28 October – 1 November 2019 Running Info

Hello Runners!

I can’t believe we will hit November this week!  A good-sized group of us had a great run to Hampton Court Palace this past week (photo above).  I even heard that several runners were so energetic they tacked on a a couple of extra miles just for fun?  Amazing, you strong ladies!  (… but maybe we’ll add a mile marker to the route instructions for where the bridge is next time!)  Anyway, hopefully everyone had a great week of running, whatever alternate routes you may have taken.  

Running this week.  This Monday we are keeping it local with the Morningside Crescent loop because we have a destination run on Wednesday.  And then Wednesday’s run is our annual Halloween Costume run to Whole Foods via Brompton Cemetery.  Finding or creating a costume to run in can take a little extra creativity, and we’ve had some great ones in the past!  But you can also keep it simple with a headband, a skirt, or a tail.  Can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!  As for the run itself, the Brompton Cemetery we’ll pass through opened in 1840, and 205,000 people are buried there (including the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst).  The beautiful 39-acre space was designed to be a garden for recreation, as well as a burial space– so we should be respectful as we run through, but it is meant to be open to passers-by.  Be sure to look at the route below, so you can find your way to Whole Foods for a Halloween coffee and any last-minute treats.  Finally, Friday we run back up to the Heath, with a swing through the lovely Pergola on the 6+ mile route.

Announcements.  Yesterday you should have received an e-mail with a link to the Prague RSVP form.  Please do fill this out if you haven’t yet!  Carolyn’s team is putting together dinner plans, and we’ve got other logistics to manage, so it is important for us to have an idea how many runners are joining us.  The largest number we’ve ever had on a race was last year’s 120 women in Milan.  Because of venue and restaurant limitations, we need to cap this year at 120 runners on the trip as well.  After we reach that number, we will keep a waiting list.  So please, please, get yourself included in the count!
Save the Date.  Our calendar list keeps getting shorter as we move through the semester, but we still have lots of great runs ahead!  Following are the ones you might want to mark your calendar not to miss:
Nov. 11 (Mon) – Remembrance Run
Nov. 25 (Mon) – Crazy Tights Run (Holland Park to St James’ Park Benugo Cafe)
Dec. 4 (Wed) – Christmas Lights Run (early morning tour of the city lights before sun-up)
The Fall has flown by, and we are another week stronger!  It’s going to be another great week to get out and run together, especially after a couple weeks of school-related breaks and interruptions.  I’m really looking forward to seeing you all at Barclays and out on the pavements this week!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 28 October – Camden/Morningside Crescent/Regent’s Park (5 miles)

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 (alternatively, turn right just at the bottom of the bridge and go through the opening between the buildings to get to Arlington Road). At the first intersection with Jamestown Road take a right after crossing 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 right 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.

Wednesday 30 October – Whole Foods via Brompton Cemetery (6.5+ miles)  HALLOWEEN RUN!Today we’ll earn our post-run treat by ending at Whole Foods on the Kensington High Street!  Bring your shopping list if you want.We start out the normal way to Hyde Park.  Once you enter the park, turn left and run along the east side of the park.  At Hyde Park Corner turn right and run along the south side exiting at the gate we normally use at William Street [next to the French Embassy].  Cross the street, take a right.  Turn left at Brompton Road (just past the tube) and take Brompton all the way (admiring Harrods as you pass) until Fulham Road.  Veer left on Fulham Road and continue to Brompton Cemetery.  Turn right to enter the Cemetery.  Run through the Cemetery then exit and turn right onto Old Brompton Road, then turn left onto Earls Court Road. Cross Cromwell Road, then turn right onto Cromwell Road and then turn left onto Marloes Road. Continue north on Marloes making your way through the streets to Kensington High Street.  Whole Foods will be to your right.  

Friday 1 November  – The Heath Pergola (6.3 miles)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).

And of course there are always the other Heath routes if you prefer:

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.

21 – 25 October 2019 Running Info

Hello Runners!
I hope it was a great week for everyone.  I have been out of town, but seeing the pictures from Thursday’s run with the Beginner’s Group absolutely made my day.  Thank you to all who went out to meet them in Hyde Park– that first Big Ben run is such a milestone, and getting the surprise greeting from M-W-F runners makes it so memorable!  I’m sure the beginners were feeling the WRW love and beginning to catch on that they’re on to something special!

Running this week.  Monday we have a group favorite– the Richmond to Hampton Court adventure run.  This beautiful run out in the countryside along the Thames begins and ends with a train ride, so plan to give it the entire morning.  Please read the complete directions and maps found below, but it’s also important to note here that WE DONOT MEET AT BARCLAYS for this one! Instead MEET AT FINCHLEY ROAD AND FROGNAL OVERGROUND STATION at 8:30 for the 8:41 train (you can use your contactless card or Oyster).  The station is an easy bus ride up Finchley Road, or two stops on the Jubilee line to Finchley Road and a short walk further up the road to the overground station (not the Finchley Road tube station!).  We will arrive in Richmond around 9:15 and gather at the station entrance to start running, so if you are meeting us there, please plan to arrive by 9:15.  It’s a good idea to communicate amongst ourselves, via Whatsapp, about who is going on the adventure, so we can look out for each other– but please do be on time!  It’s a big time commitment for everyone already, so waiting around at the station is not in the plans!  If you are unable to clear the whole morning for the adventure run, no worries!  Either connect with others via Whatsapp to make your alternate plans, or show up at Barclays at the usual time and there will likely be others meeting up for alternate runs.  Wednesday we are back to our local routes, with the 6+ mile Notting Hill loop.  And Friday we head back to the Heath for the hill route of your choice.

Announcements and Shoutouts.  Congratulations and well done to the five ladies who ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon last weekend:  Laura Beal, Marigold Dooley, Roni Fransis, Katherine Greig and Meredith Snizek!  I hope I’m not missing anything, but I’m not aware of any WRW runners having race plans for this weekend.  Keep us posted on any upcoming races, so we can send out well wishes and kudos!  
A big shoutout to Tamar Brooks for organising and rallying runners to support the Beginner’s Big Ben run last week, as well as for the great photos!
You should have received the Prague Half Marathon “next steps” e-mail this week, with Carolyn’s detailed instructions for race registration and hotel reservations.  Please let us know if you did not receive this, or if you encounter any difficulties in the process.  And meanwhile, keep running to build a strong training base! 

Save the Date.  We have some fun mornings ahead, thanks to our wonderful Routes team.  Here are a few you might want to put on your calendar:
Oct. 30 (Wed) – Halloween Run to Whole Foods Kensington via Brompton Cemetery (start working on your costume!)
Nov. 11 (Mon) – Remembrance Run
Nov. 25 (Mon) – Crazy Tights Run (Holland Park to St James’ Park Benugo Cafe)
Dec. 4 (Wed) – Christmas Lights Run (early morning tour of the city lights before sun-up)

I’m so excited to get back to running with you all this week– especially looking forward to breakfast at Hampton Court Palace, rain or shine!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and see you soon!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 21 October – Hampton Court Adventure Run (8 miles, or 6-mile option)
We will meet at the “Finchley Road and Frognal Overground Station” at 8:30 for the 8:41 train to Richmond. We will arrive in Richmond around 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.

Leave the Richmond Overground Station, cross the road at the traffic lights and go straight through the narrow Old Station Passage. At the end, turn left on Little Green and follow straight past the Richmond Green until taking the left fork onto Friars Lane. Follow Friars Lane as it winds down to the river path.  

Now we stick to the river path along the Thames for the rest of our run. We will pass the grand red brick Ham House on the left, and eventually join Lower Ham Road. Keep right at the fork at Canbury Gardens, staying with the river just to your right. As you approach the center of Kingston you’ll run under a metal railway bridge; continue along as close to the Thames as possible until the next bridge, called Horse Fair Bridge. 

Bridge in Kingston – Richmond to Hampton Court run

At the bridge you have two options — turn left into Kingston to stop at 6 miles, or cross the bridge to continue to Hampton Court Palace for 8 miles.

6-mile route: Go up the stairs on the near side of the Horse Fair bridge and turn left into town. Follow the road to the Kingston train station.

8-mile route: Go up the stairs on the near side of the Horse Fair Bridge and cross the bridge. Turn left at the end of the bridge onto a very pretty path called Barge Walk, which follows the river all the way to Hampton Court Palace. Once we arrive at the Palace, take a few snaps, and if you can stay for a coffee, we’ll meet at the Tiltyard Cafe, a restaurant on the Palace grounds with lovely outdoor space (and indoor too in case of inclement weather!). Cross the courtyard in front of the palace and then walk past the rose gardens to the cafe; no need to pay the Palace entrance fee.

Head back to London via Hampton Court train station. To get there, cross over the Thames on Hampton Court Bridge and the train station will be on your left. Be sure to check your travel sites to confirm the options for the trip home. There are usually local and express trains that go into London Waterloo.

Wednesday 23 October – Notting Hill (6.5 miles)
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 Blomfield Rd.  Run down Blomfield Rd to Westbourne Terrace Rd, being careful at the crossing at Warwick Avenue.  Turn left to cross the canal at Westbourne Terrace Rd.  Turn right 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 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 25 October – The Hill (4 – 8 miles)

It’s Friday so up the hill we go!  There are multiple mileage options below, and this link will take you to all the Heath route descriptions.  Below is one of the standard 6-mile Heath routes.

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

14 – 18 October 2019 Running Info

Hello Runners!
Hope you all had another great week of running our city?  We really covered all the bases this week: park, canal, urban streets, Heath, and Parkland Walk/rail trail.  It’s really hard to narrow down photo choices when there are so many great ones– thus we have the weekly collage again!  And there’s a bonus at the end, because Miki Neant did a photo “ambush” on the canal this week– so fun!  (I’m sorry we’re missing a group in these!  Do feel free to share photos from your runs, and I’ll do my best to be sure we get a glimpse into what all the pace groups are up to!)
Running this week.  Monday is October Break for the American School, so we are not doing an official route.  Our holiday plan is generally ‘Runners’ Choice’– meet at Barclays at 8:30, and just decide then, with anyone else who shows up, what route you will run.  There will undoubtedly be plans and chatter on your WhatsApp groups as well (if you are new or not on one of these chats, please just let someone know– we want everyone to be in the loop, and anyone in the group can help find the right person to get you connected!).  On Wednesday we are debuting a new run– Primrose Hillzzz– that comes to us from the 11s pace group and their leaders, who created the run last year.  Please read the description below– we are so excited to have a fun new way to get in some quick hill work close to home!  And Friday, since we will have already done some hills, we will reward ourselves with the 6-mile Borough Market run.
Stay Healthy… and STRETCH.  As we start to add longer runs over the coming weeks, it’s especially important to pay attention to how your body is responding.  If you’re feeling something beyond normal fatigue, even just a niggling pain, now is absolutely the time to get it checked out!  I know we’ve mentioned it before, but there are physio and training experts listed here on our website, and the ladies you run with will undoubtedly have further recommendations for professionals to see.  Catching and treating an injury early can make a real difference in the severity and recovery time.  And, of course, stretching before and after your run is another way to help yourself stay healthy.  We are all tempted to head straight in for coffee (or bagels or doughnuts or whatever) as soon as we wheel up to Starbucks or another destination, but let’s help each other in this– find a sunny spot and stretch while finishing those conversations you started on the run!  Need inspiration for a few basic post-run stretches?  This NHS page is a good one:  How to stretch after a run.
Announcements and Shoutouts.  On Sunday we have five WRW women running the Royal Parks Half Marathon:  Laura Beal, Marigold Dooley, Roni Fransis, Meredith Snizek and Katherine Greig.  Good luck, ladies!  This is such a fun race to go out and watch, because it is on our home course, winding through all the parks we run in regularly.  If you’d like to pop down to Hyde Park to cheer these runners on, check out the route and all the other information you need on the Royal Parks Half Marathon web page.  If you have a bright pink hat to wear, all the better!
Look out for another 2020 Half Marathon e-mail coming soon, with next steps and instructions for race registration and hotel room reservations.  Carolyn is quietly working behind the scenes to make sure everything goes smoothly for us, so as always, a big thanks to her!  
London Marathon lottery results were announced this week.  Let us know if you were the lucky winner of a rare lottery spot!  We do have a few women who have secured marathon places running for charities.  If you want to go after a charity spot, now is the time to act!  Check out “How to Enter” on the Virgin Money London Marathon website to explore what opportunities remain.  Also feel free to email [email protected] and we can connect you if you want to talk with someone who has run it before and may have advice on how to get a bib.
Save the Date.  The Routes Team have put together some fun plans for us in the next couple of months.  Here are some highlights you might want to put on your calendar:
Oct. 21 (Mon) – Hampton Court Adventure Run
Oct. 30 (Wed) – Halloween Run to Whole Foods Kensington via Brompton Cemetery (start working on your costume!)
Nov. 11 (Mon) – Remembrance Run
Nov. 25 (Mon) – Crazy Tights Run (Holland Park to St James’ Park Benugo Cafe)
Dec. 4 (Wed) – Christmas Lights Run (early morning tour of the city lights before sun-up)
Safe and happy travels if you are hitting the road for ASL’s Fall Break.  It will be great to hear the travel stories when we come back together at Barclays Wednesday!  Meanwhile, wishing a wonderful weekend to all of you!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 14 October – School Holiday, so “Runners’ Choice”

Wednesday 16 October – Primrose Hillzzz (4 miles)  
Let’s mix things up and try something a little different!  We’re calling it Primrose Hillzzz, the zzz for the zig zag hill repeats that are sure to get your hearts pumping and glutes working!
Head out from Barclays, past Starbucks, and take a right on Charlbert Street, heading into Regent’s Park at the North Gate entrance. Run straight into the park, following the left fork until you get to the first intersection, where you go left. The Hub and the cricket nets will be on your far right. Follow this path until the end, over the Outer Circle and the bridge, then bear right and cross the zebra crossing to the entrance to Primrose Hill. Once in the park, take the first path on your left, run up past the entrance from St Edmund’s Terrace and continue up until the path forks, taking the path to your right all the way up to the top. Enjoy a brief moment taking in the view and then head down the left path all the way to the bottom corner of the park (corner of Albert Terrance and Prince Albert Rd.) Run along the bottom of the park, past the Children’s Playground, Cafe and outdoor gym to where you entered the park. Repeat this loop two more times (or more if you like!). On your final loop run back up to the St. Edmund’s Terrace entrance and turn left out of the park. St Edmund’s Terrace will become Allisten Rd and will take you back to St John’s Wood High St. Turn right and head back to Starbucks.

Friday 18 October – 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.

7 – 11 October 2019 Running Info

Hello Runners!

Such an exciting week to be a part of WRW, with the 2020 Half Marathon in Prague revealed, and the annual kit orders going live all within a few days of each other!  It was also so much fun to get back to Brick Lane for the first time this year, and Wednesday’s run around Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park is looking like it will be a new favorite for many runners.

Running this week.  Monday we will head to Hyde Park and then loop around the outside of Green Park to St James Park, where there is a nice Benugo cafe with plenty of room for all of us to stop and have coffee/breakfast together!  This is a 6.25 mile destination run, so bring your contactless card to get back to St Johns Wood via Green Park or Westminster tube stops.  Wednesday we’ll run to Camden via the canal, and then exit to run along the streets and through Regents Park back to SJW.  And Friday we will have a redo of the Finsbury Park run we had planned for last week.  Thank you all for rolling with the weather-related changes on Friday!  Even though it didn’t end up being rainy that morning, the amount of rain over the last week would have made the path we take to Finsbury Park extremely boggy.  Fingers crossed we’ll have more sun and less monsoon this week!  As always, check the maps and directions below so you will know where you are going!

2020 Half Marathon.  I hope you are as thrilled as we are about the opportunity to visit and run a half marathon together in beautiful Prague in March 2020!  A very big thank you to Carolyn Perelmuter for working so hard to make this happen!  If you didn’t receive Tuesday’s email announcing our 2020 Half Marathon in Prague, let us know.  All the information will soon be available on our website, but at this point, the only action item is to book your flight (please remember the race is on Saturday this year, so the official trip is Thursday-Sunday). We’ll send out more details about the hotel and race registration soon, and we’ll also post our training plan, so you can see how we get from here to a half marathon in March. 

2019-2020 WRW kit order.  In other exciting news, the order form link went live for 2019-2020 WRW Kit yesterday.  The deadline for placing orders is this Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 5pm– so don’t miss it!  The thanks for this huge effort goes to Marissa O’Malia!  One clarification from my accompanying note:  I mentioned the race hat coordinating with the annual shirt, but didn’t say that the race hat is not something we order right now.  Instead, each person who goes on the trip will receive a race hat– no one has to wear it during the race, but they are a fantastic way to help us spot each other in the sea of runners!  

And while we’re on the subject of kit, we are still taking ideas for the shirt slogan for this year!  Drop us an e-mail ([email protected]) with your best ideas– remember, it has to be short enough to fit on the shirt and be readable!– and our panel of judges will pick a great one to be revealed when the shirts come in.  Examples from previous years?  “Run Like A Girl”, “We Run London”, “Sorry, Gotta Run!”, “In It For The Long Run”, “This Is My Happy Pace”, “Keep Calm and Run On”, and “Anytime, Anywhere, Any Pace.”

Save the Date:  October 21, Hampton Court Adventure Run.  Mark your calendars for our first adventure run of the year.  This 8-mile run begins with a train ride to Richmond, and then becomes a truly lovely run along the Thames from Richmond to beautiful Hampton Court Palace.  We finish with coffee and a treat in the garden cafe, and then take a train back to Waterloo Station and on to home.  With the extra travel time, you’ll need at least the whole morning to get this one in– but it is well worth it if you can afford the time!

Shoutouts!   One final shoutout to our Ragnar teams now that results are finally in and we can confirm that the ‘Crazy 8’s’ team (with Stephanie, Marissa, Karen, Miki, Asdis, Sarah, Katherine, Bjorg, McKenzie, and Abigail) once again came in first in the women’s category, and shaved over an hour off their overall time from last year!  We are so proud of them, as well as of all the WRW representation in this fairly hardcore event!   

Big congratulations also go out to Stephanie Gladis and Kelly Willis, who both had amazing, strong finishes at the Berlin Marathon last weekend.  Kelly finished 10th in her age group (out of over 1600 women!) and Stephanie ran a strong personal best time!  Well done, ladies.

Finally, I want to end with a huge shoutout to Miki Neant, who ran her first ultramarathon today, the Ultra London 55k, from Woolwich to Richmond… and WON it!  Congratulations to Miki!  A WRW friend who was at the finish line (in a tutu, of course!) sent the photo below.  I absolutely love it, because it captures so well what running teaches us all about how strong we are– whether we are winning our first ultramarathon, conquering a hill, or finishing a two-mile run for the first time.  Running reminds us we can do hard things; and running together reminds us we can find joy in tackling those hard things– together!  Whatever our speed, whatever our distance, I’m grateful to be part of this journey with all of you!

xx Micki   (no, the other one… the one who didn’t run, much less win, an ultramarathon earlier today!!)

ROUTES

Monday 7 October – Hyde Park to St James Park Benugo (6.25 miles)
Run to Hyde Park the usual way, down Circus Road and left on Grove End/Lisson Grove. Cross diagonally at the light to run along the west side of the street. Cross over Marylebone Road, onto Seymour Place, and run until the road ends. Turn right on Seymour Street, cross Edgware Road, and turn left at Stanhope Place where we will enter into Hyde Park.
Turn right at the silver sphere after entering Hyde Park. Cross over N Carriage Rd and continue on straight past the Italian Gardens and along the north side of the park all the way to the Broad Walk.  Turn left and run past Kensington Palace all the way to the end of The Broad Walk.  Turn left and take the one of the outer paths to West Carriage Drive, cross over, and continue along one of the outer paths all the way to Hyde Park Corner.  At Hyde Park Corner, cross the road to run through Wellington Arch and then cross into Green Park and take a left to run along the northwest side of the park, past the RAF memorial and continuing all the way to the Green Park tube station entrance.  Run past the entrance and turn right on the straight gravel path that runs alongside the park’s boundary wall.  Follow it to the end and then cross the Mall at the traffic light to enter St James’ Park.  Run down to the water and turn left, keeping the water on your right until you run into Benugo Cafe.

Wednesday 9 October – Camden Lock/Mornington Crescent/Regent’s Park (5 miles) 

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 11 October  – Finsbury Park via Highgate/Parkland Walk — (7 miles)
For this run we start up Fitzjohn’s as if we’re going to the Heath, but pass the Heath entrance and continue up Spaniards/Hampstead Lane into Highgate. Turn left down Southwood Lane (the road next to Gail’s) and go down the hill, then veer to the right (not a hard right turn!) onto Jackson’s Lane. Continue down Jackson’s to Archway Road and make a right, then a relatively quick left onto Holmesdale Road. Run a short distance on Holmesdale and the entrance to Parkland Walk will be on your left. Follow the path to Finsbury Park, cross over the train tracks, turn right and run along the western edge of the park and exit onto Seven Sister’s Road. Happening Bagel is across the street, Costa is to the right, and Finsbury Park Station is further down on the right (on the Piccadilly and Victoria tube lines).

Finsbury Park