Running around Bancroft - photo blog

Inspired by RLSoccerMom over at www.disneyrunning.com forum, I finally got my finger out and took some photos while out for a run...

This is my house and where the run started from. It was an unusually sunny Sunday lunchtime and I didn't have plans to run but it was so nice out that I thought - why not?

The run took me mainly along the redways which are the pride and joy of Milton Keynes: cycle or walk ways (some are even red!) that criss-cross the entire city. It is possible to get from anywhere to anywhere on these routes and sometimes you don't see any cars! This is the redway that goes along the front of my house and where I started first with a brisk walk to warm up.

Not long after I started I got to one of the infamous overpasses in MK. They can be a little scary at night but they keep walkers and cars separate so I don't mind them much.

Milton Keynes is pretty flat so this is one of the few 'hills' I have to negotiate on the route. It is hard to tell from the photo but the end of it can be quite steep. It takes me around 30 seconds to blast up this hill and around a minute to jog down. I do this a few times to complete the warmup.

I then ran up towards Bradwell Mill...
... and took this photo on the way down, with the Mill behind me. The bridge you can see is the Grand Union Canal which goes over a road (the V6 if you must know). Next to it (but not in the photo) is another bridge for pedestrians that goes over the V6 and on this bridge I've had the best running experience ever - probably the closest I've ever been to the runners' high. I had great music on and felt on top of the world while going over the bridge. Not today though, this was just an easy jog. It was a pretty day out and by now there were quite a few people out in their bikes or walking. I was even starting to sweat.
This redway used to be a railway line so it's a long, straight path. I've run down it before but not today - at least not in this direction!


I decided to take the canal bridge rather than the pedestrian bridge today, as it was so pretty out, so here is the canal...
... and this is what the canal behind me looks like.


I followed the canal for a bit and then cut into the old railway run, in the direction of Wolverton. It's generally a long straight run with trees all around (and mud). It's pretty quiet here so I usually do crazy things like sprint or skip or anything else I don't dare to do while others may see me. I followed it until the road bears left and onto a residential area.

Hey - my self-timer works! It took me only two shots to get this one of me running along the redway in Blue Bridge. I was getting a little warm in my jacket by now but it was a breezy so I was glad I was wearing it whenever I ducked into shade.

This is downhill now - notice just how muddy it all is and how green the grass is from all the rain. The sky is blue but don't let that deceive you, it was fairly cool out there.

Eventually I arrive at Bancroft Park and here it is in all it's glory - can you see the patch of daffodils on the left hand side?


Bancroft Park holds the remains of an ancient Roman villa and I love running past and imagining what this house would have looked like way back when... It's also slightly downhill at this point so it's a nice break.

Here I am running (well, pretending to run!) across the bridge from Bancroft Park and into Bancroft proper. The little stream below the bridge is pretty high from all the rain and there is quite a bit of flooding around. Good job the bridge is pretty wide.

Here is the redway as it follows the little stream in Bancroft park. It is lovely out by now and I had some great music on so I was truly pounding the ground and enjoying the run.


Milton Keynes's most famous inhabitants - the Concrete Cows! They are the butt of many jokes about MK but most people here are quite proud of them. I like living near them and keep an eye on the cows, because they have been vandalized quite a bit. But here they are, looking quite peaceful in their field. I say goodbye to the cows and move on...
...to take on the last 'hill' before I get home. It may not be very steep but it's quite long and is a takes a good effort to get to the top.

The street where I live! All those trees will be covered with cherry blossom in the next month or so and it looks so lovely then. As it is now the trees look a bit sad but I can see my house from here!

Made it back! A good stretch before going in for a shower and a well-earned chocolate milk. After measuring the distance on MapMyRun I work out that this loop was just short of 5k, which was very easy and pleasant. It's so nice to be running outside again and hopefully the spring is on it's way...

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of my neighborhood! I didn't go very far at all from my house, the run is like two loops one inside of the other. I'll do some more photos next time I do a different route!