ListingsUpdated Sat 24 Oct
Sports events in London this week
Things to do rather than things to watch, mostly: skating, swimming outdoors all year, bowling, darts and the walks long enough to count. The spectator fixtures that are free from the pavement, the marathon and the Boat Race among them, are here too.
What to expect
23 listings filed under Sport. The busiest rooms are Alexandra Palace, Electric Ballroom and Hyde Park. Concentrated in Shoreditch, Mayfair and Alexandra Palace.
Nearby
Every listing here has been checked against the venue that is putting it on.
Showing free. Clear
Saturday
24 October-
Sport Free
Towpath walk: Paddington Basin to Little Venice
Twenty minutes of canal that most people who work here never walk. Comes out at the pool where three waterways meet, with the narrowboats and the puppet theatre barge.
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Sport Free
Dogs on Hampstead Heath
Eight hundred acres, off lead almost everywhere, and the one swimming pond dogs are allowed in is not one of the bathing ponds. Busiest at the Parliament Hill end on a weekend morning.
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Sport Free
Dogs in Richmond Park
The largest of the royal parks and the one with the deer, which is why dogs must be on a lead in May and June and in September and October. The gates open and close with the light.
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Sport Free
Dogs in Battersea Park
Flat, walled, and small enough to do a full circuit in half an hour, with the river along one side and a cafe at each end. The one park on this list you can reach on foot from a station.
Friday
25 December-
Seasonal Free
Christmas Day walk in St James’s Park
There are no trains and no buses on Christmas Day, so the centre belongs to whoever walked. The park is open, the pelicans are in, and Horse Guards is empty enough to photograph.
Sunday
11 April-
Seasonal Free
The Boat Race
Four and a quarter miles from Putney to Mortlake, free from either bank, and over in about twenty minutes. Hammersmith Bridge and Furnivall Gardens are the good spots.
Saturday
24 April-
Seasonal Free
London Marathon
Until 25 Apr
Free to watch anywhere along twenty six miles. Cutty Sark at mile six and Tower Bridge at twelve are the loudest; the Mall is ticketed grandstands and a wall of people.
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Seasonal Free
Watching the marathon at Tower Bridge
Until 25 Apr
Mile twelve, and the best half mile of the course to stand on. Get there by half nine: the bridge closes to traffic and the north side fills first.
Sunday
25 April-
Seasonal Free
London Marathon
Free to watch anywhere along twenty six miles. Cutty Sark at mile six and Tower Bridge at twelve are the loudest; the Mall is ticketed grandstands and a wall of people.
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Seasonal Free
Watching the marathon at Tower Bridge
Mile twelve, and the best half mile of the course to stand on. Get there by half nine: the bridge closes to traffic and the north side fills first.