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If you’re fed up with plodding along with your Great Gorilla Run training preparations on flat ground and think it’s time to test your mettle against some urban hills, then Hampstead Heath’s the place for you Great Gorilla.
Big enough and wild enough to get lost in, Hampstead Heath hardly feels like Central London, except of course when you hit the high point of Parliament Hill, and the grandeur of the city-scape, from Canary Wharf in the East, to the TV transmitter in Croyden and who knows what out in the West, opens up before your very eyes.
It’s got to be one of the best views in the UK. Urban yes, and obviously unable to compete with numerous wild epics such as say the Glens of Scotland, but still awesome in its own very special way.
Once you know your way around the heath you could easily do a 7km circuit (the distance of the Great Gorilla Run) without covering the same ground twice. So get out there Great Gorillas and check out one of the few really wild parts of London.
And if you’re out running on an early morning (when I happen to think the Heath’s at it’s best) keep your eyes open for a silver-haired, bearded man creeping around in the bushes.
No, I’m not talking about one of the mythical Hampstead Heath flashers…
But instead you might just be lucky enough to come across Great Gorilla Run legend Bill Oddie, out doing some birdwatching. Hampstead Heath’s his local ‘patch’ – birding talk for a place he goes checking our feathered friends regularly.
And on that note, here’s an ornithological fact about the Heath…
If you hear a loud screeching noise that reminds you of the parrots or macaws you see David Attenborough talking about on TV, well give yourself a little pat on the back because you’re not far wrong.
The noisy ones are Ring-necked parakeets, beautiful green birds from the parrot family that escaped from collections in the early 20th Century and which are now well on their way to colonising the UK.
Really pretty they are so keep your eyes peeled as you run and check the skies if you hear the screech.
CROSS-TRAINING OPTION – HAMPSTEAD HEATH SWIMMING PONDS
If it’s a nice day and you want to mix up your training programme, bring your trunks or costume and take a dip in the famous Hampstead Heath swimming ponds.
POST-RUN PIG-OUT RECOMMENDATION
The Bull and Last, 168 Highgate Road, Kentish Town, NW5 1QS
Excellent food and just across the road from the tennis courts at the bottom of Parliament Hill – enjoy!
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