson ‘ Despite the fact it was almost entirely uphill, this part of the Loop is superb. We had glorious panoramas, rogue wildlife and utter remoteness. To run it is to look at Croydon – and the capital in general – through new eyes.’ RP

Leg 12 Cockfosters to Enfield Lock (9.5 miles)

Runners: Susie Chan, Cat Simpson, Laura Fountain, Sophie Raworth ‘ I had never heard of the London Loop until now. We started at Cockfosters tube station and ran nine miles to Enfield Lock – all on beautiful trails. It’s a hidden gem of a route.’ SR

Leg 13 Enfield Lock to Chigwell (8.5 miles)

Runners: Jane Maguire, Scarlett Wrench ‘At times, the London Loop felt like I was doing my Duke of Edinburgh award. It was muddy and I was lost, but I was having so much fun. For 24 hours, Loop took over my life and by following all the runners, and sharing their journeys with our readers, I discovered parts of London I didn’t know existed.’ JM

Leg 3 Petts Wood to West Wickham Common (9 miles)

Runners: Tariq Knight, Georgina Pearson ‘ I never thought that I would describe a route from Petts Wood to Hayes as thrilling, but in the darkness, away from any residential sounds, and faced with the constant threat of protruding roots, that’s exactly what it was.’ GP

Leg 2 Bexley to Petts Wood ( 7 miles)

Runners: John Carroll, Alison Hamlett, Lisa Harlen, Jason Ochoa ‘ This was a wondrous stretch. The light was fading, the air was country clear, the birds sang with abandon, the woods were cool and the fox we saw had a rich, full coat that attested to a diet involving no rummaging in bins.’ JC

Leg 15 Harold Wood to Purfleet ( 13 miles)

Runners: Peter Hutchinson, Jeff Pyrah ‘As we waited, the clock ticked down to 1:30 remaining... no chance of beating 24 hours. So we decided to enjoy it. The last five miles, along the Thames Estuary, were lovely, and then the end at Purfleet was in sight. We stopped the clock and then, without breaking stride, jumped on the bus to the pub.’ JP

Leg 1 Erith to Bexley (8.5 miles)

Runners: Joe Mackie, Jake O’hear ‘ We were swiftly out of sleepy Erith and enjoying sunset views over the Thames to a surprisingly wild and magnificent-looking north bank. As the Queen Elizabeth II bridge at the Dartford Crossing loomed into view, we turned inland, hugging tributaries and hidden forest paths that only occasionally spat us out into the concrete world.’ JM