1 – 5 May 2017 Running Info

Hi Everyone,
I enjoyed the run to the Pergola on Friday! We’re going to encourage this run throughout the spring so hopefully it can become one of our standard Heath routes. (Thanks to Kathy McMahon for writing the new route!) 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. (Be careful of the bikes – they can be very aggressive at this time of year!) Friday we’re back up the hill to the Heath.
RSVP – Adventure Run Next Monday 8 May
An adventure run means that we ride the train to a location at the start of the run and then we take the train home at the end of the run. This means that if you are doing the run we are NOT meeting at Barclays – see the details below. (If you can’t do this run, there will be a group that meets at Barclays and decides on a route of their choice.) We’ve done this run twice and it has become a favourite of many people. We run along the Thames path for pretty much the entire way and it’s a beautiful route. Plus you can’t beat coffee at the Palace cafe when you’re done. Block out the entire morning or more if you want to stay for a long coffee afterwards.
If you’re planning to attend, please email wrwlondon@gmail.com so we know to look out for you at the station. But please be aware that we are not waiting for anyone. You must be on time to catch this train or we’re leaving without you.
Here’s the plan: We’ll meet at the Finchley Road and Frognal Overground Station at 8:30 for the 8:41 train to Richmond. We will arrive in Richmond by 9:15 to start our run. (You can take a bus up Finchley Road to the station or take the tube to Finchley Road, turn left and walk up to the Overground Station.) When we arrive in Richmond we’ll run along the Thames all the way to Hampton Court Palace. (The entire run is approximately 8 miles or you can exit at the Horse Fair bridge for a 6-mile route and take a train from Kingston station.) We’ll have all the details about the route in the email next week. We’ll take the train back to London Waterloo from the Hampton Court train station. The train runs every 30 minutes, at 24 and 54 past the hour from Hampton Court and it is an approximately 40 minute train ride back to London Waterloo.
Save The Date – Sights of London Run and Leaver’s Coffee Friday 19 May
Please mark your calendar for Friday 19 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?
Running as the Thinking Person’s Sport
Thanks to Meg Stone for pointing out this article in the NY Times about an interesting study that found that running exercises your mind as well as your muscles. I love this quote,
In particular, the scientists noted more connectivity in the runners than in the inactive men between parts of the brain that aid in working memory, multitasking, attention, decision-making, and the processing of visual and other sensory information. There also, interestingly, was less activity among the runners in a part of the brain that tends to indicate lack of focus and mind wandering.
So now I have another reason to encourage you to run – it will make you smarter! Here’s the link to the full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/well/move/running-as-the-thinking-persons-sport.html?emc=eta1
Have a nice Bank Holiday weekend and keep running,
Jane
ROUTES
Monday 1 May – Bank Holiday

Let the family make YOU breakfast while you run with WRW!  Anybody around, meet at Barclays at 8:30 and decide your route.

Wednesday 3 May – The Wall (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.  Touch the canal boat tunnel wall—this is The Wall!—then turn around and re-trace your steps back to SJW.  You can turn around before the Wall if you want to have a shorter run.

 

TheWall.png

Friday 5 May – The Heath

It’s Friday [again!], so everyone up the hill! 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. If you are not up for a hill run, ask around at Barclays; every week there is a group who prefer to do a flat run and you can decide together which flat route to tackle.

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+ miles:  The Partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The Full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

24 – 28 April 2017 Running Info

Hi Everyone,

It’s been nice to be back running in the London sunshine. I know that this time of year gets very busy, but try to block the time to run with the group. I’m sure that you’ll be glad you did. We’ve planned some fun runs for the spring including a few new routes – see a list upcoming runs below. This week on Monday we’re running to the Whole Foods in Piccadilly. We head out the canal and then through Farringdon to the Embankment. Farringdon can be a bit crowded, but it’s worth it to get to the Embankment and then end for a nice coffee at Whole Foods. There is seating upstairs and also lots of tables outside if it’s nice day. Wednesday is the Notting Hill route and Friday we’re trying a new Heath route. We’re heading to the West Heath to see the amazing Pergola. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth the run up the hill! Take a look at the map, most of the route will be familiar from our standard Heath routes. As always, you can choose a different route if you prefer.

Good Luck Marathon Runners!
Good luck to Stephanie Gladis and Mandeep Rai who are running the London Marathon on Sunday. We hope you have a great race!

Well done racers!
Congratulations to Dinae Norris who completed the Philadelphia half marathon and to Shan Mercer who completed the Yorkshire half marathon. You are awesome!

Save The Date – Sights of London Run and Leaver’s Coffee Friday 19 May
Please mark your calendar for Friday 19 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?

London Landmarks half marathon
London has announced it is hosting a new half marathon on 25 March 2018. Just so you know, that is one of our top choices for a date for our WRW race next year. Most European races won’t announce their spring 2018 dates until the summer so we don’t know for certain the date of the 2018 WRW race. Unfortunately, we can’t choose the London race because it will likely fill quickly and we need a race that has plenty of available space in the fall so that all our new runners and new beginners can join.

Save the Date
Mark your calendars for some great runs that we have planned at the end of year. Especially note the Adventure Run to Hampton Court Palace on 8 May – you’ll need to plan extra time that day because we take the train both ways. This is an amazing run, so it is worth the time!

Monday 24 April – Whole Food Piccadilly
Friday 28 April – West Heath and the Pergola – New Route!
Monday 8 May – ADVENTURE RUN – Richmond to Hampton Court Palace
Friday 12 May – Borough Market
Monday 15 May – Happening Bagel in Finsbury Park
Friday 19 May – Sights of London and Leaver’s Coffee
Wednesday 31 May – Sloane Square, Embankment, Westminster
Monday 5 June – Tower Bridge – New Route!
Monday 12 June – One last run to Big Ben!
Wednesday 14 June – Last official day of WRW for 2016-2017

One last Half Zip available
I keep forgetting to make the announcement, but we have one last WRW long-sleeved Half Zip top available in size Extra-Small. The cost is £50. The first person to email me, gets it. Thanks so much!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 24 April  – Whole Foods Piccadilly (6.5 miles)

This is fun destination route. How can you resist a fun run that ends up with delicious and healthy food options to bring home? Don’t forget your cash and tube card!  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 Trafalgar Square onto Cockspur and then turn right onto Haymarket. Take Haymarket into Piccadilly Circus and turn left onto Coventry. Run through Piccadilly Circus, across the street and onto Glasshouse Street, where you will see Whole Foods Market.

Wednesday, 26 April  – Notting Hill (6 miles)
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. Cross Portobello Road and continue on what is now Colville Terrace until it meets Ledbury Road where we turn right and then left at Westbourne Grove. Run down Westbourne Grove to the top of Bishop’s Bridge, then left down the steps into Sheldon Square (across from the Paddington Station entrance). Stay along the canal to where you entered, then run back on Blomfield to SJW and Starbucks.

Friday, 28 April  – Heath Pergola (6 miles)

So, a new addition to our Heath repertoire this week!  We’ll first head to the very cool Pergola in the West Heath, then double back slightly to enter the East Heath and run a variation of our standard run.

Head out from Barclays to Avenue Road, then up Fitzjohn’s per all the Heath routes.  Continue past Hampstead Tube Station all the way to the roundabout just beyond Whitestone Pond.  At the roundabout, use the pedestrian crossings to cross over to New End Way to Jack Straws Castle (now a personal training gym) and continue past the parking lot entrance and past the bus stop to turn left into a wide trail entrance.  This trail will take you to the edge of the Pergola.  It is worth your time to walk up and see the views from the Pergola, which can also be a rest break since it isn’t very cool to run the Pergola if others are also viewing from it (you’ll understand when you see it).  When you are finished with your Pergola time (or if you choose not to climb it), head back out the way you came, running the wide trail back to New End Road, turning right to run by Jack Straws Castle (the gym) and then crossing left at the pedestrian crosswalks by the roundabout to put you back on the standard Heath route.  Turn left from the crosswalk and then right to enter the Heath.  Run the wide path as usual but don’t turn left to run up Parliament Hill.  Instead, veer right at that juncture and follow the trail across the ponds.  After the ponds, the trail veers left and shortly after there is an opportunity to take a right turn on the intersecting trail that heads towards E. Heath Rd (taking you next to the fields used for the Art Fair, parking etc at different times of the year.). Cross E. Heath Rd at the pedestrian crossing, then run on Downshire Hill Rd to Haverstock Hill Rd.  Turn Left on Haverstock Hill, running home the usual way (turn right on Belsize Ave, left on Lancaster Grove, right on Crossfield, right on Adamson, then cut through the Swiss Cottage public area by the Hampstead Theatre, turning onto Fitzjohns to St Johns Wood Park Rd to St Johns Wood Terrace and then to Starbucks).

NOTES: 1.  You can lengthen this run to 6.6 miles by choosing to run up Parliament Hill and then run by the usual Royal Free route.  2.  You can always take Belsize Ave directly to Fitzjohns and bypass the several turns though this route has more traffic fumes.

17 – 21 April 2017 Running Info

Hi Everyone,

Welcome back! I hope you had a nice spring break whether you were here in sunny London or travelling the world. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone! Wednesday we’re running Kensal Rise, one of our standard Wednesday routes. Friday we’re doing something fun and heading to Borough Market. As always, remember to look out for the ex-beginners and welcome them to the pace groups.

LONDON MARATHON THIS SUNDAY
Stephanie Gladis and Mandeep Rai are running the London Marathon on Sunday 23 April. AWESOME! Please let me know if you would like to watch. Can you also let me know if you are willing to be the organiser person of a WRW group on that morning. (Unfortunately, I’m going to miss it, because I’ll be out of town for a friend’s engagement party.)

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 17 April – ASL Holiday

No planned route.  Meet at 8:30 at Barclays and design your own!

Wednesday 19 April –  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 21 April – 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 Thamesuntil 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.

10 – 14 April 2017 Running Info

Ahhh, it’s time to take a break. Many people may be travelling over the next week, but if you’re in town you can plan to meet at Barclays for an 8:30am start. Running over the holidays is fun. The groups are co-mingled and some how the pace just works out. You can decide the route on the day and you can try something new if you are up for it. We’re at the time of year when the flowers in Hampstead Heath, especially near Kenwood House, are blooming. WRW is back running officially on Wednesday 19 April.
Congratulations to Alison and Jordanna who had a great race in Prague! We are so happy for you! Well done!
 
Enjoy the break!
Jane