Hi Everyone,

After a beautiful day on Monday, we had a bit of bad luck with rain on Wednesday and Friday. Well done to everyone who braved the weather and made it out to run. (When we’re faced with major rain, we may adjust the course to run a shorter distance, loop back to St. John’s Wood and/or avoid the slippery leaves on the canal path.) I loved the Halloween running outfits especially Yianna’s flapper costume complete with dress, hat and jewellery!

This week we’re continuing with the Halloween theme as we run on Monday through the Brompton Cemetery and end at the Whole Foods in South Kensington. The Brompton Cemetery is one of those hidden London jewels! It was opened in 1840 and designed to be a garden for recreation as well as providing burial space. The cemetery covers 39 acres and 205,000 people are buried there including the famous suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. To top it off, the South Ken Whole Foods has a large seating area for sharing a post-run coffee. I hope you can join the run! Wednesday is The Wall and Friday we’re back up the hill.

Half Marathon travel update

If you’re planning on going on the trip but just haven’t booked your hotel room yet please try to book soon. It looks like we may need to add rooms to our block and we want to do that before the race registration opens and the hotel has an influx of other runners looking for rooms.

After you book please send an email to Kathy Anderson ([email protected]) with the following information: room type, roommate name (if applicable), and flight details. We want to make sure that our list matches the hotel list (and we’ve already caught a few inconsistencies so it’s important that you do this).

For example:

Hotel: Classic Double, roommate is Paula Radcliffe

Outbound flight: Friday BA 0346 departs 8:55

Inbound flight: Monday BA 0343 departs 11:50

A big thank you to Kathy for taking on this job!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 2 November – Whole Foods via Brompton Cemetery (6.5+ miles)

Today we’ll earn our post-run treat by ending at Whole Foods on the Kensington High Street!  Bring your shopping list if you want.

 

We start out the normal way to Hyde Park.  Once you enter the park, turn left and run along the east side of the park.  At Hyde Park Corner turn right and run along the south side exiting at the gate we normally use at William Street [next to the French Embassy].  Cross the street, take a right.  Turn left at Brompton Road (just past the tube) and take Brompton all the way (admiring Harrods as you pass) until Fulham Road.  Veer left on Fulham Road and continue to Brompton Cemetery.  Turn right to enter the Cemetery.  Run through the Cemetery then exit and turn right onto Old Brompton Road, then turn left onto Earls Court Road. Cross Cromwell Road, then turn right onto Cromwell Road and then turn left onto Marloes Road. Continue north on Marloes making your way through the streets to Kensington High Street.  Whole Foods will be to your right.  

 

Wednesday 4 November – The Wall (3 to 6 miles)

 

We head down towards Regents Park, then enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance and run east [left] cutting through Camden Lock Market until we run out of canal path at Islington and hit “The Wall”.  At The Wall, we turn around and head back to St. John’s Wood.  This is a great route to do a tempo run because there are no traffic lights.  But please be careful and aware of the bikes on the path.

If you run all the way to The Wall and back it is 6 miles.  But it is very easy to run half the distance if you want and turn around and head home.  As a marker, if you run to the Camden market (where we have to exit the canal path and run past the food stalls for a minute) and return home it is a 3 mile round trip.

 

Friday 6 November – The Heath (4-8 miles)

We run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition! It is hard, but you’ll feel great when you are finished.

If you are not up for a hill run yet, no problem, just let us know.  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. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

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,

Thanks for all your great feedback on the new route to Brick Lane. We had a fantastic turnout for the run and I’m so happy that all the pace groups tried the route.  We’ll add Brick Lane into the mix more often now!

This week, we’re sticking closer to home with the Hyde Park routes on Monday. There are many distance options so it’s a good way to get back into running if you’ve had some time off. Or try to add some mileage if you’ve been regularly running. Wednesday we’re doing the Kensal Rise loop and Friday is our Second Annual Halloween Costume run! Let’s dress up for Halloween – nothing too elaborate because you still have to run – but be creative! A crazy hat? A Halloween top? Last year we had some great running “costumes” and I can’t wait to see what you come up with for this year!

Good Luck Kathy!

Kathy McMahon is running the Los Angeles Half Marathon this weekend with her son. We hope you both have a great race!

WRW Shirts

We’re starting the planning for the 2016 WRW shirt. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for a fun/witty/inspirational saying for the back of the shirt. For our new runners, here’s a reminder of the shirt back from previous years:

2013 – “Run Like A Girl”

2014 – “We Run London”

2015 – “Sorry, Gotta Run!”

Stay tuned for information about how to order the shirt. We’ll be back to you with more details soon.

Save the Date

It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached the end of October already. Looking ahead we have the following runs on the schedule:

Monday 2 Nov – Whole Foods via Brompton Cemetery

Monday 9 Nov – Canal/Euston/Regents Park OR Canary Wharf

Monday 16 Nov – Putney High Street

Friday 20 Nov – Borough Market

Monday 23 Nov – Finsbury Happening Bagel via the Greenway

Monday 30 Nov – Battersea Park

Monday 7 December – Wembley

Wednesday 9 December – Christmas Lights run (early start)

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 26 October – Hyde Park  – always versatile! (5 – 8 miles)

Click here for all of the Hyde Park interactive route maps

Start:  Everybody starts the same way… head west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End Road and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove.  Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end.  Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then take the first left on Stanhope Place to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. Cross into the Park—you’ll see a silver orb just inside the Park.  After entering the Park, turn right and run towards Speaker’s Corner.

5 Milers:  follow 3 mile run. At Hyde Park Corner continue back up/north on the carriage drive.  Exit the park at the Animals in War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street, which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to SJW.

6 Milers: upon entering the park, turn right at the silver sphere and run until you meet N Carriage Road where you turn left.  Run down to the Serpentine, crossing over the bridge then left to run along the Serpentine. At the end of the Serpentine, turn left again and make your way to the eastern edge of the park.  Exit the park at the Animals in War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street, which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to SJW.

8 Milers: follow the 6-mile run but do not turn left at No Carriage Rd, instead cross over [this is tricky, be careful of the traffic] and follow until you reach the large broad walk where you turn left.  Run past Kensington Palace (on your right) and take a left to run along the southern edge of the park towards Hyde Park Corner, then turn left on the eastern edge of the park.  Exit the park at the Animals in War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street, which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to SJW.

Wednesday 28 October –  Kensal Rise (4-5+ 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, turning left on Cunningham then right on Aberdeen to work your way to the canal entrance on Bloomfield.  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 30 October – Boo!  The “Haunted” Heath (4-8 miles)

Nothing to be scared of here as we do our traditional run up the hill on Friday.  It may feel hard but your reward is the extra Halloween candy you can eat all weekend!  Dress up if you dare!

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

6-7miles:  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 all,

We had such beautiful weather this week – I loved running in the London sunshine! 

Looking ahead, Monday and Wednesday are the ASL fall holiday so we’ll start at 8:30am. We aren’t setting official routes for those days. If you want to run, just meet at Barclays and we’ll decide on the route on the day. 

Friday we have two options. The first is to run to Borough Market either by the 5-mile Hungerford Bridge route or the 6-mile Westminster Bridge route. Remember your Oyster card and some money for shopping. The second option is to stick closer to home and tackle the Hill like we usually do on Fridays.

Good Luck Sonia!

Sonia Takkar is running the Bucharest Half Marathon this weekend. Good luck Sonia! We hope you have a fantastic race!

That’s all for now – keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 5 October

Since there is no school at ASL on Monday, we’ll be on “holiday schedule”.  We’ll still be running but it may be a smaller group.  Plan to meet at Barclays for a slightly later start at 8:30.  The Monday runners get to pick the route!

Wednesday 7 October

This is also a DIY day because there is no school at ASL. Meet at Barclays at 8:30 and we’ll pick a fun route together.

Friday 9 October – Borough Market or The Hill

Option 1 – Borough Market via Hungerford Bridge – 5 miles

Head to Regents Park the usual way taking Circus Road to Charlbert. Cross Regents Park until you hit the Broad Walk turning right and following the Broad Walk until you exit at Park Crescent. Follow Portland Place south, it turns into Langham Place and then Regent Street until you get to Riccadilly Circus. At Piccadilly Circus, take Haymarket South to Cockspur Street into Trafalgar Square. At Trafalgar Square, continue south toward the Thames on Northumberland Ave. At the river, cross on the Hungerford Bridge right in front of you. At the end of the bridge, turn left to follow the The Queen’s Walk along the Thames until the path ends after the Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station. The official address is 8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL.

Option 2 – Borough Market via Westminster Bridge – 6 miles

We head to Hyde Park via the usual route. Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove.  Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end.  Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place.   Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill.  Run past the Victoria Memorial down the mall and enter St. James Park.  Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben.  Continue past Big Ben and cross Westminster Bridge. After the bridge turn left to run along the Thames until the river path ends after Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station. The official address is 8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL.

Option 3- The Hill

It’s Friday and school’s in session so if you would prefer to stay closer to home you can head up Fitzjohns. 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. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

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.

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