Hi everyone,
Well, this is it!  Our last big run before the race!  You may be a bit nervous about the run, and that is normal.  You all can do this – and we know you know you can do it.  It’s a long run, and it will feel long, and that’s OK.  We will make sure you are not running too fast and we will get there and it will be AWESOME!  

WRW Coffee
Reminder – this Wednesday there is a WRW coffee at The Elgin in Maida Vale – 255 Elgin Ave, W9 1NJ from 9:30-11:30.  It’s informal – come have some coffee and nibbles courtesy of WRW and start to meet other runners.

OK – a few things for the run this week:

• Use this run to try out what you might wear in Milan – your shirt, waist pouch, hat, leggings, socks.  If the weather isn’t cooperative, it’s OK to wear different bottoms, but it would be good to wear your expected shirt so you make sure it doesn’t chafe.  We want no surprises on race day that something that worked for a 6 mile run suddenly starts chafing at 9 miles.  Right now, the weather in Milan looks to be highs in the mid-upper 60s (19-20 C) and a lows in the mid 40s (6-7 C).  With the race at 10:30 am, the temp will probably be in the mid 50s (12-13 C) to start.  If it’s sunny, it will feel warmer.  Generally, the rule of thumb is to dress like it is 15-20 degrees F warmer than the actual temperature.
• Bring your Oyster card or contactless card to take the tube back plus money for Starbucks
• Bring a gel, maybe two and maybe something like jelly beans, starbursts, etc.
• Bring water (with no electrolytes please!)
• Eat well and get a good night’s rest the night before and don’t go out partying 
• Stretch the night before if you can
• Eat something for breakfast

I’m not sure if I’ve said this to everyone already, but you do not have to wear the hat in the race if you don’t want to.  Not everyone is comfortable in the hat.  However, please do bring it to Milan with you.  If it’s sunny, you may want to have it because it will help keep the sun off your head which can make a huge difference.  It’s also a good identifier for other WRW people to connect with you and/or cheer you on in the race – some people opt to hook it on their water belt.

A note about bathrooms along the run – around mile 5, there is a Costa Coffee attached to the Hilton Hotel on the Kensington High Street (just past the intersection with Holland Road) which has a few toilets.  There is also a Starbucks at mile 5.7 but it only has a single toilet.  We are not going to plan a stop – it’s better to keep running – but if you need to stop, a coach will wait for you and other coaches will continue on with the group.If you have any questions/concerns, let one of us know.  Otherwise, we’ll see you Wednesday and/or Thursday!
The route:

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!

This is the bridge just BEFORE the bridge we exit on.  I find it useful to know what this looks like because then I know it’s the next bridge where we get off the path (and it’s distinctive):

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.  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!