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Graffitied London Smile

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014

Graffitied London Smile

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Posted in: Photography | Tagged: Art, graffiti, london, Smile, street art, Thames

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8 thoughts on “Graffitied London Smile”

Angeline M says:
April 2, 2014 at 2:26 pm

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This is great!
- James Dunn -- Coffee and Countries says:
  April 2, 2014 at 2:28 pm
  
  Reply
  
  I know right! Must have taken someone ages to create
Rincewind says:
April 2, 2014 at 6:45 pm

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This is so way cool!
RebellRed says:
April 8, 2014 at 8:23 pm

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Reblogged this on Rebell Red Arts and commented:
Check this out, Smile 😀 Always. Smiles change the World! ❤ RR
restlessjo says:
April 9, 2014 at 12:59 pm

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My smile’s a bit like that, some days, James 🙂
It’s brilliant!
- James Dunn -- Coffee and Countries says:
  April 11, 2014 at 1:49 pm
  
  Reply
  
  With London landmarks on it….?
Renate says:
April 20, 2014 at 9:38 pm

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This is so amazing!
I love London so much, especially for these little things.
- James Dunn -- Coffee and Countries says:
  May 1, 2014 at 9:25 am
  
  Reply
  
  Me too! I don’t like London as a place to live (having done in for a while) but parts like this make you love visiting it

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Why Snowdon? • A few people taking part in our Staircase Summit Challenge have asked why Snowdon was the mountain I picked as the source of the challenge? • Well in truth it’s because of the view at the top of it. From the summit you can see Elephant Mountain, or Mynydd Mawr to give it its Welsh name, in all its glory. It is a mountain so interwoven with my childhood and the grief I felt following the loss of my Nain that it is almost part of the family to me. • When I was a child my Nain (Grandmother in Welsh) would tell me the tale of a mountain nestled in the heart of Snowdonia. Under the mountain was a sleeping elephant she would tell me, covered in rock and grass. I would listen; wide eyed and naively enthralled as my young heart fell in love with the story she spun. • Flash forward to the night she died and as I left her house for the final time I looked up at the very same mountain, the full moon lingered lovingly over it. The pale white glow illuminating the mountain’s silhouette, like a worldly candle lit in remembrance as a woman, whose life had been lived in the shadow of that mountain, became but memories to us. • I’ve written two blog posts this week about last year’s Snowdonia Marathon which you can read by clicking the link in my bio. It has taken me six months two write about it because of the hardships I had to endure during it, including dealing with that grief head on. My Nain lived on the course and every year I did it I would pop in for a coffee but not last year, the house had been hollowed out by times cruel claw. So I avoided reliving it by not writing about it. • However, having this challenge do so well and the swell of support it’s created gave me the motivation to finally write about it and it has felt incredibly cathartic. So to all you amazing people who have signed up so far I cannot thank you enough 💙 • • #runningblogger #runningismytherapy #igrunners #runhappy #snowdonia #snowdoniamarathon #runnersofinstagram #marathoneryri #runnerscommunity #runtogether

Hi There 👋 • I thought since I’ve gained a few extra followers from the Staircase Summit Challenge that I would do a bit of an introduction and what better way to do it than in @brickrunners form! • So back in 2015 I was 20 stone, little to no desire to do anything active and I had just had my heart broken and lost one of my biggest influences; my granny. In the voids left behind my depression which I’ve battled with my entire adult life swallowed me whole. • But in this despair I found running because, honestly, I needed something to save me. I lost 6 stone, gained a whole new armour against mental battles and found an incredible community that is mind bogglingly supportive. • It’s also lead me to do weird and wonderful things like; run 23 marathon all over the world, walk across a country and last year I finished the toughest foot race on the planet; Marathon des Sables. • This is where my Brick Runner is from and if you slide to the next photo you’ll see what he’s based off. Thanks again @susie_chan_ for taking the photo and sorry again for verbally abusing you straight afterwards 😂 • My plan for later this year, which is still Corona dependent, will be to run 20 marathons in 20 days all across the UK. I don’t know how it will look now but where there’s a will, there’s a way! • All of these ridiculous adventures have been a direct result of the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other. • I know times are unbelievably tough right now but it is in times like these we remember who we are and what drives us. I can’t wait to see where putting one foot in front of the other will lead in the future but right now it is leading me up the stairs to complete the three peak challenge!! • • #brickrunners #igrunners #marathondessables #mds #mds2019 #runnersofinstagram #runchat #runningtransformation #runningcommunity #weightlossjourney #runhappy #runhappyteam #mentalheath #runningismytherapy #runtogether #runtoinspire #runningmotivation #staircasesummitchallenge #runhappyathome

View from the Top! • 5,425 steps later and I am so so happy to have reached the summit of Snowdon via my creaky, slippy staircase! • But what has had me smiling like a Cheshire Cat since this challenge launched on Monday is seeing all the other amazing people summiting their stairs too. • I came to @run.the.usa with this crazy idea and we though maybe 50 people would take part so we are completely gobsmacked with the 300+ of you taking to your stairs. From @mental_health_runner doing the three peaks in 6 hours worth of climbing, @the_buggy_runners_diary climbing Snowdon with her kids and @knight.running heading up Everest! If you want to take part and see how far you can climb too just click on the link in my bio. • So now I’ve finished on my initial aim of summitting Snowdon, I’m not stopping now. Three Peaks here I come, whose joining....? • • #runhappyathome #snowdonstairschallenge #staircasesummitchallenge #brooksrunning #igrunners #runnersofinstagram #snowdon #snowdonia #mountainlove #ramblersgb #hikersofinstagram #ukrunchat #runningblogger #covid #coronachallenge #trainrunning #trailrunner #hikerslife #runhappy #blogger

Staircase Summit Challenge • So I know a few of you amazing people are going to join my climb up Snowdon challenge via your staircase on Monday and it's safe to say I am beyond excited! • My friend @run.the.usa from @rasselbock.running, who I walked across Luxembourg with a few weeks ago, has kindly built us a kick ass website (LINK IN MY BIO) which means we can incredibly easily track and record our steps along the way. • It also has different mountains to conquer with how many steps until you reach the next summit and a big leaderboard to see how we are all doing. It’s all totally free to use with no strings attached, just a chance to support and bring people together in this difficult and distancing time • There is even Mount Kilimanjaro and Everest if you are feeling VERY fit... *cough* @knight.running *cough* • Also massive shout out to @nattyrat and @kirsten_dolby_pt who have already conquered their summits in one bloody day!! • • Just to be clear in this world of #ad myself and Eric are doing this as part of the @brooksrunninguk #runhappyathome challenge but this website has no affiliated links only that both of us are members of their Run Happy Team. • • #runhappy #snowdon #snowdonstairschallenge #igrunners #coronachallenge #runnersofinstagram #instarunners #runstagram #runhappyteam #runtogether #trailrunning #snowdonia @northwaleslive @likethewindmag #runningmotivation #climbing #homeworkout @ordnancesurvey

HONESTY TIME • So here is something that I’ve not really admitted out-loud to many people; I cannot ride a bike. • I never learnt as a kid because I would avoid any form of exercise whenever I could until eventually everyone stopped asking if I wanted to learn. By the time I was old enough to learn by myself I was overweight and far too self conscious to ask for help so I never tried again. • I have been avoiding it so much I have developed a complex about doing it. Coming up with excuses as to why I couldn’t join that Sunday afternoon ride or jump on a Boris bikes and travel round London instead of just telling the truth through fear of being laughed at. • I made it one of my goals for last year to learnt but would always find an excuse as to why not bit in all honestly it was because I was scared of failing. • But now we are in isolation there are no more excuse as to why not and I finally faced my fear head on this afternoon. • Today was lesson one, in a series during isolation to try and get me confident in riding a bike so maybe in the future I’ll be able to say yes to that group ride to the pub, obviously once the virus has blown over! • Luckily my partner, whose bike I used, is an incredible patient teacher as I have minor freak outs and grumps as I wobbled and struggled to balance at the start but by the end of the half an hour I was able to cycle (just once) 15 metres unaided and managed to stop myself at the end. • That may sound laughable to all of you amazing triathletes and biking legends but today felt like a huge and rather monumental achievement. • Perhaps it’s time to sign up for Prudential Ride 100 in 2021? 😂😂 • • #learningtorideabike #cycling #runnersofinstagram #motivation #nevertooold #girohelmets #igrunners #ukrunchat #runningblogger #blogger #learning #facingfears #cyclegram

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