Hello Runners!

It could not have been a more beautiful week for running, and it was so much fun to see everyone socialising– while standing still, even!– at the Welcome Coffee on Wednesday.  Another big thank you to Magali for organising such a great breakfast for us– and thanks to all of you for showing up, not just Wednesday for coffee, but all the times you do, for all the runs we do together!

Running this week.  Monday we have a “new” route, though it takes in a few of our old ones, so it will all be familiar.  We’re maximising our park time with a spin around Hyde Park/Green Park/St James Park and ending at the Whole Foods in Kensington.  Please, please check out the map and instructions below.  Many of us may be absent for the run Monday because of the race this weekend, so it’s really important that everyone knows where they’re going!  Wednesday we’re doing an old standard midweek run– 5.5 miles beginning out on the canal westbound and then looping through Kilburn and Queen’s Park back to St Johns Wood.  And Friday?  Back up the Hill for the route and distance of your choice!

Announcements and shoutouts.  This weekend 30 of our runners– three teams of 10– are converging on the White Cliffs area for a Ragnar Relay (sorry to repeat, but 170 miles straight through the weekend, with each runner taking three legs between 3-11 miles).  Beginning early on Saturday is the team captained by Veena Gopal and including Amy Grace, Stephanie Schueppert, Jill Bernhard, Kundhavi Bala, Emily Pancer, Devy Schoenfeld, Cyd Harris, Fernanda Spinelli, and Jeanne Jermyn.  Then around mid-day another team will take off, led by captain Roni Fransis and including Meredith Snizek, Kate Ballbach, Bridget Perry, Renata Figueiredo, Kalee Tilli, Winston Berry, Mariyah Tresnan, Theo Yardley and myself.  And finally, a short while later the reigning ladies’ winning team (yes, they won it last year!) will set off, with captain Stephanie Gladis, Karen Furst, Katherine Greig, Bjorg Fridbjornsdottir, Asdis Karadottir, Miki Neant, Marissa O’Malia, Abigail Craine, McKenzie Webster, and Sarah Nicoli.  With so much WRW representation, the weekend will be nothing short of remarkable… good luck and happy running to all!

The fall race season is upon us, so do please let us know if you are running something– or if you know someone in the group who needs a nice shoutout.  Be sure to wish Stephanie Gladis and Kelli Willis all best as they head for the Berlin marathon next weekend; and there is also a good-sized group headed to Budapest next week to do the marathon relay-style (I’ll shoutout names next note!).  There are other really amazing runs coming up for some of our ladies next month, too.  Can’t wait to share with you– and to see the pictures and hear the stories when our women running the world get back from their adventures.

Watch this space in the next couple of weeks for an explanation of our training program, our pace groups, and our calendar; as well as for ordering info for the annual shirt (still accepting quote/slogan ideas) and for Carolyn’s big reveal of the 2020 Half Marathon destination!  But meanwhile, happy weekend and happy running– I’ll see you next week at Barclay’s!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 23 September  – New Route: Hyde Park to Whole Foods Kensington (7 miles)

This is a new 7 mile route to Whole Foods in Kensington. Quick route summary: Run to Hyde Park, along its edge to Marble Arch, loop fully around Green Park and St James Park, and then back along the southern edge of Hyde Park to end up at Whole Foods.

Run to Hyde Park the usual way. Follow the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, then through Marble Arch to the traffic light across from Green Park. Take a left when you get to Green Park, run along the top edge of the park to Green Park tube station, then down towards Buckingham Palace. Take a left to run along The Mall, right on Horse Guards Road, and another right along Bird Cage Walk (aren’t these street names the best?). Turn right at the end of Bird Cage Walk to pass directly in front of Buckingham Palace, then left along Constitution Hill to head back to Hyde Park Corner. Re-enter Hyde Park and turn left to run along the southern border of the park, all the way through Hyde Park, past the Albert Memorial and along the edge of Kensington Gardens. Exit the park at the southwest corner gate to Kensington High Street. Whole Foods is on the opposite side of the street 1 1/2 blocks along.

Wednesday 25 September  – Kensal Rise (5.5 miles)

This route takes us along the canal to the west. Please be aware of bikes along the canal and form a single file whenever you hear someone call out ‘bike!”.Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End Road, then right on St John’s Wood Road at the traffic light. Then turn left on Cunningham, right on Aberdeen, and cross Maida Vale to the right side of Blomfield Rd. Stay on the right side of Blomfield Road as you run parallel to the canal. Turn left at the second bridge over the canal (at Westbourne Terrace Road), turn right just after the bridge, follow the sidewalk along Delamere Terrace, and join the canal path heading west at this point. 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 motorway is over our heads.)

Friday 27 September  – The Hill (4 – 8 miles)
It’s Friday so up the hill we go!  There are multiple mileage options below, and the link will take you to all the maps.

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.