London - Hampton Court Palace

Last weekend we decided to combine sightseeing with doing another good deed. We took up the challenge of the Tesco 10km run for cancer research. The bonus with this race was the location - a palace. This was where Henry VIII lived and had also been the home of King William III and Queen Mary II.

Steve & Claire, in the race uniform, Tesco t-shirts

The race itself wound its way round the gardens of the palace (whilst dodging the resident 200 Deer) as well as the palace golf course and a short stint along the River Thames as well. No hills in sight which was a welcome difference from our last race at Greenwich! Considering the lack of training beforehand we were both very happy with our performances.

The palace

After the race we took the opportunity to have a look through the palace, and a walk through the ornate gardens.

Gardens

The gardeners are kept very busy, pruning the trees into mushroom shapes

Again, the palace had a maze, thus we had to have a race to the centre. On the back of the last maze challenge at Leeds Castle, Claire decided to let me have 10 seconds head start. Claire again claimed victory, although a 3rd umpire may have decided otherwise. Note: For the record, Steve was 1st past the post, but lost on adjusted time.

Claire claiming victory