Hello Runners!

Isn’t it exciting?!  We have a half marathon on the calendar!!  We are so lucky to have– right in our ‘neighborhood’– this beautiful race that would be worth traveling to from abroad.  While we will miss the element of travel in the race, we can all acknowledge that this is not the year to make elaborate flight, hotel, and dinner arrangements.  Thanks to Sue’s great scouting and strategising, we get to run in a unique and historic location, with the maximum chance that the ‘show will go on’ if at all possible!  If you didn’t receive the half marathon announcement this week, you can get all of the information on our website by clicking here.  And be sure to follow the linkand get yourself signed up for the race before it sells out!

Just a reminder to continue to mind the social distancing in the park during meetup (especially keeping space between our groups of six), out on the streets when running, and wherever we may land for coffee/drinks after the runs.  You can review our Covid-19 guidelines here.  Thank you for being so conscientious about this!

Running this week.  This week we are sticking with loops again, but trying to mix it up a little bit.  Monday we will head to Hyde Park, which is looking gorgeous in its autumn glory right now, for a 7-mile loop created during lockdown– The Hyde Park Statue Parade!  If you aren’t comfortable with that distance yet, no worries– it’s easy to improvise to shorten the run by doing less in the park.  On Wednesday we will do an older route, the Kensal Rise loop– if you’re up for it, try running it in reverse!  One group did that with Notting Hill last Monday, and it was really fun to get to greet the other groups along the way.  And Friday is our 7th annual Halloween Run, with costumes encouraged– I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!  This year we will run a loop to Hampstead Cemetery instead of our usual destination through Brompton Cemetery (so we aren’t having to use public transport to get home).  The route is 7 miles, with some hills, but not as much as our usual Friday Heath runs.  If you prefer, you could shorten it by running to the cemetery, limiting how much you run inside it, and then returning to SJW the same way you came up.  

Training Plans.  As long promised, now that we have a race date on the books, we have tweaked our training plans and can share the overview with you.  Below are the full calendar plans for a standard training approach and a gradual training approach (apologies in advance if these show up either enormous or tiny in your e-mail– gmail gives us very little control over our graphics-shares!).  We will have these up on our website shortly as well under the Training Plans menu.  Our Routes team will continue to consider the standard training plan when choosing routes each week, so if you are following the emails, you’re automatically following the program.  And we do try to offer routes with flexible mileage options if you are following the gradual plan.  Please keep in mind that we are not experts, and you should customise these plans to your own fitness and goals (and, of course, be sure you are healthy enough to undertake the training in the first place).  What we can say, though, is that many, many women have completed half marathons over the years using these basic plans created by our founder, Paula Mitchell.  We will continue to share training notes, as well as any plans to incorporate optional tempo training, and perhaps some special tip sessions for anyone running her first half marathon.  Stay tuned.

Announcements and Shoutouts.  We need to send out a BIG shoutout to the Hustler’s pace group this week: On Monday they held their own 5k race, complete with medals and gifts!  This is such a dedicated and hardworking group– always one of the best attended in WRW.  Under the leadership of Tamar Brooks, with Fernanda Spinelli, Claudia Figueroa, and Carol Osborne, the race celebrated the milestone of ramping from initially running with walking intervals, to doing the 5k nonstop.  They will continue to move from strength to strength, and the photo montage is just a peek at the great time they have doing it together!  Bravo, ladies!

Another announcement from the WRW Alumnae group, based in the U.S.  Ariadne Petrucelli let us know recently about the Run For Ruth – We Dissent race many of the alums are doing virtually. They have set up a Women Running the World team for the 87 mile “race” and have invited us to join (make sure to select the team if you register). It’s a very flexible race, with participants simply logging in their miles incrementally through Jan 31st.  If you’re running with us a few times a week, you will easily get to 87 miles, and this is a great way for us to stay connected with our friends and fellow runners around the world– thanks to Ariadne and the awesome alums who keep WRW going after London!

That’s it for this week, runners… can’t wait to see you out there tomorrow for a beautiful run to Hyde Park!  Hope you are enjoying the extra hour of Sunday we’ve received this week (and be sure you don’t show up an hour early tomorrow morning)!  

xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday, October 26 – Hyde Park Statue Parade (7.1 miles)
RunGo link: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/ykEnDIhXh8

8s and 10s Pace Groups we suggest that this week (because it is half-term!) you follow the old route to Hyde Park, running down Lisson Grove to enter the park at the silver sphere, and follow the statue route from there.  Please use the RunGo app for turn-by-turn instructions from the park entrance.

9s and 11s Pace Groups follow the route as shown on the map.  Please use the RunGo app for turn-by-turn instructions on the run.

Wednesday, October 28 – Kensal Rise (5.5 miles)

Please be aware of pedestrians and bikes along the canal and form a single file whenever needed for social distancing! Some groups may want to try running the route in reverse, to lighten traffic on the canal during rush hour. 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, October 30 – HALLOWEEN RUN!  Hampstead Cemetery (7.1 miles)
RunGo link:https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/aVzrkOhVjU

From the Church Gardens, head straight out to run up Cochrane St.  Turn left on Acacia and cross Wellington Rd.  Turn right on Loudoun and run until it ends at a traffic circle.  Turn left on Belsize Rd and then a quick right to head onto Fairhazel Gardens.  Take your first left onto Goldhurst Terrace and then a left when it curves around.  Turn right on Prior Rd and run to the end, turning left onto Broadhurst Gardens.  Take the next right onto West End Lane and run about half a mile, taking care to avoid pedestrians as much as you can.  Keep West End Green on your right and when the Green ends, turn left onto Fortune Green Rd.  When the street bears right, cross and enter Fortune Green Park.  Run straight through and enter the narrow pathway that leads to the cemetery.  Take the first entrance on the left and run a loop to the left around the cemetery chapel side.  Then cross the path to take a loop around the other side, running straight and then turning left just before the street exit.  There you will find the lovely Art Deco Bianchi monument as you circle through.  Once back on the cemetery road, turn right (you’ll see the chapel) and then turn right again to continue on the path you were on from Fortune Green.  Follow this path to the end, between school playing fields, and turn left to follow it out.  Once on the street, turn left to get on a path (you’ll see bike entry barriers) that takes you along the far side of the playing fields.  At the end of the path, continue straight onto Somali Rd, then jog left and then right to get onto Sarre Rd.  At the end, turn right onto Mill Lane (larger street).  Take a left onto Fordwych Rd.  At the end, turn right onto Maygrove Rd and then a left onto Kilburn High Rd.  Again, take care to avoid pedestrians.  Run a few blocks and turn left onto Netherwood St.  At the top of the hill, turn right onto the aptly named Hilltop Rd then left onto Hemstal Rd.  At West End Lane, cross and turn right and then a quick left onto Cleve Rd.  Turn right onto Priory and the second left onto Goldhurst Terrace.  Keep left onto Aberdare Gardens.  At the end, turn right onto Fairhazel Gardens and go straight across Belsize Rd.  Jog left and then right to get back onto Loudoun.  At the top of the hill, turn left onto Boundary Rd and cross over Finchley Rd.  Turn right onto St. John’s Wood Park and take that to St. John’s Wood Terrace.  Turn right and finish at Starbucks.

Here are the links for all of our Heath routes, if you’d rather stick with the regular drill!  Please continue to use our Elsworthy Rd and Thurlow Rd routes into the heath, so we can keep as much traffic as possible off the Fitzjohn Avenue pavement.  For specific directions on these routes, consult the WRW London group page on the RunGo app.

Hello Runners!
I hope you’ve had a relaxing weekend and are finding ways to stay social as things keep changing.  I keep thinking how lucky we are that we are already accustomed to doing so much socialising out-of-doors on long runs.  We’ve got a head start on adjusting to this phase of our Covid reality, and a ready-made outdoor social group!

Tier 2 Restrictions and WRW. 
The good news is that the new government rules don’t change that much for us.  We will continue to meet and run in groups of 6 or fewer, but we should put even more space between groups at meetup, to make it clear to onlookers and passersby that we are following the rules!  This was meant to be the week we started slipping destination runs back into the mix for those comfortable with public transport.  But since Tier 2 rules ask people to stay off of public transport unless necessary, we will continue to offer looped routes for now.

Running this week. 
Monday we are doing a new and improved Notting Hill loop (just under 7 miles) that incorporates the iconic pastel houses in the neighborhood.  This route does use the canal, so please pay attention to spacing between our 6-packs, and also give space to other pedestrians and bikers on the canal (take it to single file if needed!).  On Wednesday, we will swap the two ‘Frieze Tag’ routes we used last week, with 8s and 10s doing Camden/Mornington Crescent, and 9s and 11s doing the Primrose Hill/Regents Park run.  And Friday will be ASL School Conferences, so check in on your Whatsapp groups to see who is running.  Even though there is no official run on Friday, I’m sure everyone who can get out there will want to run up the hill as usual 😉

Looking ahead. 
Next Friday, October 30, we will do some variation of our traditional Halloween Run.  As always, costumes are welcome and encouraged, though by no means required!  Meanwhile, we continue to pay close attention to our Covid reality, and we’ll be ready to add in some of our fun destination runs and social events the moment it becomes possible.  For now, your fabulous Routes Team is planning to go back to the maps to try to tweak and twist us some fresh loop options, and we’re keeping an eye on the training calendar we’ve used in past years.  

Have a great week, everyone, and enjoy the time we get to spend together!  Take good care of yourselves– physically, mentally, emotionally– and please reach out if you are feeling like you need some support.  As always, we are here for one another.  One of the unexpected things about this group is that while we may start running to make ourselves stronger, we end up making each other stronger.
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday, October 19 – Notting Hill Pastel Loop (6.9 miles)
RunGo link:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/F114naRal5
All groups head out the same way, so please be mindful of spacing between 6-packs, and be sure to give other canal users plenty of space.  From the top of Church Gardens, run down Wellington Rd and right onto St John’s Wood Road, passing Lord’s Cricket Ground on your right and the LJS Synagogue on your left. Turn left on Cunningham then right on Aberdeen to work your way to Blomfield Rd. Run along the street sidewalk until you turn left to cross the Westbourne Terrace Road bridge. Turn right after the bridge, follow the sidewalk along Delamere Terrace, then 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 right, then the first left onto Rosmead Gardens, then left again onto Lansdowne Rd. At the end of Lansdowne turn right onto Kensington Park Rd, then left on 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.

Wednesday, October 21 – ‘Frieze Tag’ via Mornington Crescent or Primrose Hill
Swapping routes from what you did last Wednesday…
8s & 10s pace groups – Camden Lock/Mornington Crescent/Regents 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 follow the paths on the east side of the park to take in the Frieze sculptures, 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.

9s & 11s pace groups – Primrose Hill/Regents Park (5 miles)
From the Church Gardens (rather than Barclay’s as shown on map) start out as if we’re headed for the Heath, running a short way down the High St, then right on Allitsen, left on Townsend, right on Acacia, and then left again at Avenue Rd.  Use the zebra crossing just a short way up Avenue to cross over and run down Elsworthy Rd until you see a small road on the right that ends in the entrance to Primrose Hill park.  Once in the park take the path that angles to the left, then bear right at the first fork and left at the second.  This will take you up for a fantastic view from the top of Primrose Hill.  After you’ve caught your breath, take the path that goes down on the right (if you are looking out toward London), then curve around to the left at the first split.  Follow this path all the way down the hill to the crossing at Prince Albert Rd.  Cross at the zebra and head straight into the park via the bridge and across the Outer Circle (NOT a zebra, please note!).  In Regents Park, take the path that angles to the left, running behind the zoo.  Cross the Broad Walk by the fountain and continue across on the path that heads toward, but not all the way to, the perimeter of the park.  Follow this to the far corner, zig-zagging as you like to see the sculptures, and then turning right to run along the southern edge of the park, inside the fence.  Continue to follow this around  the boating pond to run across the little bridge at the far end of the pond, then bear right to follow the contour of the pond to its end.  Continue on the same path until it meets the diagonal path that runs behind the zoo (the same one we ran in on).  Turn left to follow that to its end and then turn left onto the Outer Circle and follow it for a short distance to the crossing at Charlbert.  Exit the park and take Charlbert to St Johns Wood Terrace to finish at our Starbucks/Pret corner of the High Street.

Friday, October 23 – ASL Parent/Teacher conferences– no official routes … but here are the links for the Heath routes, because you know you want to run them!  Please continue to use our Elsworthy Rd and Thurlow Rd routes into the heath, so we can keep as much traffic as possible off the Fitzjohn Avenue pavement.  For specific directions on these routes, consult the WRW London group page on the RunGo app.

Hello Runners!
What a week!  Starting with last Sunday’s cold, soggy marathon for some of our brave runners and their dedicated supporters, we ran through birthdays and cloudbursts, sculptures, street art, cemeteries, and statue poses!  The photos you sent were beautiful and fun.  While I can only share a limited number of photos in this e-mail (lest the servers decide we are spammers!), I can thank all of you uncredited photographers, and suggest to all that you put some of your highlights on our WRW Facebook page.  Especially while we are all so fragmented in our ‘Rule of Six’ world, it’s great to connect with other pace groups and 6-packs with fun photos from our runs.  If you’re not on our Facebook page, search us up and request to be added (Amy will say yes!).

Running this Week*.  
Monday is part of October break for ASL, and we normally do not have an official run on school holidays.  But check in with your pace groups via Whatsapp, as I imagine many women are not traveling and will choose to run as usual.  If you have the time, why not choose a fun destination and make it a mini-getaway?  Wednesday we are suggesting two routes that allow us to play a game of “Frieze Tag.”  I know many groups have run through the sculptures recently installed in Regents Park as a main feature of the 2020 Frieze Art Fair, which has gone mostly virtual this year.  Here is a link to an online video tour if you’d like to have a better idea of the stories behind the sculptures we’re running by!  Finally, Friday we’re suggesting an old favorite destination run to Finsbury Park.  It’s a 7-mile route that incorporates our usual Friday hill workout, but then follows the lovely Parkland Walk from Highgate to Finsbury Park, and ends with bagels at Happening Bagel (there’s a Costa across the street) and a tube ride or other form of transport back to St Johns Wood.  It’s a great route, but if you’re not up for figuring out the transport back at this time, you can stick to our Friday Heath routes or run to Borough Market.  See details and links below.  
*Note that all of our plans are subject to change with whatever new guidance is being announced Monday.  Stay tuned, and we will send out updates to our plans and meeting procedures as needed!

Announcements and Shoutouts.  Huge congratulations to our official London Marathon finishers, Kelly Willis, Laura Beal, and Noor Ismail (I’m so sorry we didn’t know you were running, Noor!), and to Jess Browne and Miki Neant, who ran alongside them!  What an amazing experience and achievement– we are all proud of you, and your strength, spirit and perseverance!  We are also so proud of the teams of supporters who chased, photographed, ran or biked with, and generally provided the marathon atmosphere for the day (along with some dry layers here and there) for our runners as well as any others spotted out on the streets.  I know that your support meant so much to our marathoners! I do want to give a special shout-out to Tamar Brooks for her photo coverage.  Tamar and Yvonne Horrell spent the entire day out in the rain, chasing our runners all over the city, and the results are incredible.  Click here to see her gorgeous album.  And below is a preview with some of her photos as well as many from all of the supporters who were out there last Sunday.

Celebrating this fabulous milestone feels like a good time to assure you that your WRW team is continuing to think about spring training goals.  Our race-boss, Sue Wheeler, has been keeping a steady eye on the outlook and opportunities for Spring 2021.  Stay tuned for an update next week!  And meanwhile, don’t forget to keep taking care of yourselves by stretching, attending to any niggling pains or injuries, and paying attention to your training pace and miles.  More on this in weeks to come.
On a very different note, Jess Browne has asked me to share the following note with this WRW community:“Dear runners: it’s been 6 months and I had promised myself thank you notes would be done by now. I tried to write them last Sunday after the marathon but just opening the box with your cards to reply was like reliving the april pain again. I just couldn’t do it. What I can do is tell you that without those cards, books, flowers, food and love you sent, my family and I wouldn’t have survived. We’ll always remember the support you gave us during our most horrendous time. Accept this as a thank you note and know you all have a special place in our hearts.”   
As we head into this week with possibly more rule changes ahead, I just want to close by reminding you what a strong community we are.  We will find a way to keep running, getting stronger, and supporting each other– together, apart, in sixes, in twos, or however we have to do it.  I’m so thankful for, and proud to be a part of, what we have together in WRW!  See you out there!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday, October 12 – ASL School Break– Runner’s Choice
Use Whatsapp groups to coordinate start times and locations, and take your choice of destination!

Wednesday, October 14 – ‘Frieze Tag’ via Primrose Hill or Mornington Crescent
8s & 10s pace groups – Primrose Hill/Regents Park (5 miles)
From the Church Gardens (rather than Barclay’s as shown on map) start out as if we’re headed for the Heath, running a short way down the High St, then right on Allitsen, left on Townsend, right on Acacia, and then left again at Avenue Rd.  Use the zebra crossing just a short way up Avenue to cross over and run down Elsworthy Rd until you see a small road on the right that ends in the entrance to Primrose Hill park.  Once in the park take the path that angles to the left, then bear right at the first fork and left at the second.  This will take you up for a fantastic view from the top of Primrose Hill.  After you’ve caught your breath, take the path that goes down on the right (if you are looking out toward London), then curve around to the left at the first split.  Follow this path all the way down the hill to the crossing at Prince Albert Rd.  Cross at the zebra and head straight into the park via the bridge and across the Outer Circle (NOT a zebra, please note!).  In Regents Park, take the path that angles to the left, running behind the zoo.  Cross the Broad Walk by the fountain and continue across on the path that heads toward, but not all the way to, the perimeter of the park.  Follow this to the far corner, zig-zagging as you like to see the sculptures, and then turning right to run along the southern edge of the park, inside the fence.  Continue to follow this around  the boating pond to run across the little bridge at the far end of the pond, then bear right to follow the contour of the pond to its end.  Continue on the same path until it meets the diagonal path that runs behind the zoo (the same one we ran in on).  Turn left to follow that to its end and then turn left onto the Outer Circle and follow it for a short distance to the crossing at Charlbert.  Exit the park and take Charlbert to St Johns Wood Terrace to finish at our Starbucks/Pret corner of the High Street.

9s & 11s pace groups – Camden Lock/Mornington Crescent/Regents 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 follow the paths on the east side of the park to take in the Frieze sculptures, 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, October 16 – Finsbury Park/Happenin’ Bagels (7 miles), or Heath routes
All 6-packs doing the Finsbury route, please allow a good amount of space between groups leaving the park, and take Fitzjohn Avenue in single file!  As Fitzjohn is our best route to do this run, we’re going to try it.  Please be mindful of social distancing as you run past people doing the school dropoff.  Run as if you are going to the 6-mile Heath route, but pass the Heath entrance and continue up Spaniards/Hampstead Lane, curving up and around 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).

For groups doing other Heath routes, please continue to use our Elsworthy Rd and Thurlow Rd routes into the heath, so we can keep as much traffic as possible off the Fitzjohn Avenue pavement.  For specific directions on these routes, consult the WRW London group page on the RunGo app.

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hello Runners!
Kudos to all of you who have been getting out there for your runs– rain or shine!  There’s nothing like powering through bad weather for a good run, to make you feel strong and amazing– which, of course, you all are!  

Thank you for being so conscientious about maintaining social distance at meetup and after the runs, and for continuing to run in 6-packs.  I love that this week’s photos show how skilled some have become at taking selfies while everyone keeps socially distant!  Also look for the “Hill” message one group is sending…

Running this week.  This week our official runs will keep to our new, basic schedule, with the two different routes to Hyde Park on Monday and options to do the loops back to SJW or to run on to one of our destinations from Hyde Park.  Wednesday we will do our new Regents Park routes, swapping which groups are doing which.  And Friday we will head up the hill as usual, with the option, as always, of running to Borough Market for a flat, destination run.  

Announcements and Shoutouts.  This weekend the 40th London Virgin Marathon will finally happen!  It’s gone virtual, in the sense that there is no official, marked-off race course for regular participants (there is one for elite runners).  But the race will be very REAL for a few of our runners who are participating!  Kelly Willis is officially running the marathon, and she will have support runners Miki Neant and Bjorg Fridbjornsdottir, as well as Marissa O’Malia as a one-woman support crew carrying all the extra gear on bike.  A big apology from me to Kelly and crew for missing them in last week’s announcement!!  And as I did mention last week, Laura Beal is also officially running the marathon, with Jess Browne as her support runner and an assorted crew meeting her with supplies/gear at various points along the route.  Good luck, ladies!!  As with everything this crazy year, this is not the marathon you had planned for… but I hope you will feel all the excitement and triumph of a ‘normal’ year, plus a lot more because of how you’ve managed to rock this despite all the setbacks!

To cheer on these strong ladies, you can download the London Marathon app here and search them up by last name or by bib number.  Kelly Willis is bib number 12324, and Laura Beal is bib number 11011 (both great numbers, right?).  Miki, Bjorg and Jess do not have official race bibs, but will presumably be in the same vicinity as their official runners.  Below are the planned routes each of them has shared with us:

Kelly’s Route:  She is starting at 6:30am near Blackfriars Bridge.  Her route will first take her down around Southwark, across Tower Bridge, through the City and then on to East London.  Follow her on the London Virgin Marathon app to track her on her route below.  Her team estimates she will be entering Regents Park at Portland Place around 8:00, running anti-clockwise around the outer circle, with a loop of inner circle, and exiting the park the same way about 8:20/25.  She will then be running the perimeter of Hyde Park, anti-clockwise from about 8:40 to 9:05, then through Mayfair, Charing Cross and Embankment, and across Westminster Bridge (a good viewing spot on the Eye side) close to 9:30 to finish at Blackfriars Bridge.  

Laura’s Route: Laura and Jess are starting at the top of the Kensington Garden Broad Walk at 7:30am.  They will run straight down the path and through South Kensington, crossing through the Brompton Cemetery from the north at mile 2, and then weaving down through Chelsea Harbour toward Wandsworth.  After a detour up toward Parson’s Green, they will run along the north bank of the Thames all the way to cross at the Barnes Bridge, then will cut inland to connect with the south bank before Putney Bridge.  They’ll run all along the river to Battersea Park (where the “Power” mural tunnel is) and then will cross briefly to the north side, then back over to run along the South Bank area to Borough.  Keep an eye on her on the tracker, as there are excellent viewing spots along the way here!  They will cross the Thames again at Tower Bridge, take a lap of St Katherine’s Docks, come around behind the Tower and along the river again to Embankment to finish near Buckingham Palace if the roads are open following the Elite Marathon finish.

I hope to see many of you out running again in what they’re saying will be another wet week– remember, nothing stops us!  And there’s a special kind of satisfaction and fun in getting out there ‘no matter what.’  Take care of yourselves and each other…

xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday, October 5 – Hyde Park via two Routes (4 – 7 miles)
8s and 10s pace groups – Hyde Park via Westbourne Terrace
RunGo link:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/HjtdobwsPm

Options – your choice in Hyde Park to increase or decrease distance!  See here for all of our old, familiar Hyde Park routes!

9s and 11s pace groups – Hyde Park via Regent’s Park
RunGo link:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/WV7sVAqTR5

Options – your choice in Hyde Park to increase or decrease distance!  See here for all of our old, familiar Hyde Park routes!

Wednesday, October 7 – Regents Park New Routes (5-6 miles)
8s & 10s pace groups – Regent’s/Primrose 
RunGo link: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/m8IcEJxNpp

From the church gardens, run down Prince Albert Rd to the Charlbert entrance to Regent’s.  Run straight, pass The Hub and at the next intersection after that, make a sharp right and run with the water on your left.  Curve around and then turn left to run over the bridge.  Turn left after the bridge to run past the Boating Lake and keep running around the edge of the park (keeping inside the park).  The path will start making its way to the left, putting you at the fountain at the highest part of the Broad Walk.  Go straight over the Broad Walk and keep to the right to run along the edge of the zoo.  Cross over the Outer Circle and then Prince Albert Road.  Once in Primrose Hill Park, turn right and run to the far edge, then turn left and run at a slight diagonal and make a left to run up to the top of Primrose.  Head back down towards the Elsworthy exit and go out and turn left on Elsworthy.  At Avenue, turn left and cross where you can, then turn right on Acacia to head back to SJW High Street.

9s & 11s pace groups – Reverse Inner/Outer
RunGo link:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/BoeFK1Khvv

From the church gardens, make your way to Allitsen Road and run down Allitsen to Primrose Hill.  Enter the park and turn right.  Cross over Prince Albert Road to head into Regent’s Park.  Once across the Outer Circle, turn left to run around the outer edge of the park.  After 1.5 miles, turn right on York Bridge to get to the Inner Circle.  Run all the way around the inner circle and exit the way you came in on York Bridge.  Turn right to continue running around the outer edge of the park, exiting at Avenue Road (NOT Charlbert).  Turn left to run along Prince Albert Road to SJW High Street and Starbucks/Pret. 

Friday, October 9 – Reverse Heath Routes (5-8 miles)
8s and 10s pace groups – Hampstead Heath via Elsworthy Rd
RunGo link:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/OGdOHtpFkK

Exit the church gardens at the gate on the St Johns Wood High Street side, cross the street, and run a short distance to make a right on Allitsen Road.  Make a left on Townshend Road and follow it to its end, then make a right on Acacia Road and a quick left on Avenue Road.  Cross Avenue at the first crossing to run down Elsworthy Road.  At the end of Elsworthy, turn left onto Primrose Hill Road and follow it until you turn right onto England’s Lane.  At the end of England’s Lane, cross Haverstock Hill and go right just to take a left onto Parkhill Rd.  Follow Parkhill to its end, then take a right onto Mansfield Road and a left on Roderick Road.  At the end of Roderick, you will see the Heath entrance across the street.
Elsworthy to Heath Reverse 6 – 6.4 milesOnce you enter the Heath, turn right and run along the path above the track.  Turn left after you pass the cafe on your left.  Run straight along the path until you reach the end of the second pond.  Turn left and run straight along the path until it reaches a T.  Turn right and follow the path as it curves gently and then joins up with the path we take to enter the Heath on our standard 6-mile route.  Exit the park at Spaniards Road and turn left to run down Heath Street and Fitzjohn’s Avenue to Swiss Cottage.  From Swiss Cottage take St Johns Wood Park to Ordnance Road and turn right on St Johns Wood Terrace to end on the High Street.

9s and 11s pace groups – Hampstead Heath via Thurlow Rd
RunGo link: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/i8RgRtOTQE

From the Church Gardens, cross SJW High Street and take either Greenberry St or Barrow Hill Rd to Bridgeman St.  Turn right onto Allitsen and left onto Charlbert.  Take a quick left and then a right onto Ordnance Hill and run up to Swiss Cottage.  Pass the tube and turn right onto Belsize Lane.  Take the first left onto Daleham Gardens, keeping left onto Akenside Rd.  Turn right onto Lyndhurst Rd and then the first left onto Lyndhurst Terrace.  Turn right onto Thurlow Rd and run straight until you enter the park.  Take the first path on the left and follow the curve to the right between the two ponds. Then… follow the directions below for your distance/hill preference.
Parliament Hill – 6 miKeep running straight to go up Parliament Hill the way we normally do.  At the top, take a left on the dirt path and veer to the left at the second path and then turn left at the next path.  Veer to the right and shortly rejoin the path we usually run down (turn right to go up the hill).  At the entrance to the Heath, turn left and run back via Fitzjohn’s and to SJW via SJW Park/Ordnance.