The London Marathon

by Billy Reeves

1. Arr. 0940 (Dep 1011) Cutty Sark DLR, to be near the ‘Red Start’ - 0945 for the ‘Elite Men’ (EM) - eastbound on Charlton Way. Watch there for about 15 minutes until the EM go back westbound towards Evelyn Street.

Take the 10:11 DLR to Canary Wharf Tube station, at 1031 change for the Jubilee for Canada Water, arrive there at 1034.

Canary Wharf. Getty Images

2. Arr 1034 (Dep 1038) Canada Water tube. Not much time here: the EM runners will then follow the course of the river to the north east. Watch them disappear, then pop back to Canada Water to take the 1038 tube (Jubilee) to London Bridge tube, arrives at 1042.

3. Arr 1042 (Dep 1100) London Bridge tube. You should just be in time to trot to the west side of Tower Bridge (still south of the river) and watch the EM run over the bridge to the north. You then need to try and beat them to Canary Wharf, as they turn right on the north side of the river towards the Docklands on the Highway.

So back to London Bridge tube, and take the Jubilee at 1100 under the river to Canary Wharf. This’ll take about 15 minutes, so you should arrive ahead of the leading EM pack.

4. Arr 1114 (Dep 1134) Canary Wharf. The runners will go south towards Mudchute, then as they return and go past you (EM at about 1125, the north side of the tower this time), you need to trot back to Canary Wharf DLR to get the 1134 DLR train to Bank.

The finishing point at The Mall (Getty)

5. Arr 1142 (Dep Temple1148 ) Bank/Monument: walk the short distance to get a good view; then you need to be at Temple tube by 1148 to take a two minute journey by the Circle or District line to Embankment under the river, to then walk the short distance down to The Mall to catch the winner of the EM at about 1155/noon.

6. The Mall (Arr Noon). So, you’ll have done the course in about 2 hours and 20 minutes, but instead of injuring your knees, you’ll have read a good book.

ENJOY!

Caveat: Please be aware that the times quoted are likely to change a bit, given that the Marathon’s on, so this is a (hopeful) guide based on ‘normal’ Sunday times…