Category: East London

I love parkrun I do I can’t deny it. I love its simplicity. I love how inclusive it can be. And I love that it is always there, even when I am not. And most recently I have not been there that much at all. Saturday mornings have become problematic for me…with my 4 and…

Did I ever tell you story about when I was 10 years old and I cycled from my home in Upton Park to Barking on my new BMX bike and somehow ended up on the motorway and had to be rescued by the police who escorted me away from the busy traffic? Then there was…

I think I have something wrong with me. A defective gene, or weird programming from when I was a child that constantly has me thinking… Oh…I wonder if I could do that? Even if the thing is completely ridiculous in its scale, or timing wise bang in the middle of a really hectic time, I…

Before I became a blogger I worked as a project manager, on all kinds of projects in the arts, community programmes and volunteering. For around 8 years I worked on London 2012 related projects, delivering consultation projects that helped local communities understand the changes that were happing, or finding ways of getting older people involved….

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t even know who Jo Pavey was until the 2012 Olympic Games…I didn’t know much about athletics full stop before then. I can remember reading something about her winning the 10K meter gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich, just ten months after giving birth to her…

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics coming to my neighbourhood played a massive role in me finding the joy in sport. Living and working around the emerging Olympic Park as it turned from urban wasteland to a global mega event destination made me fall in love with my city even more, and I feel privileged…

I am a proud Londoner, I always have been. London is in my blood, it’s in my bones (as Adele sings in her song about the River Lea) as at least 5 generations of my family have lived in this wonderful city. The only time I’ve ever lived outside was when I was studying for…

My alarm went off at 5.45 am. I was child free. And I did not have to travel anywhere far today, I was up early so I could fit exercise into my day. It was cold. It was dark. I was tired. But I had committed to doing CrossFit this morning, and I had told…

Now I live in the city of London, and of course there are hills…but believe you me, I do everything I can to avoid them. I know, I know, hills are good for me, and help me develop strength and endurance…I just dislike them OK??? Well yesterday I couldn’t have avoided them even if I had…

Ten years ago I took part in a sport that just a year prior I had never heard of. I entered into a strange tribe of lycra clad athletes who all looked like they knew what they were doing. And not only that they all had incredible bodies, strong, long limbs…washboard stomachs and broad shoulders….