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Whenever I travel I always take my running shoes. Pounding the hotel treadmill is all well and good for fitness, but getting out and hitting the streets is really what I like. Not just good for the heart and lungs, running gives you an alternative way to experience where you are, and, if you run early or late, fresh eyes on your particular locale. Finding myself for a night in Tokyo it was with this in mind that I decided to seek out a running route I had read about on the Web and wanted to try out for quite some time; the Tokyo Imperial Palace circuit. Tokyo Imperial Palace sits obstinately in the midst of the city, a bold stalwart in the face of development and the ever-surging modernity around it. Surrounded by a moat, the pavements that circumnavigate this imperial residence make for an ideal run within the concrete, glass and neon world of the capital. At 5 km (3.2 miles) for a complete loop you can pick your poison in terms of how hard or long you want to go. The frequent water fountains, toilets and iconic sites (think British Embassy, National Museum of Modern Art and Tokyo Tower) make the miles slip by. There are even markers in the sidewalk that represent the prefectures of Japan, should you need further distraction. The ever increasing popularity of this run mean that there is unofficial etiquette to follow; run anti-clockwise and in single file. However, being a Thursday and early in the day I think it would have been fine to go in either direction. A chilly but fun, safe and satisfying 10km urban jaunt in one of the world’s premier cities.
