Hello Runners!
What a week.
I’ve delayed sending this e-mail as things continue to change so rapidly. At the moment there is no official advice to prevent or discourage our meeting up and continuing to run, so long as we are following guidance on self-isolation if one of us, or someone in our family, is feeling unwell with fever, a dry cough, or breathing difficulties (though as someone pointed out, running up Fitzjohn is not the right time to assess whether you are short of breath!). We will keep sending routes and encouragement as long as being out and about falls within public health guidance. We know you all will do what you need to in terms of taking care of yourselves and your families, as well as keeping up with our responsibilities to public health.
In thinking about our disappointment over the weekend, and looking at the photos you sent this week, I was struck again by how we smile, and run, and take care of each other through it all. If you didn’t see this on our WRW Facebook page, here is a “cheer up” slideshow from the photos you’ve sent in over the last weeks of our training.
Running this week. Monday was our planned 11-mile run to Kew Gardens, and we’ve heard from quite a few people who are still keen to go on this favourite annual trek! So we’re keeping that on the schedule. But of course you are welcome to switch gears to a different route if you’re not interested in pushing to this training milestone. Wednesday we are planning to do the Primrose Hill to Regents Park 5+mile route. And Friday we’ll go back up to the Heath, but head for a change of scenery in the Pergola for about 6.5 miles. All maps and directions can be found in the Routes section below.
Important change to meet-up time/place!! As ASL has now closed school until at least April 17, we will move to the 8:30 meetup time, as we generally do when there is no school for one reason or another. In addition, thinking both about public health and perceptions, we have decided to disperse our morning meet-up so we are not such a big group massing on the Barclays corner. Let’s be sure this is just a temporary measure– we will all come together again for our morning meet-up whenever this virus dies down! In the meantime, here’s the new arrangement:
8’s will meet in the courtyard next to the old Post Office (across the street from Barclays)
9’s will meet in front of the SJW tube stop
10’s will meet in front of the Duke of York (across the street from Pret)
11’s will meet at Barclays as usual.
Shoutouts. I first want to say an immense, slightly teary thank you to all of you from those of us– particularly Carolyn, Sue, Amy and myself– who’ve been involved in planning the race, as well as in the decisions over the last several days. You have been SO gracious, supportive, positive, and appreciative! We’ve appreciated every single note and word you’ve offered. You are an exceptional group of women, and we each feel lucky to get to run with you and serve WRW.
Another thanks to Magali for organising our Elgin breakfast last week– that was lovely, and such a great opportunity to come together after the news of the day before. And though I hope we will have the chance to do a celebration dinner and properly recognise all who worked on the ‘race that never was’– I can’t miss thanking a few people right here, right now, just in case. As you know, Carolyn worked tirelessly both planning and cancelling plans regarding everything around the trip. Sue has spreadsheets of her spreadsheets from keeping all of our data straight. Amy spent countless hours putting together our annual photo directory, in addition to the countless other things she already does for us! Marissa designed and procured such fabulous kit– we would have looked amazing all running together! Megan has a BAFTA-worthy video ready for our entertainment. Julie, Mariya and Devy organised tours and meals, respectively, working initially to expand capacity to include our huge numbers, and then going back and securing refunds for us when we had to cancel. This was a fantastic, efficient, great team working behind the scenes, and I hope we have the opportunity to give them all the appreciation they deserve, in person!
Looking ahead. We all know that things are changing daily at this point. For the time being, it seems like running is one of the things we can still do– as it’s outside and not a contact sport. This article in Runner’s World is encouraging, saying “it’s safer to be outside than inside when it comes to disease transmission.” But of course we know some may not be comfortable coming out to run with the group, or perhaps not able to, given school closure. Know that we understand and support everyone’s personal decision in these matters! We will continue to watch for the latest guidance, and will make any changes to our running plans as necessary. In the short term, that may mean the Routes Team will work out a new schedule with runs that rely less on public transportation. It’s reasonable to assume that at some point our schedule may be disrupted, but we will get through that together, too!
Stay healthy and sane through all of this, and keep your connections to each other tight no matter what your physical distance! Sending each of you my best,
xx Micki
ROUTES
Monday, 16 March – Kew Gardens (11 miles)
Bring your Oyster or contactless card and wear running shoes you don’t mind getting muddy if you have them! You’ll be feeling exhilarated as we do our 11 mile run to the cute village of Kew. We start out the normal way running to Hyde Park. Once in the park, we’ll turn to the left and run down the main walkway as we regularly do, to Hyde Park Corner. At the end of the walk, turn right to follow the main cross route in the park—beware of the bike lane! When this ends at West Carriage Drive, cross the road at the crossing and continue on the pathway towards the southwest corner of Kensington Gardens. We’ll run out of the park at the Broadwalk, turning right onto Kensington High Street and continue for about two miles until we reach the Hammersmith Tube gyratory. Run counter clockwise towards the left, ending up on Queen Caroline Street which gets you to St. Paul’s Church green. Run along the green to the right, heading to and crossing over Hammersmith Bridge. Exit Hammersmith Bridge Road to your left, go down the stairs and run under the bridge onto the Thames footpath. Now it’s time to enjoy the view as we run along the Thames for almost four miles—it’s beautiful! We will exit at the Kew Bridge, see photo below:
Run UNDER the bridge and then turn left, past a couple of tiny shops and garages. Run through the small parking lot until you see the stone steps leading to the top of the bridge.
At the top of the steps turn right towards town (not back over the river) and run along this road [Kew Road] for about a third of a mile until you reach a 3-way intersection. Here there are two options. Option 1 is on the route map but option 2 may be easier to remember. The distance is the same. Option 1 – At the 3-way intersection, veer left on Mortlake Road, then shortly thereafter turn right on Cumberland Road, which will merge into Kew Gardens Road. You’ll do a turn to the left onto Station Approach [follow the Kew Gardens Station signs]. There is a Starbucks around the small bend where we’ll all meet up to congratulate ourselves on such a great run! Option 2 – At the 3-way intersection, veer right and follow Kew Road along the boundary wall to Kew Gardens until you reach the first main pedestrian entrance to Kew Gardens, the Victoria Gate. Across from Victoria Gate, is Lichfield Road (it is only sign posted on the left-hand corner). Follow Lichfield Road straight into Kew village. Starbucks is on the left where we’ll all meet up to congratulate ourselves on such a great run!
Wednesday, 18 March – Primrose Hill/Regents Park (5+ miles)
Start out as if we’re headed for the Heath, running down St Johns Wood Terrace until it reaches the T. Turn left, then right, then left again at Avenue Rd. At the crossing just a short distance up Avenue Rd, cross over and run down Elsworthy Rd a short distance until you see a small road on the right that ends in the entrance to Primrose Hill park. Once in the park take the path that angles to the left, then bear right at the first fork and left at the second. This will take you up for a fantastic view from the top of Primrose Hill. After you’ve caught your breath, take the path that goes down on the right (if you are looking out toward London), then curve around to the left at the first split. Follow this path all the way down the hill to the crossing at Prince Albert Rd. Cross at the zebra and head straight into the park via the bridge and across the Outer Circle (NOT a zebra, please note!). In Regents Park, take the path that angles to the left, running behind the zoo. Cross the Broad Walk by the fountain and continue across on the path that heads toward, but not all the way to, the perimeter of the park. Follow this to the far corner, and then turn right to run along the southern edge of the park, inside the fence. Continue to follow this around the boating pond to run across the little bridge at the far end of the pond, then bear right to follow the contour of the pond to its end. Continue on the same path until it meets the diagonal path that runs behind the zoo (the same one we ran in on). Turn left to follow that to its end and then turn left onto the Outer Circle and follow it for a short distance to the crossing at Charlbert. Exit the park and take Charlbert to St Johns Wood Terrace to finish at our Starbucks/Pret corner of the High Street.
Friday, 20 March – The Heath Pergola (6.3 mile)Head out from Barclays to Avenue Road, then up Fitzjohn’s per all the Heath routes.
Continue past Hampstead Tube Station all the way to the roundabout just beyond Whitestone Pond. At the roundabout, use the pedestrian crossings to cross counterclockwise over to New End Way to Jack Straws Castle (now a personal training gym) and continue past the parking lot entrance and past the bus stop to turn left onto a small street called Inverforth Close. A short way down, there is a trail to the right with a green barrier gate and a sign that says “The Hill Garden.” Here are pictures of the trail:
Follow this trail until you come to an entrance on the left for “The Hill Garden and Pergola”, enter it and go to the right around the big bushes. You will see a beautiful reflecting pool. Run alongside it and up the stairs-you are on the Pergola! Run or walk the length of the Pergola. Don’t forget to look at the beautiful views, admire the flowers and take a pic or two. Please be considerate and don’t run if others are walking the Pergola. When you have finished with your Pergola time and reached the far end, take the stairs down and turn left to run on the wide trail back to New End Road, turning right to run by Jack Straws Castle and crossing left at the pedestrian crosswalks by the roundabout to put you back on the standard Heath route. Turn left from the crosswalk and then right to enter the Heath. Run the wide path as usual but don’t turn left to run up Parliament Hill. Instead, veer right at that juncture and follow the trail across the ponds. After the ponds, the trail veers left and shortly after there is an opportunity to take a right turn on the intersecting trail that heads towards E. Heath Rd (taking you next to the fields used for the Art Fair, parking etc at different times of the year). Cross E. Heath Rd at the pedestrian crossing, then run on Downshire Hill Rd to Haverstock Hill Rd. Turn Left on Haverstock Hill, running home the usual way (turn right on Belsize Ave, left on Lancaster Grove, right on Crossfield, right on Adamson, then cut through the Swiss Cottage public area by the Hampstead Theatre, turning onto Fitzjohns to St Johns Wood Park Rd to St Johns Wood Terrace and then to Starbucks).
And of course there are always the other Heath routes if you prefer:
4 miles: A great way to ease into running the hill. Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6+ miles: The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route OR Pergola route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles: The full Heath route
Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.