Hello Runners!
Don’t the colourful hat pictures make you happy?  Thanks for making us the brightest, most cheerful thing on London’s streets last Monday!  Thanks to those who sent us photos or posted them on the WRW Facebook page!  I think sharing glimpses of our runs really helps keep a connection amongst the different pace groups.

Running this week.  Monday we are trying a new Adventure Route– which is what we generally call a route that we have to take a train or tube to the start of.  This one is a gem:  starting further north than we usually venture, at Alexandra Palace and following the north section of the Parkland Walk to connect with the south section we take on the Finsbury Park run.  Jane has written detailed instructions below, and a group of volunteers pioneered it Friday– leaving chalk marks and ribbons for us to follow (if it doesn’t rain too much!).  PLEASE NOTE that we will be meeting at 8:30 at the Finchley Road tube station (see details in ‘Routes” section below).  The run is 5 miles, and it is a tube ride home from Finsbury Park, so we should likely plan to be away from SJW until at least 11am.  If you can’t afford that much time out Monday morning, meet at Barclays as usual and decide on a route with the other runners you find!  Wednesday we will do the Camden/Mornington Crescent/Regent’s Park loop for another 5 miles.  And Friday we are up Fitzjohn’s again for the beautiful Heath Pergola run.  Full instructions are found below.

Shout-outs and Announcements.  Bjorg Fridbjornsdottir is running the Berlin half-marathon this weekend.  Go Bjorg– we’re cheering you from afar!  

A big “Well Done!!” to the Class of ’19 former beginners who trekked up the Hill for the first time last Friday!  We’ve really enjoyed seeing you out with us on the M,W,F runs!

We shared the sad news of Julienne Callaway’s passing in a separate e-mail this week, but since that time a local memorial has been planned (by Courtney Muoio and Mary Holtze) and we wanted to share the information about that with anyone not on our Facebook page. It is planned for next Wednesday, and all are welcome:  “We will gather on Wednesday 10 April (rain or shine) at 6:30 pm at the top of Primrose Hill. Everyone brings a flower to hold and leave once we depart. We will encourage people to share memories of Julienne. We will then segue to The Queen’s Pub, 49 Regent’s Park Road, to grab a drink (at everyone’s own expense) and toast her. Simple and casual, exactly as Julienne would want!”

The week of 15 – 19 April will be both Spring Break for ASL and Half-term for British schools (and I know they are on half-term this week, too!).  We will not send out an e-mail or formal routes for that week, but stay in touch with your WhatsApp group and/or meet at Barclays at our holiday time of 8:30 to run whatever routes you decide.  Mix it up, have fun, and enjoy watching spring overtake London!  I’ll send out the next e-mail on the weekend of April 20-21.  Meanwhile, here’s a look ahead for the rest of the spring…

SAVE THE DATE
Friday 26 April – Borough Market
Monday 29 April – Adventure Run – Hampton Court
Wednesday 8 May – Covent Garden
Friday 10 May – NEW Adventure Run – Dollis Hill to Hampstead
Monday 13 May – NEW Adventure Run – Windsor
Wednesday 22 May – Sights of London/Leaver’s Coffee
Friday 31 May – Borough Market
Monday 3 June – Brick Lane

Looking forward to another great week of running together, and hoping everyone has a great holiday week.  See you at Barclays!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 8 April – NEW ROUTE – Alexandra Palace to Finsbury Park via Parkland Walk (5 miles)

Meet at Finchley Road tube, to depart at 8:30. Take the Metropolitan Line East to King’s Cross, switch to the Piccadilly line East to Wood Green. Transport for London estimates this to be an 30-35 minute trip. (As you follow the route, look for Dinae’s chalk “WRW” and navy ribbons to mark the trail along the way!)

After you exit Wood Green tube station, you need to follow Station Road which is the road directly in front of you. Cross the street in front of the station and follow Station Road, staying right at the roundabout, which becomes Buckingham Road. You will pass the Alexandra Palace overground station. At the T-junction with Bridge Road, turn left and cross the bridge (car and pedestrian bridge) over the train tracks.At the end of the bridge, turn left and follow Bedford Rd which becomes South Terrace and leads you directly into Alexandra Park. Follow the sidewalk along South Terrace (climbing a hill – the views are worth it!) and passing in front of Alexandra Palace. After you pass Alexandra Palace, the road turns downhill, look out for the bus stop in front of you, just after a car park (see below). You need to cross the road here and follow the path that leads away from the bus stop and parallel to the car park. Along the way you can also follow the sign for Little Dinosaurs.

Follow this path, you will run through a metal tunnel (see below) and then the path loops around and under the road. 

After you cross under the road you are entering the Parkland Walk North section. Run the Parkland Walk North and enjoy the views along the way. At the end of Parkland Walk you come out alongside Muswell Hill Road and are looking for the entrance to Highgate Wood on your right. You are on Muswell Hill Road very briefly, so don’t miss it. See below for the entrance to Highgate Wood. 

Once you are in Highgate Wood, turn left and follow the path (bear left at every opportunity and run with the road to your left) to the end of the park, you will exit at the Gypsy Gate. When you exit the park, turn right and cross Muswell Hill Road at the next pedestrian crossing light. After crossing the road, turn right and run to Archway Road. At Archway Road, turn left. You’ll be running with the shops on your right and fence, trees, Highgate station on your left. Following Archway, passing Gonnermann antiques (this is where we usually cross the road in the Happening Bagel route) and taking the next left on Holmesdale Road. Run down the hill and look for the entrance to Parkland Walk South on your left. Follow the path until the end. At the end, turn left, cross the train tracks and enter Finsbury Park. Once you are in Finsbury Park, turn right and follow the path along the outer edge of the park until you end at the Finsbury Park gate on Seven Sisters Road. Happening Bagel is across the street and Costa Coffee is to the right on your way to the Finsbury Park tube station.

Wednesday 10 April – Camden Lock/Mornington Crescent/Regent’s Park (5 miles) 

We have adjusted this route to keep to the less travelled and less polluted streets. Head to the canal going eastbound to Camden Lock, where we cross the small, cobblestone bridge, exit the canal and turn right onto Camden High Street. Take the first right turn onto Jamestown Road and then the first left onto Arlington Road. Run straight down Arlington Road, make a slight right onto Mornington Crescent, follow it around and turn right onto Hampstead Road. At the first intersection, turn left onto Granby Terrace and the second left onto Stanhope Street. Continue down Stanhope until we reach Trinton Square. Turn right and run between the office buildings at Regent’s Place, past the nice fountains, to the end of Trinton Street. Use the pedestrian crossings to cross Osnaburgh Street and Albany Street. Head left to the intersection of Euston Road, where you take a right and run briefly along Euston Road. At Park Square East, turn right through the gates towards Regent’s Park. We enter the park at the Outer Circle intersection and stay on the path on the far right (east side) of the park, cross the Broad Walk at the ornamental fountain and head along the path with the Zoo to our right. Turn left onto the Outer Circle, past the Avenue Road exit, and right at the second exit (where we usually enter for the canal or park). Run up Charlbert Street to St John’s Wood Terrace, make a left, and head back to Starbucks.

Friday, 12 April – Heath Pergola (6.3 miles) 

As spring arrives in London, it’s a great time to visit the Pergola in the Heath!
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 counterclockwise 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 onto a small street called Inverforth Close. A short way down, there is a trail to the right with a green barrier gate and a sign that says “The Hill Garden.” Here are pictures of the trail:

Follow this trail until you come to an entrance on the left for “The Hill Garden and Pergola”, enter it and go to the right around the big bushes. You will see a beautiful reflecting pool. Run alongside it and up the stairs-you are on the Pergola! Run or walk the length of the Pergola.  Don’t forget to look at the beautiful views, admire the flowers and take a pic or two. Please be considerate and don’t run if others are walking the Pergola. When you have finished with your Pergola time and reached the far end, take the stairs down and turn left to run on the wide trail back to New End Road, turning right to run by Jack Straws Castle and 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).

As always, the other Heath routes are always an option:
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 OR Pergola route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.