Every runner knows that the best way to see a city is to run it. Better yet ... run that city with someone who knows the place inside and out and can point out all the little sights and historical tidbits that you'd otherwise miss. Which is why the recently launched Secret Runs London is such an exciting concept. 

Hayden Shearman caught up with cofounders Amy Coats and Vanessa Cain about how they've combined their self-confessed "running and history nerdy-ness" to form Secret Runs London.  
 
The London walking tour is something of an institution, but what sparked your interest in starting a running/jogging tour?
We love running, exploring, and telling stories. And there’s so much about iconic London that people just don’t know.
 
We’ve both travelled a lot—for work and play—and always take our running shoes. There is nothing like getting a sweat on and truly waking up before an important meeting, or working up an appetite for a local food feast. But all too often, they end up unused or pounding the hotel gym treadmill—very boring! 
 
If you don’t know much about the city, it’s hard to know where to go to make the most of your time. You could be dodging hordes of tourists or feeling unsafe in a dodgy part of town, or getting lost and ending up late for the meeting. If you’ve just got a few days to spend, and want to learn about the city you’re visiting, whilst getting in a bit of exercise, running tours are ideal.
 
So we found sight jogging—a combination of running and urban exploration—perfect! And it’s getting pretty big. Most capitals worldwide have a serious and thriving sight jogging scene. But there’s not much up and running in London. Which is strange because people in London—both visitors and dwellers—love exploring and doing fun stuff; murder mystery challenges, experiential theatre and cinema, and general pop-up fun.
 
We both studied history and philosophy at university and we love learning about the lives and tales of times gone by. So Vanessa and I decided to put our running and history nerdy-ness to good use! We show people a different side to London.

And what about the "Secret" in the title? Without giving away the punchline, what mysteries can runners expect to uncover on the tours? 
London is an amazing and iconic city. But behind every famous sight lies a dazzlingly rich history, and some incredible stories. Tales that are tucked behind walls and beneath pavements, through gateways and down stairs, under rickety cobbles and surrounded by grand facades. 
 
It’s a shame that you can be standing in a spot where some amazing tales have been lived and never know it! We know a lot about these secret sights and hidden histories, and we want to share them. 
 
For example, one of our tours explores the area south of the City, which has historically been the preferred place for all the activities that the city didn’t want within its wealthier boundaries. For example, with the leather industry came an influx of people, poverty and unrivalled stench from the craft. We visit a number of signs to show what life was like in this era, including the remains of the Marshalsea—the debtors gaol inhabited by Charles Dickens’ family when he was 12 years old.
 
Speaking of mysteries, can you help with the mystery of why my marathon PB refuses to budge?!?
Urm… *cough * age? *cough* sorry, can’t help you there - some mysteries will never be solved!
 
Let's go back a little, what got you into running?
Both of us have very different running backgrounds! I used to hate and dread P.E. at school, especially team sports. My two buddies and I would hide in the girls' toilets to avoid it! But near the end of school, and when I got to uni, I started running to get out moving and rid of some stress between studying. I think then I realised that running is about freedom—no one’s telling you when, where and for how long. It’s pure freedom, and free endorphins, and I started to love it! 
 
Vanessa is basically the opposite, she’s been hugely into team sports since she was little, so running has always been great training for hockey, netball, basketball etc. I gawk in disbelief when she tells me stories of how their knees used to bleed with the cold at matches on winter mornings.
 
Since we met on our first day at university, Vanessa and I have done lots of running together—obstacle course race like Spartan challenge, beer belly running events, marathons, and just generally pootling round the big smoke.
 
What do you love about being a runner in London? 
London is one of the most diverse, buzzing, and cultural cities in the world. On top of that, it also ranks in the top five for greatest proportion of green public space, so as well as being an urban jungle with tons of nooks to explore, you’re never too far from a bit of grass to run on. 
 
Although running can be great for having some away from it all, it’s also nice because there are generally lots of runners about, whatever time of day.
 
Aside from one (or three) of your running tours, what is the must-run spot (a park, canal, cemetery?!) in London for visiting runners? 
I’d say Battersea Park. It’s just lovely, all year round. Beautiful old tress, fountains, lakes, tropical gardens, and lots of quiet spots to stop for a stretch, as well as water fountains and clean loos! Run the peace mile along the river and past a giant golden Buddha statue, and you can often smell incense burning. If you go near dusk, you can see the old candy yellow and baby blue Albert Bridge, stunningly lit up. [Read more on running in Battersea Park.]

Do runners need to be at a certain fitness level to enjoy the Secret London Runs? 
Nope, not at all. It’s all about exploring at your own pace and having fun. We have a quick talk at the start about the pace people prefer. The group tours generally have around 3 to 5 people, so it’s easy to adjust the pace to make sure everyone’s happy, and gets a decent run without being too breathless to enjoy the stories along the way.
 
Some people prefer to run and listen as they go but most people prefer to stop and listen to the guide, so there are plenty of breaks!
 
Is it just for visitors or can locals come along too?
Both! Sightjogging helps you make the most of your time here—whether you’re a tourist or a Londoner. We’ve been featured in TripAdvisor, Timeout, Londonist, and lots of other websites aimed at helping find out what’s on, whether they live here or are just visiting.

Secret London Runs is a company that gives guided running tours, exploring London’s secret sights and hidden history. www.secretlondonruns.com ​

By Paul Browning // Cemeteries may seem odd places to run—and the relatively bleak regimented lines of modern cemeteries are probably places to avoid—but many of London’s Victorian cemeteries make ideal locations: peaceful, off-road running, with an incredible range of flora and fauna.

Southeast London has two fantastic examples: Nunhead and Brockley & Ladywell. 

Nunhead is one of London’s Magnificent Seven, nothing to do with the classic 1960s Western with Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen, but the series of large Victorian Cemeteries created in the 1840s around the, then, periphery of London, as the city’s churchyards became full.  

Nunhead was sadly neglected and closed for decades by its private owners before being restored by Southwark Council with Heritage Lottery funding and re-opened in 2001.  It is a lovely mixture of heavily over-grown, quite formal and some fantastic vistas, such as this one of St Paul’s Cathedral.

The excellent Go Feet Blog has already suggested a running route around Nunhead so I will cover its younger sibling.

Brockely and Ladywell was originally two cemeteries that opened in 1858 within a month or two of each other. Serving two neighbouring local authorities, they were originally separated by a wall and became a single unit after WWII. There are around 17,000 graves there.

When I run at Brockley and Ladywell I rarely have a route in my mind, I just ‘drift’ and see where my feet take me, pausing to either try to find a particular grave or to look at an inscription.

If you want a structured run around the cemetery, I would start with a 1.2 mile loop that largely follows the perimeter. There are clear paths for most of this except needing to cross a grassed area close to Ivy Road where the original boundary wall between the two cemeteries lay. Towards the end of the loop, at the top of a path coming in from your right, is the Hillier family tomb—one of those buried there was George Lacy Hillier who was for a time the fastest British amateur cyclist. 

Follow the main ‘road’ back into the cemetery, keeping slightly to the right of the ‘cross of sacrifice’ WWI memorial to another low walled WWI memorial around some carefully manicured grass—somewhere I always pause.  It includes the names of Alfred Figes (who served as William Word) and may well have been the oldest WWI soldier, and Charles Cox, an Army Cyclist, whom I wrote about in Running Past.

You could then pass the grave of decadent poet Ernest Dowson, who once observed that "absinthe makes the tart grow fonder." Close by, and often masked by long grass in summer is the grave of the Cuban anarchist and writer, Fernando Tarrida del Mármol.  After running through a wooded area you will see a clearing which has a tall column and an almost cherubic figure on top, you’ll need to be careful going across the graves to get there.  It is a memorial to Jane Clouson who was brutally murdered in Eltham in 1871.  It was a story I wrote about a few months ago in Running Past.

After a visit to the Brockely WWI memorial, which is just beyond the Clouson Memorial, slightly retrace your steps and head back towards the start.  You will have covered around a couple of miles in total. If you want to extend your run there are plenty of more paths in the cemetery or a couple of excellent local parks (Hilly Fields and Ladywell Fields).  If you want a longer run, Nunhead Cemetery is just over a mile away to the west.

The same route is never the same run; a path that can seem bleak in the winter, may have naturalised flowers climbing and tumbling over graves in the summer, a golden carpet of fallen leaves in the autumn that requires a little more care when running or have a mass of croci in the spring. 

A few words of warning though, don’t let your running intrude on the grief or remembrance of others, always give funerals a wide berth and try to do the same with those visiting graves of loved ones. 

GETTING THERE
Nearest Stations: Crofton Park about 5 minutes walk away from the Brockley Road entrance, Brockley is about 10 minutes from the same entrance, and Ladywell Stations is about 10 minutes walk from the Ladywell Road entrance. 

Buses: The buses convenient for the Brockley Road entrance are: 122, 171, 172; P4 and 122 with a short from Prendergast School down St Cyprians Passage and then left along Ivy Road) are those best for the Ladywell Road gate.
Car: There is limited parking at the Ladywell Road entrance – the postcode for satnavs is SE13 7HY.

OPENING HOURS
March to October: 10am–4.30 pm daily
November to February: 10am–3.30pm daily

FINDING OUT MORE
If you want to find out more about London cemeteries a great place to start is one of my favourite blogs, Flickering Lamps. As for Ladywell and Brockley, their ‘Friends’ have an excellent website, as do Nunhead’s Friends.