MEMORY LANES
Returning to the place we grew up always brings up mixed emotions. When I head back to Abingdon, Oxfordshire, on the last part of the drive to the Parents’ house – passing a cycle/foot path and bland housing estates – one thing always crosses my mind: why did I make that my running route? Abingdon is pretty unremarkable as far as market towns go, but it has a huge plus: the Thames runs through it and, being fairly small, the towpath quickly takes you out into the countryside.