Where to run in Delhi : Lodhi Art Colony

For those of you familiar with Delhi, you’ll know that there are parks and monuments a’plenty in the city, and we have a lot to be grateful for.

So please don’t look at me askance when I suggest a non-park, non-green-space, non-monument-y running route.

Trust me 🙂
The quiet government-housing area known as Lodhi Colony, just south of the Lodhi Gardens, has, over the past few years, become an urban canvas for street art.

The huge walls of the buildings lend themselves to large-scale paintings and they certainly brighten up the otherwise slightly peeling, slightly dingy, drab walls.

I’ve run around this area before, criss-crossing the streets, but there was a whole new batch of street art carried out over the winter which I hadn’t yet seen.

So, 2 days ago, i cajoled my young partner-in-crime, Ripu Daman, to join me and off we trotted to explore the latest murals.

What makes running round Lodhi Art Colony so good is its location. You can park safely and securely at the Lodhi Gardens and walk down.

There are loos galore in the Lodhi Gardens, too, so it makes a great starting point.

Accessible, clean loos are VITAL for runners, imho, which is why I always consider them in any route recce.

The streets in Lodhi Colony are nice and wide & the pavements are actually unencroached-upon (unlike my ‘hood, where the pavements have been taken over as parking lots 🙁 )

I love the architecture here, especially the high arches, with trees growing through them, and which have been happily incorporated into the art installations.

If you’re looking for a short, slow run this area is great.

Ripu and I trotted slowly up and down each and every street, pausing to take photos, to admire the art, to critique the art 😛 and it made for a very easy-going, safe 6 or 7km. I hardly noticed the time or the distance, since there was so much to look at.

Walk back up to the Lodhi Gardens and from there it’s a short, easy walk to Khan Market for breakfast. There’s also the India Habitat Centre, that is also open early for hungry runners.

So, yes, a good place for an easy, relaxed run.

Plus there’s some seriously cool art on offer.

Here are a few more favourites:

And my absolute favourite – this charming whimsical look at India:

So, now you know.

A nice, safe venue for a short-ish run – though obviously you could make it as long as you pleased, by running around the colony several times. We went early-morning, though not that early.

A few vendors were around, had we felt the need for juice or a snack.

The streets were blessedly quiet, there was precious little traffic, and the locals hardly gave us a second glance. 2 ill-matched runners, stopping every few minutes to take photos – of no interest whatsoever!