A few days ago I called in at the Duke to ask whether they were doing anything for the Virgin Marathon this weekend. And yes, they are serving pre-race breakfasts from 8 - 9 am. So, if you fancy an early Sunday morning breakfast followed by a roadside vantage point of the race, give them a call to book on 0208 649 8260.
Bear in mind, though, that the anticipated closure times for traffic on Creek Road are from 7:00 to 14:00 so transport might be awkward. Also, though pedestrians will be able to get across the Road before the runners come past, you will be pretty much confined to the north side of the road for a few hours. You will of course be able to repair to the hostelry for drinks and refreshments or saunter off for a pleasant riverside stroll*.
(The crossing points, listed as open until 9:15 are situated between Glaisher Street/Gonson Street, at the bottom of Norman Road and at the end of the High Street/Watergate Street. Further upstream, you can cross Evelyn Street by Abinger Grove/Grove Street until 9:20.)
I also bumped into a friend on the Ha'penny Hatch as she was returning from a training run and she said that there would also be a bunch of locals by the 8-mile marker point - that's by the Surrey Canal bridge/KFC. And the very best of luck to her!
The expected times for the élite women and men at the 7-mile mark are listed here
* A wee update: I've read somewhere - and I can't remember where** - that the Greenwich foot tunnel will be closed for maintenance on Sunday. This will mean that you will have a hard job getting to see the runners on the Isle of Dogs just before the 17 mile point . I'll leave you to ponder the wisdom of shutting the tunnel to pedestrians and cyclists at a time when transport will already be disrupted.
**EDIT: I found it: here's the text about the foot tunnel from a leaflet on the road closures:
Due to maintenance work the Greenwich Foot Tunnel will be CLOSED on Sunday 25th April. A free Thames Clipper Shuttle will take marathon spectators north from Greenwich Pier to Canary Wharf Pier between 10:00am and 12:20pm. Those wishing to travel north to south (Isle of Dogs to Greenwich) should use DLR services from Island Gardens.
trying to find out if l can get on and off The Isle of Dogs on Sunday Marathon, l happen to live there and cant find out anything
ReplyDeleteAnon, I couldn't find anything on the Virginlondonmarathon.com site, and all I could find on the Tower Hamlets Council site was a link to the marathon site. From the route closure leaflet I managed to pick up at a route-side pub, it looks as though the Marathon doesn't go further east then East Ferry Road, so Manchester Road should be open. The problem then being that the map is not detailed enough to show whether you can get away via the roundabout on Aspen Way - from the map it looks as though the course goes halfway round the roundabout and I've no idea whether they're allowing traffic the wrong way around the roundabout. So, Tower Hamlets, fail. Virgin, fail.
ReplyDeleteThe foot tunnel is going to be shut. A free Thames Clipper Shuttle from Greenwich Pier to Canary Whart Pier will take spectators north between 10:00 and 12:30 so that they can watch later stages of the race. So you might be able to catch one of the shuttle return trips.
The leaflet does say that there will be ''Facilitated Out All Day'' (I assume the out means getting away) points on Westferry Road/Byng Street and Westferry Road/Spindrift Ave - though I don't know where that's going to take you.