Hello Runners!
Welcome to Platinum Jubilee Week!  What a privilege that we get to be a part of this historic celebration in London!  I hope you can find the space in all the busy-ness at this time of year, to really enjoy the sights, sounds, and experience of being here to celebrate Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.  Though it would seem hard to top last week’s Chelsea in Bloom run, we think this week’s runs to royal and iconic British sights will be some pretty stellar follow-ons!  Please bear with me through the long explanations below…

Running this Week.  Monday we are planning the Virgina Water to Windsor Castle adventure run– a 7.4 mile route which many runners say is their favourite run all year.  See below and in the routes section for transport details and route directions.  Yes, it takes time to get there and back!  But the run through Windsor Great Park is beautiful, and there is nothing like reaching the Equestrian Statue at the top of the park and seeing the Great Walk stretch straight out 2+ miles to the truly majestic Windsor Castle.  What a perfect way to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee!  Some groups are making reservations at local pubs for brunch/lunch after the run, and some may just want to walk in to one of the open restaurants or coffee shops near the train station.  Coordinate with your friends, and even try to connect across pace groups, so we can all share this fun experience!  Also, if you want to pay admission to the Castle (or if you have an annual pass), you can see “The Queen’s Coronation” exhibit for free– her coronation gown and robe are on display.  

We will be taking an 8:50 train from Waterloo (one-way fare is £11.60), which will get us to the start at around 9:30.  You will need train tickets (paper or mobile), as contactless will not work.  Plan to either purchase your tickets on your mobile device ahead of time (www.thetrainline.com), or be at the train station early enough to purchase them before departure.  Please plan well for this, as the rest of the group cannot wait if someone misses the train!  For the return, there are trains to Paddington from Windsor and Eton Central at 45 minutes after the hour (39-min journey) and 25 minutes after the hour (29-min journey).  This fare is another £11.60.  There are also trains from the other Windsor station– Windsor and Eton Riverside just down the road at :13, :23, :33, and :53 after each hour (journey times vary from 41 minutes to over an hour, and some go to Waterloo and some to Paddington). 

On Wednesday– which is Global Running Day!– we will be doing the annual Sights of London/Leavers’ Run.  This is one not to be missed!  We do this in a large group– and after the last two years of separation, this will be our first time back together for the run since 2019!  It’s a short run with a moderate pace and lots of photo stops at all of the best London sights– these are listed in the run description below.  Let’s all please try to be mindful and respectful of all the tourists and pedestrians out for the Platinum Jubilee– both in terms of the space we take on the pavements, and our efficiency with getting the photos done.  There is a possibility, of course, that we will have to detour from our planned routes depending on barricades and roadblocks in place for the celebrations.  And finally, let’s assume we will run this as one big group and take our photos all together, BUT because we haven’t done this in a few years and we’re not sure how big our group will be, let’s confirm that or recalibrate at St Johns Wood Church Gardens on the morning of the run!  If we are all together, we will also try to take a separate shot of the Leavers at each location (so pay attention if this is you!).  This run ends at Benugo in St James Park, with hopes that many or most can join in a celebratory coffee together; but if you need to get straight back, you can split off at Westminster or Trafalgar Square.

Finally, Friday is a bank holiday, so enjoy your time celebrating, and plan a run yourself or with friends via the chat groups!

Shoutouts and Announcements.  This Wednesday, June 1, is Global Running Day– a worldwide celebration of running!  You can pop onto the Global Running Day website to learn more about what the day represents, and to pledge to participate and be counted amongst the many runners participating around the world.  

Expect an email sometime this week with links to goodbye cards for those leaving us at the end of this school year.  Which means… do let us know if your plans have changed and you are (or are now not!) leaving us.  Goodbyes are hard, but we would hate to miss the chance to send good wishes with any departing friends!

If you hear of anyone who would like to join the Beginner’s class of 2023, please connect them with us or pass along their contact info to [email protected].  As anyone who has been through this program knows, it can be an amazing, life-changing experience!  The program is for people who have truly never been runners before.  It starts out with one-minute intervals at a very slow jog, so is not appropriate for anyone who is able to run even a mile or two.  Our regular M-W-F group can help people who have been runners before ease back into it and work up to joining our M-W-F runs.

Our calendar of upcoming events is really shrinking as we race toward the end of our year together!  Next week we have these runs/events to look forward to, and then we will have only one more short half-week of officially running together in 2021-22.
June 6:  Tower Hill in Bloom for Platinum Jubilee
June 10:  2nd Annual Year-end Picnic in Regents Park (from 12:30)– rain date is Monday, June 13

Have a great Sunday, everyone!  Looking forward to celebrating this exciting week with all of you, and can’t wait to see everyone’s photos and hear about the experiences throughout the celebrations!  

xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 30 May – ADVENTURE ‘COUNTRY RUN’ – Virginia Water to Windsor – 7.4 miles
RUNGO:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/t1z5f9cjgT
Travel: SJW Jubilee line to Waterloo (10 minute journey), Waterloo train to Virginia Water (8:50am, 41 minute journey), total outbound travel about 1 hour. Return from Windsor & Eton Central Station to Paddington (30 or 45 minutes journey).
Pricing: tube fare + £23.20 (£11.60 one way to Virginia Water + £11.60 one way from Windsor to Paddington)  
Exit the Virginia Water train station and turn right, taking the stairs up to Christchurch Road.

CAREFULLY cross the road and turn left. Stay on Christchurch Road (be sure to take the correct exit off the roundabout at .8 miles) until you come to the T-junction at a traffic light. Turn right and immediately cross the A30 at the traffic light. This is a very busy road so please use caution!! Continue right down the A30 for a very short distance and turn left into the Virginia Water Lake car park, then follow the walkway through the Visitor Centre.

Turn right at the lake on the paved path and follow this paved path along the lake, past a totem pole and across an intersection.

You will see Obelisk Pond on your left, and as you come up the path past the pond turn off at the dirt path on your left.

Stay on the dirt path, over a bridge with stone benches, and then up a straight, grassy path with a huge field on your left. Continue to the end of this path and turn right through the large white wooden Cumberland Gate.

Continue on this paved path, past houses on your right, and past other paths turning off. Continue through the intersection with pink buildings on your left. Go straight to pass through the black metal gate into Windsor Deer Park.

Follow the main path here as it winds through the park. You will come to a low stone bridge (see below); just after the bridge you will run up the grassy hill towards the grand statue of King George III, known as the Copper Horse. King George III was monarch during the American Revolution and father to 15 (!) children, who later in life suffered from mental illness. His dissolute son George IV commissioned this statue and inscribed on it “the best of fathers” despite the fact that father and son apparently despised each other.

Take in the view then head straight down the hill for 2.5 miles until you reach the gates of Windsor Castle. On the way you’ll pass through a large wooden gate and cross a busy road — take care!

At the castle gates, turn left onto Park Street and continue onto the High Street. You’ll pass a statue of Queen Victoria, see the castle walls on your right, and on the left is a passage called Jubilee Arch which leads you to the train station.

And here’s a look at the full route.

There are lots of options for food and drink in Windsor.  If you prefer a longer run, there are many options once you reach Windsor Great Park. Take your phone and explore! Here is a link to the park website with more information: http://www.windsorgreatpark.co.uk/en

Wednesday, 1 June – Sights of London/Leavers Run – Big Ben and back to St. James Benugo
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/0BRroh4Wm4
This is a great run!  Even if you haven’t run in a little while – come along!  We run as a (BIG!) group and we wait for everyone at the lights so we can stick together.  (If we get separated we’ll wait for everyone at the photo points.)  The total distance is 4.75 miles and we stop often.  Please be mindful of other pedestrians on the pavement, and give them plenty of space to pass us– especially on narrower areas such as Lisson Grove!

We’ll stop for group pictures at:
– the silver sphere fountain as we enter Hyde Park
– Wellington Arch
– Buckingham Palace (from the Mall as we cross into St James Park this year, with all the bunting flags!)
– Big Ben (from the corner diagonal)
– London Eye from Embankment
– Trafalgar Square lions/fountain/National Gallery

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. We’ll stop at the silver sphere (one of our WRW landmarks) for the first picture!  Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch (stopping for a photo) and down Constitution Hill. We expect it will not be possible to stop directly in front of Buckingham Palace because of the Jubilee blockades, so we will plan to stop as we cross the Mall into St James Park to take photos if, as expected, traffic is blocked off (if it’s not, we’ll improvise!).  Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down toward Parliament Square for our photo with Big Ben.  Run toward Westminster Bridge and turn left onto Embankment for a shot of the London Eye across the Thames.  Then cross back over Embankment and run back to Whitehall, turning right to run to Trafalgar Square for one more photo. Then we’ll make our way back to The Mall and finish at the Benugo in St. James Park for some celebratory coffee.

Friday 3 June – BANK HOLIDAY

Check in with your What’sApp groups to see who might be running and have a wonderful Jubilee weekend!

Hello Runners!
Headlining this week’s note is the Union Jack photo compilation Jen put together from your weekly snaps.  As London decks itself out for the Platinum Jubilee, can’t you just feel the energy in the air for the upcoming festivities?  There are so many events and sights to take in in the next two weeks– we are lucky to be here, and to be able to access all these amazing things so easily on our own two feet! 

Running this week.  We have a fun schedule this week, beginning with your own group adventures on Monday.  We can’t wait to hear and see photos of what your groups have decided to do on Monday!  I know some conflicts with meetings and races and travel made big adventures a little hard to plan for this date, but I have heard of some great local alternatives going on.  Please reach out if you are not connected with an adventure.  Wednesday we will head for the Sloane Square area to check out the always-amazing floral displays put on by local businesses during the Chelsea Flower Show.  Paola Di Meo has scouted and created this year’s variation on the route to include the special “Eggs of an Era” displays in honour of the Platinum Jubilee. (A shoutout of thanks to Tamar as well, for sharing her intel on this and the Belgravia in Bloom sites!).  The route ends in Eccleston Yards, which has plenty of coffee options in the yard and nearby, and is near Victoria tube for your return, or you can choose to run on another mile to end at Green Park.  And Friday we have a variation on our Brick Lane run– this one ending at the fabulous Eataly emporium, right next to Liverpool Street station.  Thanks to Paola for leading us to yet another fab foodie destination!  As always, full directions and maps can be found below, as well as links to the RunGo maps.

Shoutouts and Announcements.  A big shoutout to all the ladies running the Hackney Half this morning!  It could not have been a more beautiful day for your run, and I’m sure there’s a festive vibe going on in Hackney as I write, with all the music and street events they had planned along with the running events!  I’m almost sure I’m going to miss someone in this list, but if so we will give an extra big shoutout to them next week… Congratulations to Jo Abbot, Laura Beal, Alyssa Bond, Heather Davenport, Clementine Drackett, Jennifer Egsgard, Veena Gopal,  Julie Prince-Hojlo, Alysia Hoyt, Abby Khatiblou, Clare Missin, Kelly Sutyla, and Katie Zolnierz on another race completed!  (See photos below,  shamelessly pulled from WhatsApp just now!).  I also want to add a shoutout to three of our WRW ladies for taking on the Three Peaks Challenge this weekend– well done to Roni Fransis, Meredith Snizek, and Caroline Young for getting those peaks climbed in some gnarly weather over the course of the weekend! 

If you hear of anyone who would like to join the Beginner’s class of 2023, please connect them with us or pass along their contact info to [email protected].  As anyone who has been through this program knows, it can be an amazing, life-changing experience!  The program is for people who have truly never been runners before.  It starts out with one-minute intervals at a very slow jog, so is not appropriate for anyone who is able to run even a mile or two.  Our regular M-W-F group can help people who have been runners before ease back into it and work up to joining our M-W-F runs.

And once again, please let us know if plans have changed or developed and you will be leaving London at the end of the school year.  Our Sights of London/Leavers’ Run is coming up on Wednesday, June 1.

Looking ahead.  See below for the highlight list of upcoming runs.  You can view the full list for the rest of this year here.
May 30: Virginia Water/Windsor Adventure Run (7 miles)
June 1:  Sights of London/Leavers’ RunJune 6:  Tower Hill in Bloom for Platinum Jubilee
June 10:  2nd Annual Year-end Picnic in Regents Park (12:30 to ?)– rain date is Monday, June 13

What a gorgeous day for a run– or for whatever your Sunday holds!  Enjoy your adventures tomorrow, send photos, and I hope to see many of you on our great runs later this week!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 23 May – Choose-your-own-adventure run

The pace groups are all choosing something fun to do today – check in with your What’sApp groups to get the plan!  If you are new to the group, or not on a Whatsapp chat, let us know so we can try to connect you!

Wednesday 25 May – Chelsea and Belgravia in Bloom, plus “Eggs of an Era” (6.5 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/zk8ZnswqEg

Heading to Hyde Park, taking the usual route down Lisson Grove to Seymour Place. Once inside the park, turn left and run down towards the southern edge, following the path to the right before it leaves the Park (Rotten Row). Run to the large gated exit (Albert Gate) before the tall ‘One Hyde Park’ complex, cross Knightsbridge road and turn right on Knightsbridge, then a left onto Sloane Street after Harvey Nichols. Follow Sloane St, turn left at Cadogan Place, stay on the left, cross the road and enter Motcomb Street: inside the Halkin Arcade you can admire the  “Little Ben’ floral display. 

Run back to Sloane Street and turn left. At the first traffic light cross the road on the right into Pont Street. Then turn left into Pavillon Road. Run all the way until the end of the street where you can spot two of the “Eggs of an Era” displayed to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Turn left into Sloane Square where there are two more “Eggs”. Enter Duke of York Square where turning right around the square is possible to see other “Eggs”. Get back to King’s Road. Turn left and run down King’s Road until you reach the Ivy Cafe, admiring the floral displays in the various shops along the way. Cross King’s Road and head back the way you came towards Sloane Square. Cross the square and follow Eaton Square Gardens. Turn right into Elizabeth Street enjoying all the little cosy shops. When you reach Ebury Street, you can admire TomTom coffee house  on the corner on your left with its “Alice in Wonderland” floral facade. Turn left onto Ebury street but keep an eye on your right so you don’t miss the  Eccleston Yards entrance (the entrance is hidden between terraced houses). Inside the Yard you can stop at Morena for a coffee. There is also an Ole and Steen outside the courtyards. The nearest tube station is Victoria. Green Park tube station is circa another mile.

Friday 27 May – Brick Lane, ending at Eataly (7 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/RrZku3HKQ8

We will head out in the same way as though we are running to The Wall. Take the Canal east to the Wall, go up ramp to Muriel Street, take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings. Here’s the entrance to the path:

Keep going straight on the path and it will become Maygood Street. When you get to the intersection of a main road (Barnsbury Road) turn right.  Run until you make the second left onto Chapel Market. (There is a metal archway saying Chapel Market and a zebra crossing at the intersection.) Follow Chapel Market until the end. Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street. Cross Upper Street and turn left, then make your first right at Duncan Street. Follow Duncan Street to the end and there will be an entrance to the canal directly in front of you. At the canal path continue running straight, the water will be on your right. Follow the canal until you reach the Kingsland Road Bridge, Number 45. See the photo below.

Run under the bridge and take the brick steps up on your left, see photo below.

At the top of the stairs turn left and at the main road, Kingsland Road, turn left (you’ll be running back over the canal). Follow Kingsland Road– you’ll see the Gherkin building in the distance in front of you, and Kingsland Road will become Shoreditch High Street. Turn left at Bethnal Green Road. There will be a white metal railroad bridge in front of you and the BOXPARK market will be on your right once you turn. You’ll also pass the Shoreditch High Street Overground Station on your right. Follow Bethnal Green Road until you hit Brick Lane, less than a quarter of a mile. Turn right into Brick Lane. Keep running along Brick Lane and turn right onto Hanbury Street. Run through Spitalfield Market, keeping to the left.  Eataly food market is on Bishopsgate, near to Liverpool Street tube station.

Hello, Runners!

I sound like a broken record, but wasn’t that an amazing week we just had?  Monday’s Hampton Court run could not have been lovelier– and as if the run itself weren’t great enough, some of our runners were rewarded with a sighting of Mo Farah right at the end (no photos– he was moving too fast)!  Pretty amazing that WRW shared a trail with Great Britain’s most successful Olympic track athlete on a random Monday while just out for our run, isn’t it?  Wednesday’s route to Covent Garden gave us the chance for coffee off the beaten path (and a little shopping), and Friday’s Kenwood Loop didn’t disappoint– it was even worth a few crazy hills to see the rhododendrons and azaleas in full bloom.  Running together this time of year is always full of great sights and experiences, both expected and unexpected!

Running this week.  Sunday morning already, and the weekend clock is ticking down… but isn’t it great that we always get to ease into our week with a first-thing Monday morning run together?  This week we have another adventure run scheduled– from Alexandra Palace down the North section of the Parkland Walk to Highgate Wood, and then picking up the section of the Parkland Walk we follow when we run to Finsbury Park (aka, Happenin’ Bagel).  The run is just over 5 miles (but it does have some hills at the start) and, of course, requires a tube ride at the start and from the finish, so will take a little more time than our usual 5-mile run.  We will meet at 8:30 at the Finchley tube station (not the Overground this time!) to take the Metropolitan line, switching at King’s Cross to Piccadilly east to Wood Green.  If you are following an alternate route to Wood Green, plan to arrive there no later than 9:00, and be sure your pace group knows to look out for you.  Full directions for the route are below, as always.  Wednesday we plan to do the 6.5-mile Whole Foods Piccadilly via Embankment route.  That’s the one that goes along the canal east for three miles, then drops down through Farringdon and along Embankment before turning up for a last bit of a mile to Piccadilly.  And Friday it’s back up to the Heath for the route of your choice (or you might choose to run to Borough, as we only have one more run scheduled there, on June 10).

Shoutouts and Announcements.  As I write, Francesca Rangheri has just finished her Copenhagen Marathon!  (Yes, of course I was tracking it and cheering– technology is great that way!).  Kudos and cheers to Francesca for a fantastic race!  Next Sunday we have several women running the Hackney Half, so WRW continues to represent all over the place– and we get to keep handing out shoutouts!  If you hear of anyone who would like to join the Beginner’s class of 2023, please connect them with us or pass along their contact info to [email protected].  As anyone who has been through this program knows, it can be an amazing, life-changing experience!  The program is for people who have truly never been runners before.  It starts out with one-minute intervals at a very slow jog, so is not appropriate for anyone who is able to run even a mile or two.  Our regular M-W-F group can help people who have been runners before ease back into it and work up to joining our M-W-F runs.

On a different note, please let us know if plans have changed or developed and you will be leaving London at the end of the school year (or if plans have changed and you are not leaving if you were listed as a leaver!). Our Sights of London/Leavers’ Run is coming up on Wednesday, June 1.

Looking ahead.  Next Monday is the Choose-your-own-Adventure run.  I’ve heard plans from a couple of groups (sounds like fun!), and hopefully you all have something in the works.  Do let us know if you need ideas, or if you (individually) have not heard anything about group plans for that day– you should be seeing info about it on your WhatsApp chats.  The chats are also the place to go to find running partners for any day you need to run local rather than do an adventure run.  Stay tuned for the 2022 edition of the Summer Running WhatsApp as well, for those in London this summer and looking to run with friends.  And see below for the highlight list of upcoming runs.  You can view the full list for the rest of this year here.
May 23:  Choose-your-own-adventure Pace Group Options*
May 30: Virginia Water/Windsor Adventure Run (7 miles)
June 1:  Sights of London/Leavers’ Run
June 6:  Tower Hill in Bloom for Platinum Jubilee
June 10:  2nd Annual Year-end Picnic in Regents Park (12:30-?)– rain date is Monday, June 13
* destinations to be determined by pace group!  Reach out to us if you need ideas or logistical help!

Sending cozy thoughts for this drizzly afternoon, and looking forward to some wonderful runs in the week ahead!  

xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 16 May – ADVENTURE RUN – Alexandra Palace to Finsbury Park via Parkland Walk (5 miles)
RunGo:  

https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/OZIpYbUoPv
Meet at Finchley Road tube, to depart at 8:30. Take the Metropolitan Line East to King’s Cross, switch to the Piccadilly line East to Wood Green. Transport for London estimates this to be an 30-35 minute trip in total. 
After you exit Wood Green tube station, you need to follow Station Road which is the road directly in front of you. Cross the street in front of the station and follow Station Road, staying right at the roundabout, which becomes Buckingham Road. You will pass the Alexandra Palace overground station. At the T-junction with Bridge Road, turn left and cross the bridge (car and pedestrian bridge) over the train tracks.At the end of the bridge, turn left and follow Bedford Rd which becomes South Terrace and leads you directly into Alexandra Park. Follow the sidewalk along South Terrace (climbing a hill – the views are worth it!) and passing in front of Alexandra Palace. You can skip the hill by running along the path at the bottom of the grassy hill.  After you pass Alexandra Palace, the road turns downhill, look out for the bus stop in front of you, just after a car park (see below). You need to cross the road here and follow the path that leads away from the bus stop and parallel to the car park. Along the way you can also follow the sign for Little Dinosaurs.

Follow this path, you will run through a metal tunnel (see below) and then the path loops around and under the road. 

After you cross under the road you are entering the Parkland Walk North section. Run the Parkland Walk North and enjoy the views along the way. At the end of Parkland Walk you come out alongside Muswell Hill Road and are looking for the entrance to Highgate Wood on your right. You are on Muswell Hill Road very briefly, so don’t miss it. See below for the entrance to Highgate Wood. 

Once you are in Highgate Wood, turn left and follow the path (bear left at every opportunity and run with the road to your left) to the end of the park.  You will exit at the Gypsy Gate. When you exit the park, turn right and cross Muswell Hill Road at the next pedestrian crossing light. After crossing the road, turn right and run to Archway Road. At Archway Road, turn left. You’ll be running with the shops on your right and fence, trees, Highgate station on your left. Following Archway, passing Gonnermann antiques (this is where we usually cross the road in the Happening Bagel route) and taking the next left on Holmesdale Road. Run down the hill and look for the entrance to Parkland Walk South on your left. Follow the path until the end. At the end, turn left, cross the train tracks and enter Finsbury Park. Once you are in Finsbury Park, turn right and follow the path along the outer edge of the park until you end at the Finsbury Park gate on Seven Sisters Road. Happening Bagel is across the street and Costa Coffee is to the right on your way to the Finsbury Park tube station.

Wednesday 18 May  – Whole Foods Piccadilly via Embankment (6.5 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/sPLE0JCI3K

We start out heading east on the canal and run to the Wall.  We’ll exit the canal there and turn right onto Rodney, which will turn into Penton Rise, then King’s Cross Road, and eventually Farringdon, which we will stay on until we reach the embankment. We then turn right and run along Victoria Embankment to Northumberland (just past Embankment Tube Station). Turn Right onto Northumberland and run through Trafalgar Square onto Cockspur and then turn right onto Haymarket. Take Haymarket into Piccadilly Circus and turn left onto Coventry. Run through Piccadilly Circus, across the street and onto Glasshouse Street, where you will see Whole Foods Market.

Friday 20 May – The Heath, Runners’ Choice 
It’s Friday, so away we go to the hill for a Runners’ Choice day!  Pick your Heath route with your group– or go crazy and head for Borough Market.
<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.

Hello Runners!
It’s been another great week, with WRW getting it done literally the entire time– from last Sunday’s 10k to Miki’s 100-mile finish in the wee hours this morning!  Proper shoutouts below, but just overall, wow!  I love how we are all out enjoying the spring, the city and our ability and freedom to run it together.

Running this week.  Monday we are off to Hampton Court!  If you have blocked off the morning for this run, I promise you it is well worth it!  Running from Richmond, past several Ted Lasso sites, then along the Thames all the way to the famous and beautiful Hampton Court Palace, the route is gorgeous and it feels like a quick getaway from the city (though we do love our city!).  Please see more logistics information on this below!  But meanwhile, if you can’t take the time for the destination run, you will undoubtedly be able to connect with others on your Whatsapp chats who want to run local.  We won’t set an alternate local route, as we all have our own favourites by now– but I will just mention that for a 6-8 mile looped run, it’s hard to beat our Hyde Park routes.  Our Wednesday plan is to run to Covent Garden via Little Venice.  This gets us 6 miles with a slightly different-from-the-usual route (it’s good for your brain!) through Little Venice and Bayswater, and then around Hyde Park through Green Park and along the Mall on to Covent Garden.  Note that for this route, and many we will do for the rest of the spring, we are likely to encounter various detours and closures related to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.  We will just have to work around these as we come to them, so keep your on-the-go nav skills at the ready.  And Friday we are back to the Heath with a recommendation for the Kenwood House full 8-mile route.  Your routes team did a little garden research in the course of their planning, and it looks like they hit it spot on, as the Kenwood House website confirms that the rhododendrons, azaleas, and the handkerchief tree are in bloom.  See map and full directions below in the “Routes” section, as always.

Hampton Court Palace Adventure Run, Monday!  As this is an adventure run, we begin it with an overground train ride from Finchley Road and Frognal Overground station.  Note: this is the Overground station, not Finchley Road underground station!– you can get there from SJW by bus, or by tube to Finchley Road and then a short walk further up Finchley to the overground station.  We are planning on taking an 8:37 train, so meet at the station at 8:30, with the train arriving in Richmond at 9:08 for anyone planning to meet us there.  It’s a good idea to communicate on your Whatsapp chats so your group knows who to expect, but please don’t be late!  We can’t wait at the station, as that can mess up plans for many of the runners who arrive on time or who are meeting us in Richmond or by different routes along the way.  Plan on taking the full morning for this one, as we start the 8-mile (or 6-miles to Kingston-upon-Thames) run just after 9, will likely take a few photos along the way, and then the commute back to St Johns Wood will take about an hour via train from Hampton Court to Waterloo and tube to SJW or other home station.  If you can spare the time, maybe finish with brunch or lunch in Hampton Court (the village, as unfortunately, we can no longer access the Tiltyard Cafe without paying admission to the palace)– Erin has included basic directions to coffee and food in the routes section below.  

Announcements and Shoutouts.  A shoutout to the ladies who ran the Vitality 10k last weekend:  Laura Beal, Darlene Bernard, Alysia Hoyt, and Tanya Sinha!  They rocked the WRW kit with the large group running as part of the charity event for Ukraine– check out their photo in the collage above!  Also a big shoutout to our Seattle-based WRW alumni crew, some of whom– Molly Johnson, Ann Sharma and Kim Stone– ran the 50th BMO Vancouver half-marathon last Sunday (check out their photo below)!  And last but definitely not least– lots of love and kudos to Miki Neant, who finished her Centurion Thames Path 100— yes, that’s a 100-mile ultramarathon!– in the wee hours this morning.  Miki finished  in less than 18 hours (the race has a 28-hour cutoff)– which placed her 4th for women and 12th overall!  Her fabulous crew from the Crazy 8s– Bjorg, Kelly and Francesca– were there to support her along the way (apologies if I’ve missed anyone!).  What an inspiration– and what congratulations due to Miki!  Good luck to Francesca in her Copenhagen marathon next weekend.  And don’t forget to let us know if you (or a shy WRW friend) have an event coming up or just past– we love to give the shoutouts, but it’s also an important way to stay connected with each other as our group grows ever larger!

Looking ahead.  We still have lots of great adventure runs ahead.  See below for advance planning for those runs that might be a longer commitment.  And of course, there is always the option to stay local– Whatsapp groups are a great way to find running partners if you can’t make a destination run.  To help with your planning for the rest of this busy spring, we are also making the run schedule for the rest of this year available on this Google calendar (but please still read the e-mails, ok?). 
May 16:  Alexandra Palace Adventure Run (5 miles, to Finsbury Park finish)
May 23:  Choose-your-own-adventure Pace Group Options*
May 30: Virginia Water/Windsor Adventure Run (7 miles)
June 1:  Sights of London/Leavers’ Run
June 6:  Tower Hill in Bloom for Platinum Jubilee
June 10:  2nd Annual Year-end Picnic in Regents Park (12:30-?)– rain date is Monday, June 13

* destinations to be determined by pace group!  Reach out to us if you need ideas or logistical help!
What a gorgeous day we are having!  I’m headed out to enjoy the rest of it now, and I hope you are, too!  Oh, and it’s Mother’s Day in the US, so don’t forget to wish your American moms a happy day, and I wish the same to all of you fabulous moms (here’s hoping you get the double celebration of UK and US days;)!  Hoping to see you out there on the pavements and beautiful paths this week!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 9 May: Hampton Court – 6 or 8 miles 
Ted Lasso version RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/hoLSzRNtLb
Or the regular route RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/GLb4sI9iJx

We will meet at the “Finchley Road and Frognal Overground Station” at 8:30 for the 8:37 train to Richmond. We will arrive in Richmond around 9:08 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 just out of the station at the light and turn left. Turn right onto Duke Street (Sweaty Betty on the corner), then left onto Richmond Green road along the edge of the park. Follow straight along the Green (where scenes of pupils playing football were filmed) and you’ll come to a familiar sight from Ted Lasso: the two red phone boxes, the benches, and the pub (Crown & Anchor in the show, The Prince’s Head in real life). Go straight onto Paved Court and look for 11a, Ted’s home address. At the end of Paved Court turn right and turn left 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. Shortly after the 2 mile mark you can look to the right and see Eel Pie Island, which appears in the background of the scene where Phoebe tallies up the number of times her Uncle Roy curses. In more distant history the island was known for its hotel which hosted gigs by the Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd and Genesis early in their careers. Eventually we 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. 

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 under the bridge and turn up the stairs and cross the river. Turn left at the end of the bridge onto a pretty path called Barge Walk, which follows the river all the way to Hampton Court Palace. Unfortunately, we can no longer go to Hampton Court’s Tiltyard Cafe without paying the entrance fee but there are plenty of coffee options across the bridge in town. For coffee, turn right just after you cross the bridge and then left onto Bridge Road, which has a number of options. Or, take the train directly back to London via Hampton Court train station, which is just on the left after you cross the bridge. 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 11 May: Covent Garden via Little Venice (6 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/QsTDmIgJaC

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 Blomfield Rd sidewalk until you turn left to cross the Westbourne Terrace Road bridge. Turn right after the bridge and follow the sidewalk along Delamere Terrace. When you come to the bridge over the canal turn left onto Lord’s Hill Rd (don’t continue along the canal!), continue past the nursery school on your right, through the park, and then left on Harrow Rd. Cross Harrow Rd at the pedestrian crossing that goes under the Westway, and run straight down Porchester Rd (which becomes Inverness Terrace) all the way to Hyde Park. Turn right in Hyde Park and then left at the Broad Walk. At the base of the park turn left and run all along the southern edge of the park til you get to Hyde Park Corner. Here we run through Wellington Arch and along the southern edge of Green Park. At the end of the park, keep running straight down The Mall (do not cross the street as we do when we are going to Big Ben) until you come to Trafalgar Square. Run around the right side of the Square, past St Martin-in-the-Fields Church. Turn right onto William IV St and then left onto Chandos Pl. At the end of Chandos Pl turn left and enter Covent Garden.

Friday 13 May: Heath – Kenwood House – 8 miles

It’s a beautiful time of year to visit Kenwood House and see the gardens around it.  Why not give it a try?Head out to Avenue Road, then up Fitzjohn’s per all the Heath routes. Cross diagonally over Adelaide Rd to run past the Swiss Cottage tube and proceed up Fitzjohn’s Avenue. Run up the hill to the Hampstead Heath Tube. Continue up Heath St (to the left of the Tube) all the way to the stoplight at E Heath Rd. Cross at the light, continue past the roundabout, and enter the Heath at the first trail entrance on your right. Follow this major trail down past Lime Avenue and other smaller trails, fields and forested areas. As the trail starts to veer right, take the sharp left to run up Parliament Hill. Enjoy the spectacular vista (and catch your breath) before continuing down the other side of the hill, keeping left when the path splits and taking a sharp left at the bottom of the hill. Run past three ponds on your right, turn right after the third pond and up the rise to a wide gate (loos on your left here). Go through the gate and turn left along the eastern edge of the Heath. Follow the path downhill then up until you reach the gate on the left that marks the entrance to the Kenwood House grounds. Enter the grounds, turn right to run past Kenwood House, then right again through the gate onto a gravelly path. Follow the path through a gate, and stay on the path as it bears left and passes a wooden bench on the left. Keep your eye out for a small clearing ahead on the left with another bench — when you see it (but before you pass it!) take a hard right down a steep path that crosses a small bridge and heads uphill again. Turn right at the main trail intersect (this is the same trail you ran down at the beginning of the Heath, in the opposite direction) and run back up to where you entered the Heath. Turn left on Spaniards Rd and retrace your steps all the way back to SJW and Starbucks.

Or if you prefer another Heath route:
<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.

Hello Runners!
How is it May already?  What a great way to close out April, though, with the five gardens of Regents Park, the pergola, and even a Pop-up Meadow in Trafalgar Square last week– all of which made for stunning photos!  I know some runners made the trek to Olympic Park last Monday (I love that run!) as well, so bravo for keeping that route alive!

Running this week.  Monday is a holiday (again?) so we don’t have an official route.  For those who are in town, take the opportunity to run your favourite route with friends, on your own schedule!  Wednesday is May 4th… yes, as in ‘May the fourth be with you’ (haha…groan!).  So with a slight nod to the Star Wars universe, we’re rerouting the Kensal Rise route to pass the Abbey Road Studios, where the scores for the Star Wars films between 1980-2005 (Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and the prequel trilogy) were recorded by John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra.  Be sure to let your favourite Star Wars riff play in your head as you pass the studios!  And Friday, of course, is the first Friday of the month, so we will head to Borough Market!

Announcements and Shoutouts.  There are so many races coming up!  Tomorrow we have several people running the Vitality 10K through central London– have a great run, all  (shoutouts coming for you next week)!  And next Saturday, May 7, Miki Neant will take on the Centurion Thames Path 100— a 100-mile race beginning in Richmond at 9:30 Saturday morning and finishing 16-28 hours later on the grounds of Oxford University.  What an undertaking– good luck, Miki!  Fellow 8s Francesca, Kelly and Bjorg will crew her for the second half of the race (she is required to run the first half alone).  And then, just a week after running through the night with Miki, Francesca Rangheri will run the Copenhagen Marathon on May 15.  This is a race, by the way, that she signed up for in 2019 and is finally getting to run after all the Covid cancellations!  Stay tuned for some additional news on the running challenges and events WRW ladies are taking on in the month ahead.  And please let us know if we’re missing anything.  It’s not easy to “keep up” with this bunch of runners!

Looking ahead.  We have a date for the Sights of London/Leavers run!  We’re excited to be able to run it this year on Wednesday, June 1, the week of the Platinum Jubilee.  London should be looking its finest, and even if we encounter security barriers or detours, it will be fun to be out in the midst of preparations for this historic event!  For those new to this tradition, this is the one run of the year in which we all set out pretty much together, and we pause at various landmarks for large group photos.  We will end with coffee at a designated spot for all who can stay.  Also, by popular request, we are pleased to announce a year-end picnic on Friday, June 10 in Regents Park.  Born of necessity (social distancing rules still in place last spring!), this 2nd annual event is a fun, informal, self-catered chance to hang out together on a hopefully ‘fine’ afternoon in the park (raindate will be Monday, June 13).  The other events below are primarily the ‘adventure runs’– which are destination runs that require a tube/train ride either to the start, from the finish, or both.  Because they take a bit more time out of the day, we want to give you plenty of time to plan if you want to join them.  But there will always be people who are running local rather than to the destination, so just connect on Whatsapp and find friends for your preferred route!  
May 9:  Hampton Court Adventure Run (8 miles)
May 16:  Alexandra Palace Adventure Run (5 miles, to Finsbury Park finish)
May 23:  Choose-your-own-adventure Pace Group Options*
May 30: Virginia Water/Windsor Adventure Run (7 miles)
June 1:  Sights of London/Leavers’ RunJune 6:  Tower Hill in Bloom for Platinum Jubilee
June 10:  2nd Annual Year-end Picnic in Regents Park (12:30-?)*information coming to Pace Group Leaders soon!

Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday, runners!  As we gear up for some really fun runs in the weeks ahead, take care of yourselves, stay healthy, and enjoy your runs and this busy, crazy time of year!  Every once in a while when I feel like there is too much going on, I cast my thoughts back to the last couple of years where literally nothing could happen– and that just magnifies my gratitude for every run, every coffee, every meeting… every thing!  I’m so happy we get to run together this spring– see you out there soon!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday – bank holiday
Use the What’sApp groups to see who’s running and choose your own route.

Wednesday 4 May 2022 – Kensal Rise, with a ‘May the Fourth’ nod to Abbey Road Studios (5.75 miles)
Run Go: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/1rhb3AdSh7

Start out heading west on St. John’s Wood Road and cross Grove End at the traffic light. 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 a short distance, crossing the road to turn left onto Springfield Lane, and then following that road as it jogs to the right. After two blocks, take another short jog to the right on Kilburn Priory, and then immediately left onto Greville Road. From there take a left on Carlton Hill, and then a right onto Abbey Road. You’ll pass Abbey Road Studios on your right. Turn left on Circus Road to run back to the St Johns Wood High Street.

Friday 6 May 2022 – Borough Market (6 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/6U5vDjwEEA

It’s First Friday so let’s do our Borough Market run! We can grab coffee at Monmouth or Rabot Estates before doing any shopping and catching the tube at London Bridge station back to SJW. Don’t forget your mask and your contactless card! We start by heading to Hyde Park via the usual route. Head west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End Road. At the corner of St. John’s Wood Road and Grove End Road, cross diagonally at the light and continue south on Lisson Grove. Cross over Marylebone Road and continue south on Seymour Place until it tees into Seymour Street. 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. Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill. Run past the Victoria Memorial, cross The Mall at the light and turn right at the grand wrought iron gates into 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 down the stairs to run along the Thames until the river path ends after Southwark Bridge. Just past Southwark Bridge, head right and then a quick left to go into a short tunnel that puts you onto Clink Street. Make a right on Stoney Street to get to the market (and Monmouth Coffee or Rabot Estates!).