London Bridges Half Marathon - Take 2

A year ago I did a made-up Half Marathon in central London. That time it was a loop, starting in Westminster, heading east and crossing every bridge to Tower Hill, then reversing to Chelsea bridge and looping back to Westminster.

This year I tried an alternative and more straightforward version. Starting at Tower Bridge I headed west, again crossing every bridge once until 13.1 miles just after Fulham Football Stadium. It's a more interesting route as there's twice as much to see without having to go back over the same ground. The only disadvantage is starting and ending at different points. I solved this by walking a mile and a half from the finish to Hammersmith, which, like Tower Hill, is also on the District Line.

Best time to do it is early Sunday morning when the Thames Path is quiet before the hordes of tourists take over. Here's the full route plan...

elevation_profile - London Bridges Half Marathon 2.jpg

  • Start at Tower Hill Underground Station.

  • Cross Tower Bridge (S), now start heading west back towards Westminster

  • Cross London Bridge (N), head west

  • Cross Southwark Bridge (S), head west

  • Cross the Millenium Footbridge (N), head west

  • Cross Blackfriars Bridge (S), head west

  • Cross Waterloo Bridge (N), head west

  • Cross Hungerford Footbridge (S), head west

  • Cross Westminster Bridge (N), head west

  • Cross Lambeth Bridge (S), head west

  • Cross Vauxhall Bridge (N), head west

  • Cross Chelsea Bridge (S), head west

  • Cross Albert Bridge (N), head west

  • Cross Battersea Bridge (S), head west

  • Cross Wandsworth Bridge (N), head west

  • Cross Fulham Railway Bridge Footpath, (S), head west

  • Cross Putney Bridge (N), head west

(N) and (S) represent direction of travel across the bridge (North) / (South)

Richard gowerRun, Half Marathon, London, Middlesex, EnglandComment