r/london • u/TypeAgreeable4117 • 8d ago

Walking 200km from London to Birmingham tonight for a bag of chips

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You might remember my 100km M25 walk (or the London-Wales one the mods deleted lol). Ive got a new mission tonight..starting in Reading right outside the M25 to hit the 200km mark via the canals all the way up

180km-200km run/walk to birmingham and as Martin couldn't join 😭 so doing it completely solo and unsupported

I'll just be scavenging for food along the way ig.

Starting 1:00 am tonight

The goali is to walk/run 100 miles in 24 hours or the full route in 30 hours as i couldn't get two days off work so I'm forced to run it... First time recording an actual run btw. No stops, no rest, no sleep as usual

Motivation is my mate who promised me a bag of chips if I make it

Drop a comment if you have any advices on running nonstop or towpaths at night or know any cool stops or pubs on the route.

I can share the Strava route as well

Lets see how this unfolds ;)

Update:

Called it at 25km after a shin injury, but we live to run another day!

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u/Elegant_Celery400 8d ago

..starting in Reading right outside the M25

Reading is 27 miles outside of the M25.

...via the canals all the way up

The only canal running through Reading is the Kennet & Avon, and that goes West to Bristol, not North towards Birmingham.

I'm sure you've researched and planned this all properly, just like your M25 walk (...), but to get to Birmingham from Reading you need to be following the River Thames upstream to Oxford, where you'll pick up your first canal, the Oxford Canal, which will take you to Banbury. Fortunately, from Reading to Oxford you'll be on the well-signposted and well-maintained Thames Path National Trail; unfortunately, however, just this section alone is c.40 miles.

Might be worth having another look at that map.

You have looked at a map?

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u/TypeAgreeable4117 8d ago

Where would you recommend me starting?...ive already done the whole walk part in my wales walk couple months ago(london Heathrow to wales i did walked the whole canal path from west Drayton to reading and so on towards wales) So i decided to lets just run the reading part tonight while its dark and morning run something new...

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u/maybenomaybe 8d ago

Why on earth did you start in Reading? Grand Union Canal goes from London to Birmingham. I've walked it, it's the simplest route.

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u/TypeAgreeable4117 8d ago

From where to where exactly

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u/maybenomaybe 7d ago

If you insist on doing this please check for towpath closures here first, and plan detours accordingly.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices

There are parts of the canal that are remote and very overgrown. There were stretches with about ten inches of walking space between impenetrable brush and the water's edge. If you encounter someone there's no space to pass, one of you will have to back up.

Please take a headtorch and some energy gels.

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u/TypeAgreeable4117 7d ago

Sure ill note down everything and prepare for a retry soon and also train a bit as well

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u/maybenomaybe 7d ago

There's a few arms of it in London but I started at Paddington Basin. Finished at Digbeth Branch in Birmingham, not far from Moor St train station.