Hello Runners!
Or maybe I should say, Guten Tag!  I hope you are as excited as we are about the race announcement yesterday!  Tripmaster Sue Wheeler has worked tirelessly to bring us to this point– vetting options, establishing contacts, negotiating with hotels– all things that make my head explode.  So I want to start out the email today with a huge “Thank You!” to Sue for bringing us the WRW Half Marathon 2022!   (If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, check yesterday’s email and your spam folder– and let us know if you did not receive the race announcement!).  Also, thanks to everyone who reached out to express appreciation to Sue– I know it means a lot to hear your excitement about the plans in the works!
Running this Week.  This week we will start off with a Hyde Park run on Monday.  There are route options from 4 to 8 miles, all described and with links in the Routes section below.  We often run through Hyde Park on our way to other destinations, but sometimes it’s nice to just make the park the star of the show and take in the full lap.  Wednesday we will take a lap around Regents Park before jumping on the canal headed east to the Wall, and then turning back to finish at Coal Drops Yard for a coffee.  If you need to do a loop back to St Johns Wood instead, just jump right on the canal and run the 6-mile loop to the Wall and back.  And Friday we go back up the hill for a run through the beautiful Pergola.

Training notes.  Now that we have a firm date for the half marathon, we will refine and publish our basic training plans (standard and gradual) for you in the next week or two.  These are based on the plans created by our founder, Paula Mitchell; and they have helped hundreds of women to thousands of half-marathon finishes through the years!  Many of you have trained independently for races of all kinds, and you have undoubtedly found or created training plans that work for you, but it is still helpful for all to be able to see what we are basing our weekly schedule on.  Meanwhile, as we are in the base-building phase, we continue to offer routes that give you flexibility in mileage, both to meet you where you are at the moment in your training and to accommodate those who do not want to do longer runs.  This gets a little harder when our training runs get longer, but there is almost always a way to come along for a shorter run if you are creative with public transport!

Shout outs and Announcements.  Great job to our runners who did the Royal Parks Half Marathon last week: Marigold Dooley, Clementine Drackett, Francesca Seibel, Meredith Snizek and Katie Zolnierz– well done!  On Saturday, Kelly Willis and Miki Neant ran the Surrey League Cross Country race in Richmond; while their fellow 8, Elin Anderson, ran the Dunwich Suffolk trail marathon with her mom, Jenny (together they are running a marathon every weekend in October for charity).  
Sunday we have another group running the Oxford Half Marathon– good luck to Jess Browne, Darcy Fautz, Alysia Hoyt and Carmine Najjar!  We look forward to seeing photos of what must be a beautiful race.  And Phil Kelvin will be running the Cabbage Patch 10-Mile Race– a longstanding and famous event beginning and ending in Twickenham, and taking in the Thames River paths to Kingston and Richmond.  Good luck to everyone!

Look for an important email coming soon from kitmaster Marissa O’Malia, who has been working hard on designing and procuring another set of irresistible WRW kit for the 2021-2022 running year!  You have probably noticed that we are having worldwide supply chain disruptions and shortages, so huge kudos to Marissa and team for securing us our kit earlier this fall.  What this does mean for us is that we had to do a pre-order based on past years’ kit demand, so we will have a limited number of items and sizes.  Be sure to order right away when the email arrives to secure the items you want in the sizes you need!

Save the Date.  Be sure to save time on your calendar for these extra-special runs/events!
Wed., Oct. 27 – All-WRW Coffee— The run will be a fairly local route, ending at the Regents Park Cafe for all-WRW coffee.
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!
Fri., Nov. 12 – The Remembrance Run– Annual WRW running tour in honor of Armistice Day (Nov. 11).
Mon., Nov. 15 – Hampton Court Adventure Run– Block off the full morning for this twice-yearly favourite route.  Take the Overground to Richmond for the 7-mile run to Hampton Court Palace (hopefully with coffee in the Tiltyard Cafe on palace grounds!), then take the train back via Waterloo.
After a week away from you all, I can’t wait to see your faces in the park this week!  (And for anyone new to WRW, if we haven’t met yet– I would love it if you would find me and say hi sometime!). It’s a great time of year to enjoy our base-building runs together, remembering to be grateful that we are, indeed, running together this year!  Have a great weekend, everyone!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 18 October – Hyde Park (4-8 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/ybk4zOsBh9 (6-mile route)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/VTrc0Y0EdT (8-mile route)
Everybody starts the same way… head west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End Road 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 take the first left on Stanhope Place to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. Cross into the Park—you’ll see a silver orb just inside the Park.

for 5 miles: After entering the Park, run straight and turn left when the path ends. Turn left again at Hyde Park Corner and head back up along the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals of War exit. After you cross Park Ln, make your first left onto Park St and keep going until you get to Park Rd. Turn left on Park Rd and make your way back to Starbucks.
for 6 miles: Upon entering the park, turn right at the silver sphere and run until you meet N Carriage Road where you turn left. Run down to the Serpentine, crossing over the bridge then left to run along the Serpentine. At the end of the Serpentine, turn left over the bridge and make your way to the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit. After you cross Park Ln, make your first left onto Park St and keep going until you get to Park Rd. Turn left on Park Rd and make your way back to Starbucks.
for 6.5 miles: Turn right at the silver sphere after entering the park. Cross over N Carriage Rd and turn left just after the Italian Gardens. Run along with the water on your left (it turns into the Serpentine), at the bridge turn right and then a quick left to run along the southern edge of the park. Then turn left at Hyde Park Corner and head back up along the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals of War exit. After you cross Park Ln, make your first left onto Park St and keep going until you get to Park Rd. Turn left on Park Rd and make your way back to Starbucks.
for 8 miles: Upon entering the park, turn right at the silver sphere and run straight, over N Carriage Road and follow all the way to the last gate on the right. Exit the park at that gate, turn left, then left again through the grand gate onto Kensington Palace Gardens. Turn left at the end of this road onto Kensington High St, then left again into the park at the SECOND gate into the park. Run along the southern edge of the park towards Hyde Park Corner, then turn left on the eastern edge and exit at Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit. After you cross Park Ln, make your first left onto Park St and keep going until you get to Park Rd. Bear left onto Park Rd, then right on Kent Passage into the Outer Circle where you will turn left. After you pass Winfield House exit the park to the left, run up Charlbert St and make your way back to Starbucks.

The Hyde Park 6.5 mile route

Wednesday 20 October – Coal Drops Yard via the Wall (5 Miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/0MK1528hq3
Run down Wellington Road and curve around to cross at the crosswalk as usual.  Run down to the mosque and turn left to enter Regents Park.  Cross into the park and turn right to run along the path that will lead you to the boating lake.  Stay on that path until the English Gardens where you turn left.  Run straight through, crossing the road and continuing straight all the way to the Outer Circle.  Cross the road and at the other side of the bridge, turn right along the road and then a quick right to head down onto the canal.  Run along the canal towards Camden.  Turn left into Camden Market and run around the food stalls to get back onto the canal.  Continue along the canal all the way until The Wall.  Touch The Wall (per WRW custom!) and turn around.  Exit at the wide green steps to get to Coal Drops Yard and find a new coffee spot for your group to celebrate another great run!

Friday 22 October – The Heath Pergola (6.3 miles)
RunGo link:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/soXpd8ec3K/edit

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).

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.