Hello Runners!
Today’s e-mail comes to you from Boston, where the air is buzzing with marathon energy ahead of Monday’s rescheduled Boston Marathon.  Between that and having had the opportunity to reconnect this morning with WRW London friends who now live in Boston, I find myself especially grateful today for the friendships and fun our running community brings to our lives!  Thank you for being a part of it:)

Running this Week.  This week is a short one, with ASL fall break on Monday and Tuesday, so we don’t schedule a regular run.  Instead, use your Whatsapp chats to set up your meeting time and place OR go crazy and do it like we did back in the not-so-distant days before Whatsapp– just show up at the SJW Church Gardens at 8:30 and run wherever you like with whomever else shows up!  Wednesday we are doing a standard loop route we haven’t done yet this year, the 6-mile Notting Hill route, which goes out on the canal to the west, exits at Ladbroke Grove and crosses the famous Portobello Road before turning back toward Paddington.  And Friday we are going back up to the Heath because, that’s right, Fridays we run hills!  This week we’re featuring again the short and sweet Betsy route and the longer but lovely Highgate route.

Shoutouts and Announcements.  Another giant huzzah for our seven ladies who ran the London marathon last week:  Laura Beal, Jess Browne, Stephanie Gladis, Clare Missin, Miki Neant, Charlotte Sinclair and Kelly Willis!  You are some seriously strong, awesome runners, and it was a privilege to go out and cheer you running London (or send long-distance cheers for Miki running Nice!).  This weekend will include more race vibes and WRW spirit, as Marigold Dooley, Clementine Drackett, Francesca Seibel, Meredith Snizek and Katie Zolnierz are running the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday.  The race starts in waves from 9am, and runs around St James Park and through Green Park before running around and around in Hyde Park (see course map here) so it’s a great one to go spectate and cheer.  We also have several women running a half marathon next weekend in Oxford, so the cheering will continue!
One operating note– please try to be prompt to arrive at the St Johns Wood Church Gardens for an 8:20 departure in the mornings.  Some groups may, indeed, linger in the park beyond that time, but others may want to leave promptly because of group members’ other commitments.  If you have a consistent conflict that makes it hard to arrive bang-on time, then speak with your pace leaders and we can try to work out a solution.  If you are late in a one-off situation, message the group– maybe you can meet them along the route, or maybe they will have the flexibility to wait a few minutes.  But for the most part, please don’t expect your group to wait if you are consistently late.

Save the Date.  Mark your calendars for a couple of fun events coming up!
Wed., Oct. 27 – All-WRW Coffee— Stay tuned for details on this post-run event.
Fri., Oct. 29 – The Annual WRW Halloween run— We will roll out an appropriately themed route, so start thinking about your costumes– but don’t forget you have to run in it!

Hope you are having a beautiful weekend, wherever it finds you.  Can’t wait to meet up and head out for a run together again soon!
xx  Micki

ROUTES
Monday, 11 October – ASL School Break, no official run
Meet up on your own to do a runners’ choice route!

Wednesday, 13 October – Notting Hill (6+ 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 along the sidewalk all the way down Blomfield to and across the Westbourne Terrace bridge.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.  (Note that the route is slightly shorter than shown because it begins at the Church Grounds, but you can also shorten it by walking the last little bit into SJW if you want to keep it to 6!)

Friday, 15 October – The Heath (4 – 8 miles)

Most Fridays we run the Heath!  This week we are highlighting two options depending on where you are in your training.  For both options, head out to Avenue Road, then up Fitzjohn’s per all the Heath routes.  

The Betsy (5 miles)
RunGo for The Betsy option:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/dkhuleD0zF
The first option is The Betsy.  Named for the runner whose favorite route this was, it is a shorter option that leaves out the second hill after you reach the tube station in Hampstead.  At the top of Fitzjohn’s, cross over towards the station and turn right.  Take the first left down Flask Walk and continue straight until you reach the Heath.  Enter the Heath and run until you intersect with the wide path.  Turn right and run down the path, curving to the right.  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. 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).

OR Highgate (7.5 miles)
Head up Fitzjohn’s, as usual, and continue past the Hampstead Tube and Whitestone Pond to stay on Spaniards Road.  Do not enter the Heath at the normal entry point, but stay on Spaniards Road as it wraps around the outside of the Heath, past Kenwood House and past The Bishops Road where Spaniards Road turns into Hampstead Lane.  Continue on Hampstead Lane as it edges around the outside of the Heath in a gentle rise until you reach The Grove, where you turn right. [The Grove is a pretty, tree lined street just before the Highgate roundabout.]  Run to the first right turn, a lane called Fitzroy Park with a traffic barrier across the road. Pass around the traffic barrier—this is fine!  And continue down the road, past lovely homes and a famous allotment on the right side. This road curves downhill to the left and takes you to the entrance of the Heath on your right side, near a set of bathrooms and just before Merton Lane to the left.

Enter the Heath, run past the loos (on your left) and take the path to the left as it runs along the model boating pond, the men’s bathing pond and a third pond. When the sidewalk dead ends, take a right to run along the exercise fields and running track. Exit the Heath past the paddling pool, crossing over the bridge onto Constantine Road. Take a right, running past South End Rd/Fleet Rd, past the Royal Free Hospital and cutting up the path to the left just past the Royal Free’s entrance driveway to take a short cut to Haverstock Hill. Go left on Haverstock Hill, crossing at the pedestrian stoplight to the other side, then turn right on to Belsize Avenue. Stay on Belsize Avenue (its name changes to Buckland Crescent) to Fitzjohn’s where you turn left to run towards Swiss Cottage Library, then scoot over to St Johns Wood Park Road and back to Starbucks.

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.