Hi Runners,

I hope you’re all recovered from our amazing race and ready to get back to some fun runs in London. Monday is a bank holiday so for anyone who wants to run we’ll meet at 8:30 and decide on the route in the morning. Wednesday we’re doing one of our standard routes – The Wall! Feel free to turn before the wall if you want a shorter route. On Friday let’s do something fun and head to Borough Market. For anyone who isn’t up for a destination run, you can always do the Hill.

Good Luck WRW Racers!
Good luck to the US WRW crew that is gathering in Nashville this weekend for the Half Marathon. Good luck to Jody Adams, Colleen Crescenti, Linda Dolan, Tania Grade, Catherine Henson, Julie Hersh, Lisa Hill, Emily Hillsman, Lynne Hodge, Michele Mandel, Carol Mark, Dorrie Marks, Paula Mitchell, Ariadne Petrucelli, Danja Roberts, Sue Rushmore, Diane Schlinkert, Malu Tan, and Kim Ursery (sorry if I forgot anyone). We hope you have a great race and most importantly, have fun!

Save The Date – Sights of London Run and Leaver’s Coffee Wednesday 25 May
Please mark your calendar for Wednesday 25 May for our annual Sights of London run and afterwards our coffee gathering to say “good-bye and best wishes on the next adventure” to some of our dear friends. (Sigh, I hate saying good-bye.) For anyone who is new to this, we run to Big Ben and stop along the way for some group photos at key London landmarks. Then we take the tube home to St. John’s Wood for coffee upstairs at Richoux. If you are leaving, can you let us know?

Save the Date – Running to See the Queen Wednesday 18 May
On May 18 the Queen officially opens Parliament and there is a whole splendid royal procession as she travels from Buckingham Palace to Westminster. Last year we ran down to the Mall to watch the festivities and we saw the Queen in her carriage drive by and wave to us. It was great fun! For those who want to go see the Queen, we’ll meet at Barclays at 9:45 that day. We’ll also have a regular route for those runners who want to meet at the normal time.

Save the Date – Night Out June 13
We’re planning an end-of-year evening social with spouses on Monday June 13 probably at Crocker’s Folly pub. Stay tuned for more details.

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 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 London Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday 9 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 25 September. This is supposed to be a beautiful race, but it is a bit hilly.

Thanks for reading a long email!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 2 May – BANK HOLIDAY
Meet at Barclays at 8:30 and decide as a group where to run!

Wednesday 4 May – The Wall (up to 6 miles)
Run South on Finchley/Wellington Road to the SJW Church Roundabout, follow the sidewalk to the left and cross Prince Albert Road at the crosswalk just beyond the SJW Church.  Continue east and enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance.  Run east [left], cutting through the Camden Lock Market until you run out of canal path at Islington. Touch the canal boat tunnel wall—this is The Wall!—then turn around and re-trace your steps back to SJW.  When you come of the canal at Regents Park, take Charlbert to Allitsen to SJW High Street to Starbucks. You can turn around before the wall if you want to have a shorter run.

Friday 6 May –

Option 1 – 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 2 – The Heath (4-8 miles)
Even after the ½ marathon we run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition!

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.