Hi everyone,
Well, this is it!  Our last big run before the race!  [on TUESDAY – don’t forget!] 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!  

Thursday you should do your regular 60 min run.  We will let you know which coach will be there with you later this week.

WRW Coffee
Reminder – this Wednesday there is a WRW coffee at Regent’s Park Cafe (near the Open Air Theatre) from 9:30-11:30.  It’s informal – come have some coffee and nibbles courtesy of WRW and start to meet other runners.  As a courtesy and to make sure it doesn’t turn into a super spreader event a week before the race, we are asking people to please do a lateral flow before coming.

There will be a big email coming out tomorrow or Tuesday with a TON of information about the race weekend – logistics, flights, tour info, etc.  So keep an eye out, read it, and let us know if you have any questions.  Sue and Micki will talk a bit about things at the coffee but all of the information will be in that email.

OK – a few things for the run this week:

• Use this run to try out what you might wear in Berlin – 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 Berlin looks to be highs in the low 50s (11-12 C) and lows in the low 40s (5-6 C).  With the race at 11:10 am, the temp will probably be in the high 40s (9-10 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.  It looks like Tuesday’s weather will actually be close to Berlin (assuming it doesn’t change between now and then!). I would personally recommend cropped tights if you have them – you will get hot in long ones.
• Bring your Oyster card or contactless card to take the tube back plus money for Starbucks and a mask for the tube
• 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 Berlin with you – we take a big group photo the morning of the race and everyone wears her hat for the photo.  In addition, 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 if you wear one.

A note about bathrooms along the Kew 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 on Tuesday!

The route:
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/3vGe1fClDw

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 Broad Walk, 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 towards Hammersmith Bridge but don’t go over it. Turn right at Rutland Grove and a quick left to head to the river, then turn right on Lower Mall to run west along the Thames.

Keep the river to your left — mostly it will be visible, but sometimes there will be houses in between you and the river. After 2 miles, as soon as you pass two boat houses in quick succession, you will come to Barnes Bridge, a railway/pedestrian bridge. Climb the bridge stairs and use the pedestrian access to cross the river to the south bank of the Thames, then continue west along the river for another 2 miles.

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!