Good morning, runners!
How can the end of the school year have come so quickly?? Congratulations to all the proud moms/relatives/friends of Seniors who graduated from ASL yesterday! I hope you had wonderful celebrations surrounded by family and friends! And congratulations and well wishes to ALL of you marking end-of-year milestones this month– whether kindergarten or university, and whether for a child, another loved one, or for yourself (yes, some of us have been working hard back in school between runs!). We should all be so proud of each other, and of all we accomplish, and all we help others to accomplish!
Running this week. We only have two official runs this week: Monday to Big Ben and Wednesday to Regents Park. We’ve kept it familiar and fairly local to help out with busy schedules this week. Route maps and descriptions are below as always, and of course, if you’re out for a run on Wednesday, you might want to take a turn into the gardens and see what kind of gorgeous is happening there.
Summer running. Friday begins our summer schedule– the default is to meet at Barclays at 8:30 and plan a route with whoever else turns up. But as you’re all well aware, WhatsApp has changed our running lives, so if you haven’t already, I would encourage you to join the Summer Running WhatsApp group to help keep you in the loop on who’s running where and when in London this summer. Here’s the link to join: xx . And wherever you find yourself this summer, I hope you will find a way to fit running into your life in whatever way makes you happy! But don’t worry– we always have people who come back in the fall at every fitness level, and there will be time to ramp up if running was not part of your summer plan, or if things didn’t go to plan!
Shout-outs and Announcements. While people are pretty busy with other things this time of year, I do know that Kate Ballbach and her running-inclined family ran a variety of races (10k to half-marathon) at Dorney Lake this weekend. Well done, Kate and family! And I do apologise if there are others I’m not aware of– always so happy to give a shout out to any women running the world, so keep us posted!
Beginner Running Group, 2019-2020!! Please let us know ([email protected]) if you hear of anyone who would like to join the Beginner’s class of 2020. As anyone who has been through this program knows, it can be an amazing, life-changing experience! Just a reminder that the program is for people who have truly never been runners before. It starts out with one-minute intervals at a very slow jog, so is not appropriate for anyone who is able to run even a mile or two. Our regular M-W-F group can help people who have been runners before ramp up and return to running. We’ll be working on organising our groups over the summer, and will hopefully ‘hit the ground running’ in August/September.
Well, dear runners, this is a wrap for the 2018-2019 year. This will be the last e-mail until August– our first official run for next season will be August 28. While it makes me sad to say goodbye for the summer, I can’t wait to hear about everyone’s summer adventures come August. And to those moving on to a new chapter, our very fondest and best wishes go with you. We will always have a connection, and the more we scatter around the globe, the more true our name becomes– we are Women Running the World. Love to all of you…
xx Micki
ROUTES
Monday 10 June – Big Ben (4 miles)One last run down to our favourite, if completely hidden, landmark before we head out for the summer. 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 along the edge of Green Park, past the Victoria Memorial and cross The Mall at the traffic light. Run down The Mall and enter St. James Park. Run over the bridge across the lake and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben. Those running four miles will take the tube back to SJW from here. To keep the good times going, you can also make it about a five mile run by turning back at Big Ben and running back through St James Park to the Green Park Tube Station, then tubing it home.
Wednesday, 12 June – Regent’s Park Inner/Outer Circle (5 miles)
We know people want to get back to get ready for the kids to get out of school so we are keeping it close to home for our final official run.
From Barclay’s head down Wellington Road to the traffic circle at Lord’s Cricket Ground and bear left onto Prince Albert Road. Run to the pedestrian crossing where we will cross and head to the OuterCircle. Turn right and run on the inside of the circle past Winfield House which will be on your left. Continue around the Outer Circle until you reach the traffic light at intersection with York Bridge. Turn left and proceed to the Inner Circle. Run one complete loop of the Inner Circle and back out across York Bridge where we will take a left and continue on Ulster Terrace which is part of the Outer Circle. At the next large intersection take a left and continue on the Outer Circle, heading north back towards the Zoo and Camden. Pass the entrance to the Zoo on your left and continue to the bridge at North Gate which we will cross to reach Charlbert Street. Run up Charlbert Street until St John’s Terrace where we turn left and run back to Barclay’s for a stretch before heading to Starbucks.
Friday 14 June – The HeathSchool is officially out, but that won’t stop us from running up that hill (Kate Bush anyone??).
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.