Hi Runners,

I hope you’re all recovered from our amazing race and ready to get back to some fun runs in London. On Monday we head to the Whole Foods in Piccadilly. This is a good route with a nice incentive of good food and good shopping at the end – what more could you ask for?! Wednesday we’re doing the Kensal Rise loop and Friday we’re back up the hill!

Keep Running
I know it’s tempting now that our big race has finished to take a break from running. Especially as life gets increasingly busy as the end of the school year approaches. However, the best thing you could do for yourself is to keep running over these last few months of the year and over the summer. You’ll hang on to the fitness level you built for the race and you’ll start the fall ready to run.

Spring, Summer or Fall race?
One of the best ways to keep running is to sign up for a race. Having that race on your calendar will motivate you to train.  Even a short local race can make a difference. Or you may want to consider signing up for a half marathon in the fall. We have a group that is doing the Royal Parks Half Marathon on 11 October. The lottery spots for that race are full but there are still charity openings if you want to commit to raise money for a charity. The Windsor Half Marathon is on 27 September. This is supposed to be a beautiful race, but it is a bit hilly.

Welcome to Ex-Beginners!
We’re excited to have the ex-beginners join our MWF group! As a reminder, we have five pace groups (8s, 9s, 10s, 11s, and 12s) but the groups are really just a simple way to organise folks who run at roughly the same pace. Most beginners start in the 11s or 12s. There is a big group of ex-beginners, so wherever you end up there will be other ex-beginners with you. We all know that joining the big group can be intimidating at first, but please know that the first day is the hardest.  Everyone is so friendly that you will quickly fit right in.  Also if you find that on the first day the group that you are in is too fast or too slow, don’t worry.  It may take a few tries to get a sense of where you should be. (It’s easier to join the MWF group in the spring, because in the fall there are many new runners that just moved to London.) As a reminder we meet at Barclays at 8:15, and we try to start running at 8:20. Let me know if you have any questions about the pace groups or the MWF group.

I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 27 April – Whole Foods Piccadilly – 6.5 miles
This is always a fun route.  We start out heading east on the canal and run to the Wall.  We’ll exit the canal there and turn right onto Rodney, which will turn into Penton Rise, then King’s Cross Road, and eventually Farringdon, which we will stay on until we reach the embankment.  We then turn right and run along Victoria Embankment to Northumberland (just past Embankment Tube Station).  Turn Right onto Northumberland and run through Trafalger Square onto Cockspur and then turn right onto Haymarket.  Take Haymarket into Piccadilly Circus and turn left onto Coventry. Run through Piccadilly Circus, cross the street and onto Glasshouse Street, where you will see Whole Foods. 

Wednesday 29 April – Kensal Rise-4-6 miles
The beginning of this run takes us along the canal to the west.  Please be aware of bikes along the canal and move into single file whenever you hear a ‘bike!’ shout.
Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal heading west and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit.  Here we turn right and run over the bridge along Chamberlayne Road to Harvist Road. Turn right on Harvist, which turns into Brondesbury Road, and take that to Kilburn High Road/Maida Vale.  Turn right and follow Maida Vale to Hall Road where you turn left and run back to Starbucks. If you want to shorten this route, run west on the canal and turn back at your desired half-way point.
(The two mile mark is at the point on the canal when the Westway highway is over our heads.)

Friday 1 May – The Heath!
It’s Friday [again!], so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles:  The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route 

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hello everyone,

We received this picture today from the official marathon photographer. I love it! Look at those smiles! When Amy saw this photo she said, “we don’t just run the world, we charm them!” Well, isn’t that the truth! I love that you can see Cecilia, our “official member of the press” on top of the photographer’s ladder. I love that the “hot mayor” is in the photo! I know this photo isn’t of everyone, that many women are either running or cheering at the last bend leading into the finish, but I think it is a great snapshot of our fantastic weekend together.

I’m still floating on a happy cloud about the weekend and feeling very grateful to know all of you. So thrilled that everyone finished the race and so many runners had their best times. The group dynamic was very positive, supportive, welcoming, fun, appreciative and happy! Thank you so much for my spectacular painting by Charlotte. I just LOVE it! What a perfect gift. THANK YOU.

Ok, now we’re back in London and we brought the Italian sun with us. This week is about enjoying your success and doing a bit of running if you are up for it. Wednesday is a slow, easy 4-mile loop in the neighbourhood. It might feel good to get your legs moving again and shake out some of the post-race rust. Friday we have two options. You can either do one of our standard flat routes – the 6-mile Notting Hill route. (If you would prefer to run 4 miles, you can follow the first part of the course along the canal until you get to the part where you are under the highway overpass and turn around and head back to St. Johns Wood.) Or the other option is to head up the hill like we usually do on Friday.

Welcome Ex-Beginners!
Love that name!  The beginners are having one last beginner run together on Thursday this week. You can follow the route we set for Wednesday or you can decide on your own route. It really might feel good to get out and go for a nice easy run. Or if you’re not up for it, you can meet the group for coffee after they finish. Next week we’ll write more about integrating into the MWF group. We know that leaving the beginner group and joining the MWF group can feel a bit scary, but we’ll help you make the transition. I promise!

LONDON MARATHON THIS SUNDAY
Darcy, Mee and Adela are running the London Marathon on Sunday 26 April. AWESOME! Please let me know if you would like to join the group going to watch. Can you also let me know if you are willing to be the organiser person on that morning?

Save the Date – Friday 5 June
Friday 5 June is our traditional “Sights of London” run followed by the end-of-year coffee to say good-bye to our WRW friends that are moving.  Can you please let us know if you are leaving at the end of the year?  (We’ll miss you!)

We’d love your help!

Please let us know if you’d like to help in any way with WRW next year. There are lots of jobs, both big and small.

That’s all for now – except to keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 20 April – Travel Day

Congratulations on your half marathon!  Enjoy a well-deserved day off.

Wednesday 22 April – Regents Park loop (4 miles)

Head down Grove End Road as though going to Hyde Park BUT at Marylebone Road, turn left and follow Marylebone Road, past Madame Tussauds, then turn left at York Bridge and right at the Outer Circle.  Follow the Outer Circle counter clockwise, all the way to the crosswalk by the US Ambassador’s House. Cross out of the Park and head to Starbucks.

Friday 24 April –

OPTION 1 – Notting Hill (4-6+ miles)

If you feel like running flat today you can do the traditional Notting Hill route.  Start out by heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square [across from Paddington Station].  Go back along the canal and out where you entered, then run back to Starbucks.

You also have the option of a shorter run by not getting off the canal. Run half the distance you want, turn around and head home. As a rule of thumb, the two mile mark is the Westway overpass.

 

OPTION 2- The Heath

If you’re up for the hill, you can take on the Heath!  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

In addition, every week there are a group of women who prefer to do a flat run.  We can help make sure that you find each other.  

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hi everyone,

What a week for WRW! The sun is shining, we’re running in short sleeves, we survived a run-in with the mighty Italian bureaucracy and we were accused of a cyber attack! (If you’re not going to Padua, you missed lots of excitement this week.) I think Stefhanie Howe said it best when she said, “this is like a Seinfeld episode!” Thanks a million trillion times to Chris Roberts and Amy Grace for helping to sort everything out!

This is our last week of training before the race! On Monday, we have a 7-mile loop through Hyde Park and Green Park and on Wednesday we have a 5-mile loop through Camden and Regent’s Park. Most of us will be gone on Friday and next Monday, but if you’re not going to the race please meet as usual and you can decide a route on the day. The next weekly email will go on Tuesday April 21 after the race.

Padua Details
Please look out for a series of emails with details about the trip including an itinerary, transport directions and the famous photo book (THANK YOU AMY!) We hope to send them over the weekend. We were planning to get you the details earlier in the week, but the health form fiasco set us back a couple of days.

London Marathon Runners – Sunday April 26
We have three fantastic runners, Adela Bello, Darcy Fautz and Mee Lee, who are running in the London Marathon this year on Sunday April 26. Let’s get a WRW group together to go watch and cheer them on. Please let me know if you can go watch the marathon on that day.

Fun Run on Saturday April 25 for Solace Women’s Aid
A group of ASL students including Meg Stone’s daughter are organising a fun run at Canons Park on Saturday April 25 at 9:00 am to support Solace Women’s Aid, which is an organisation that supports women and children affected by domestic and sexual abuse.  To participate, the organisers are asking runners to bring canned goods, toiletries or baby supplies which will go to the women in need.  Please email Meg if you and/or your family would like to participate.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 13 April
LONG RUN – Green Park Loop — 7 miles 

Head to Hyde Park the usual way and run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner.  Cross under the Wellington Arch and run down Constitution Hill to The Mall.  Run a short distance down The Mall, turn left and run along the eastern edge of Green Park to Piccadilly.  Turn left on Piccadilly and run along the northern edge of Green Park back to Hyde Park Corner.  Cross back into Hyde Park and run back up the eastern edge of the park to the Upper Brook Street exit and back to SJW via the normal route.

Wednesday, 15 April
SHORT RUN – 5 miles – This is an easy-paced run
Camden/Morningside Crescent/Regent’s Park Loop

We start out on the canal eastbound to Camden Market, where we exit the canal and turn right onto Camden High Street.  We’ll run down Camden High Street to Mornington Crescent Tube Station and veer right onto Hampstead Road, which we will take down to Euston road.  We’ll then go right on Euston to Park Square East, where we will enter Regent’s Park.  We make the first left onto Outer Circle and run around the loop to the Charlbert exit (where we enter for the canal). We’ll run up Charlbert to Allitsen, make a left, and head back to Starbucks.  

Friday 17 April
For those running in Padua, we are off to the races! No scheduled run today.  

For those not heading to Italy…

HILL RUN  The Heath

It’s Friday again, so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

In addition, every week there are a group of women who prefer to do a flat run.  We can help make sure that you find each other.  

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles:  The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes

Monday 20 April

Most of the group will be returning from Germany.  If you are not traveling  meet as usual at Barclays and pick your favourite route!