Tomorrow sees London's first proper half-marathon, and this Londonista will be plodding around the new route in the east of our fair city. The capital has of course always boasted a world-beating marathon course, and earlier this year we acquired our very own dedicated 10k. So it makes sense that we get a half-marathon too. Tomorrow's 'Run To The Beat' course will snake around no less then three olympic/paralympic venues. The weather looks as......

Sport is sometimes accused of taking itself too seriously, but Saturday evening will see a historic London landmark welcoming elite athletes, dogged semi-professionals and high-spirited amateurs alike to the second running of the Smithsfield Nocturne cycling event. Last year's occasion attracted 5000 spectators to the bars and barriers around the 1km course despite heavy rain and was such a success that further similar events around the UK, including perhaps one in Canary Wharf, are......

As previewed here, many of the capital's roads were shut off today to allow for the first proper 10k around the centre of town, which followed part of the marathon route for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. This Londonista signed up to do the race, run by the organisers of the Marathon. Torrential rain engulfed the course - there was a serious deluge from beginning to end, with some hefty winds......

At Londonist we would be mortified if we thought you were sat at home bored on a bank holiday Monday morning. So what could be better than nipping out for a coffee in town and catching 12,500 runners at a huge 10k race? The first 'London 10,000' run will start at 10am on Monday morning. The course begins and finishes at St James's Park, following a loop along the north bank of the river......

Aren’t old people delightful? So feisty! Such spunk! When they’re not threatening your five-year-old with an iron bar, they might be off practising kung fu on would-be teen muggers (and quite rightly – punks) or dispensing advice to lad mag readers. This much is clear: retirement just isn’t what it used to be. Witness Buster Martin, the 101-year-old with an invincibility complex. And no wonder. After first gaining notoriety for refusing to take a......

Last full week before Christmas, we expect your bank account's feeling the strain. All that Christmas shopping and partying taking its toll? If you want to make the most of being out and about before Christmas cabin fever and complete exhaustion set in then we're here to help. Monday: Keep the braincells going through silly season. Go to the free lecture at Gresham College about why our society rewards celebrities, fads and fashions and......

We've not lately delved into what's been bubbling away in the run-up to London's elections next year. So Wilkommen, Bienvenu, Welcome to this new and possibly occasional feature to catch up with what's going on out there. Let's have a rummage and see who's up and who's down: Mayor Ken fights back in a hefty spat with Evening Standard over a hatchet-job on his race advisor. Standard's tactics are questionable, but the story went......

Buttery spread brand Flora, sponsor of the London Marathon, has decided that its bread is better buttered elsewhere. After a 14-year association with the event, Flora has indicated that it will give up its sponsorship following the 2009 race. A delightful investment opportunity for those of you with £12 million lying around! Promoting itself as a heart-healthy butter alternative by placing its name on the hundreds of thousands of, presumably heart-healthy, runners doggedly completing......

Advent is upon us. Hanukkah starts on Wednesday. Office parties are already everywhere. Tis the season to be jolly, jolly, jolly but we know this can be draining, emotionally and financially. Don't let the state of your wallet throw you over the edge. We can't afford to buy tickets to the BFI IMAX all-nighter next weekend and we're not allowed to enter our own competition. But we can do the following splendid things for......

Isn’t it too early for winter? You’ll risk hypothermia if you’re outside this week, so stay in and watch the telly. Isn’t that really the best option? On TV, Londonist likes: Tuesday, 20 November & Wednesday, 21 November The Eight Hundred Million Pound Railway Station (BBC2, 22:00-22:30) The next two parts of this series on the brand spanking new St. Pancras station look at the race to finish the station on time. Apparently, the......

Here’s what we’ve learnt out and about this weekend (while you’ve been shivering indoors trying to find your thermals): The RSPB would like us count robins this year We’ve given up counting the number of shootings each weekend. The police should count themselves lucky that they have apparently found Rachel Nickell’s killer at last. Mayoral race entrants: 3 and counting as Paddick joins the fray We’re losing count of the ins and outs of......

Rapha makes clothing for serious cyclists - the couriers, the racers, the hardcore fundraisers pedalling over the Andes. They are also organising one of the most unusual events we've had the privilege of hearing about: this Saturday is the second Rapha Roller Race Culture Clash which is "a four-way clash between teams of bicycle couriers, cycle journalists, media folk and a ‘dark horse’ Dutch team made up of unnamed riders." And before you try......

It’s cold outside this week, so it seems like the best plan is to cozy up on the couch and watch some telly. Why would you want to risk frostbite? On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 12 November I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here (ITV1, 21:00-22:30) It’s off to the jungle yet again with Ant & Dec as they guide a new group of “celebs” through as many disgusting tasks as you’d......

26. Going Underground Urban legends of the more sinister variety have always intrigued me, so continuous whispers and friend-of-a-friend tales concerning a mutant race of beings inhabiting the dark tunnel systems, sewers and subterranean passages beneath the capital are always welcome, even if unfounded (despite rumours circulating as far back as the nineteenth century). However, one thing us folklorists do know is that the underbelly of the city is teeming with all manner of......

New writing theatre company Paines Plough are presenting an absolutely cracking new way to see plays this autumn and making us think that there should be more theatre programmed like this. New writing, an exciting theatre space, a sensible time slot, a hot snack and a drink are all included in the ticket price and you can be on your way having had your culture fix by 8pm when other theatres are raising the......

At Londonist we are often chuffed when Londoners 'do quite well'. At least initially. Like most Brits, we love The Underdog - right up until that moment when they become A Loser. Then we slag them off vitriolically, sit arms-crossed in a huff on our collective sofa, mumble that we "never liked them anyway" and promptly forget all about them when the next Underdog comes along. What's cockney for 'schadenfreude' anyway? When Shirley MacLaine......

Of all the things Brits can be proud of - great roasts, telephones, Shakespeare - the African Slave Trade is most definitely not one of them. Fortunately, it was abolished 200 years ago, which for the record is 41 years up on our neighbours, the French (well, actually they abolished it before us, but then decided to re-instate it until 1848). To mark this momentious occasion and indeed achievements of the black community in general,......

We love a play on words at Londonist so we're delighted to tell you that the third Tree-athlon hits Battersea Park tomorrow. Taking it's etymology from the triathlon but spinning it towards the event's beneficiaries - the trees - charity Trees for Cities will be raising money in a tripartite manner: 1. A 5k run for registered tree-athletes - sponsor/donate here 2. An urban "tree wish" for each registered runners printed on their bib......

Sting starts Thames race, then goes from river police to rhythm Police, as the old band reunites for Twickenham concert. The real police are going to start using lie detectors in Lambeth (to detect trapeze artists). Trafalgar Square pigeon congestion charge gets an extended zone. Puma sighting. Again. This is getting tedious now. Can someone spot something more original like a numbat or a vampire octopus? Image of The Gathering Scottish festival courtesy of......

We've only just finished telling you tales of dragons flying over London. Now they're sailing our seas. Well, dragon boats are anyway. Not just any dragon boat. This boat just happened to break the world record for crossing the Channel, helped by a woman from South London. Dicky Robinson from Wandsworth helped the all female 'Sisterhood' team sail to victory. They're now the first all female team to sale the channel in a dragon......

Kate Monro is working on a book about that most intimate subject: how people lose their virginity. She's interviewed Londoners old and young, male and female, gay, straight, Muslim and Roman Catholic, able and non-able bodied. And she's always on the lookout for, ahem, a new angle... Why are you so curious about how people lost their virginity? I’m nosy! No, seriously, it came to me in a light bulb moment. A friend and......

Actually Scotch is not so common in Ealing at the moment. It seems that picnickers in Walpole Park, W5, had a bit of a shock last week when they had their Pimms/lager and lime/whatever confiscated by pernickety Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's). We know not whether the jobsworths in question were thirsty, just plain bored, or the ultimate in over-zealous – complaints have been made, and the ensuing investigation will surely reveal all. Now......

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness – we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts......

Young Vic Theatre amongst international finalists for Riba architecture prize Climate change activists target Heathrow What would they make of the Red Bull air race, over the Thames? 8 year-old black belt was told he'd never play sport Hazel Blears reopens enquiry into new Thames bridge Image courtesy of ro_nya via the Londonist flickr group.......

We've only just recovered from the groin strain and hangovers of The Chap and Hendricks Olympiad and now another alcoholic silly sporting event has come along. Just as well we are all still in fine form after training so strenuously for the golden bowler hat in Bedford Square; time now for London's tipsy athletes to head over to Finsbury Square this Thursday afternoon for the Pimms Urban Regatta. Pimms is hosting a Henley on......

Londonist loved Treasure Hunt. It was so exciting. Annika Rice running around in a jump suit, cameraman Graham up her arse and a shiny helicopter to scoot from one end of Wiltshire to the other solving clues, avoiding scary Wincy Willis and hunting for, what was usually rubbish, treasure. Sadly, Treasure Hunt and even its successor, Interceptor (Annabel Croft and nowhere near as good) have long gone but you can relive the thrill of......

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the (insert tongue firmly into cheek) hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic......

Given that a member of Transport for London's Special Projects Team had assured us in his interview only a couple of weeks ago that the celebrated Tour De France publicity caravan would be commencing its parade around the Prologue circuit at 1:30 pm last Saturday we were more than a little startled when, as we sauntered gently along Constitution Hill at about ten past one, the first klaxons blared, heralding the arrival of a......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

We think everybody who attended Saturday's sun-soaked Tour de France Prologue would agree that, on the whole, it was a well-organised, popular success. However, with the shadow of the Olympics hanging over every large scale sporting happening in London between now and 2012 our experiences at the race lead us to believe that there are still a few important tweaks that could be made for events like this in the lead up to the......