Category: MWF

12 – 16 Sept 2016 Running Info

Another great week of running! I’ve really enjoyed meeting the new runners – thanks for joining us! If you’re just getting back into running, and you’ve struggled a bit, don’t give up – Keep running! I promise with each run it will get easier and you will feel stronger. This email has a lot of important information about dates for fall runs so make sure you read it. It will also hopefully give you some incentive to keep running when you see the interesting destinations on the schedule.
We have some great routes this week with many distance options. Monday we head to Sloane Square/Westminster/Green Park and you can pick anything from 4-10 miles. (10 miles is an option for the women doing a fall half marathon.) You’ll see all the options listed below. Remember to bring your Oyster card/Tube card. Wednesday we run west along the canal and loop back home through Notting Hill. The entire route is 6 miles, but you can easily shorten it by turning back at any point along the canal. If you want to run a total of 4 miles, the 2-mile turn-around point is when the Westway motorway is over your head.
Thanks for all your patience and help last Friday. We had a very large group at Barclays. I think there were over 50 runners! I love it! I think the general Friday plan worked well last week. The runners who did the reverse route really liked it (except that Parliament Hill was tough!) and we also had a good group to do the standard 5-mile “Betsy” hill route and a group that did a flat run. Given there are so many of us, the plan for now is to continue sending smaller groups in a few directions on Friday so that we don’t overwhelm the sidewalk on Fitzjohn’s during the school run.
Adventure Run to Hampton Court Palace – Save the Date
An adventure run means that we ride the train to a location at the start of the run and then we take the train home at the end of the run. It takes more time to take the train both directions, but it gives us a chance to run some interesting routes that are outside our neighbourhood. We tried our first adventure run last spring from Richmond to Hampton Court Palace and it was a big hit. We run along the Thames path for pretty much the entire way and it’s a beautiful route. Plus you can’t beat coffee at the Palace cafe when you’re done. The entire route to the Palace is 8 miles, but there is also an option to take a train home at 6 miles. Mark your calendars now for Monday 7 November and block out the entire morning or more if you want to stay for a long coffee afterwards.
Borough Market- Save the Date
One of our favourite routes is to go to Borough Market on a Friday. If you want to plan ahead, our first Borough Market run will be on Friday Oct. 7. We also have one scheduled for Friday November 18 right before the Thanksgiving break. For anyone who doesn’t want to do a destination run, the Hill is always going to be an option on Fridays.
Looking ahead
Here are the Monday routes over the next month and a few other key routes in the fall:
12 September – Sloane Square/Embankment/Westminster
19 September – Hyde Park
26 September – Whole Foods Piccadilly
17 October – Brick Lane
31 October – Brompton Cemetery and Kensington Whole Foods
7 November – ADVENTURE RUN – Hampton Court Palace
21 November – Finsbury Park Happening Bagel
7 December (Wednesday) – Christmas Lights run (early start)
General Training and Pace Groups
In general, each week we run a long/slower run on Monday, a shorter/faster run on Wednesday and a hill run on Friday. We have pace groups that help make it easier for folks to find each other and will be especially important for our long runs. I’ll write more about the pace groups in the next few weeks. We follow the training principle that your long run should be at a pace slower than your race pace. If you’re new to the “race pace” concept, don’t worry! We can help you figure out where you should be.
As always, if you have any questions or if you need any guidance, just let me know.
Keep running,
Jane

ROUTES THIS WEEK

Monday 12 September  – Sloane Sq/Westminster/Green Park–3.75 to 7/10 miles, Your choice!

Today’s routes are fun because you can pick whichever distance suits you–in this case one size can fit all!

Everybody starts out to Hyde Park, taking the usual route: west on Circus Road, left on Grove End, all the way down to Seymour Place where the road ends.  Right on Seymour, across Edgware, left on Stanhope and enter the park. At the silver orb, turn left and run down to the southern edge, following the path to the right before it leaves the Park.  Run to big gated exit before the tall ‘One Hyde Park’ complex, cross over Knightsbridge at William Street, quick right on Knightsbridge then a right onto Sloane Street.

3.75’ers:  at Sloane Sq, take the Tube home!

6.33’ers:  continue past Sloane Sq down Lower Sloane St/Chelsea Bridge Road to the Thames.  Turn left on the Thames side of Grosvenor Rd and run along the embankment to Westminster Tube–you’re done!

7+’ers:  continue left on Birdcage Walk, cutting through St James Park to the Mall, then left on the Mall towards Buckingham Palace, crossing before the circle to reach Green Park.  Run up to the Green Park Tube on Piccadilly St and head home!

10 milers:  for anyone needing a longer run today, continue past Green Park Tube, through Mayfair to Baker Street and head to SJW Starbucks–this will give you almost 10 miles.

SloaneSq_Westm_GreenPk201509

Wednesday 14 September – Notting Hill (4-6 miles)
Run out the canal to the west and exit at Ladbroke Grove.  Run to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square.  Go back along the canal and out where you entered and back to Starbucks.

You also have the option of a shorter run by not running as far as Ladbroke Grove.  Instead, run half the distance you want, turn around and head home.  For example, running to the Westway flyover and back is about four miles [two out and two back].

 NottingHill

Friday 16 September – The Heath (4-8 miles)

It’s Friday which means everyone up to the Heath. You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance. All of these routes are on the website. We are adding the map for the Reverse Heath Route which will keep us off Fitzjohn’s during the main school run.

If you are not up for a hill run yet, no problem, just let us know. Every week there are a group of women who prefer to do a flat run. We can help make sure that you find each other.

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill. Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7miles:  The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath Route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route
Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

5 – 9 Sept 2016 Running Info

Hi everyone,
We’ve had a great start to the running season! It was wonderful to see so many of you gathering in front of Barclays and Starbucks. Thanks for your flexibility regarding the change of route last Friday as well.

To the new runners, we’re so glad you’ve joined us! To the returning runners, thanks for being so friendly and welcoming to our new runners- keep it up!  We have more new runners starting this week. To everyone, if the runs last week were too slow/fast or too short/long – Don’t give up!! It often takes a few sessions to find the smaller group of women that run the right distance/pace for you. (If you need some help/guidance linking up with someone, just let me know.) One runner said to me, “Wednesday was really difficult and I almost didn’t come back, but Friday was great. Now I’m hooked!” I know the first few runs after the summer can be challenging. Stick with it and I promise it will get better.

As a reminder to the new runners, we meet in front of Barclays Bank at the corner of Circus and Wellington Roads at 8:15 am so we can start running at 8:20. Always bring your Oyster/Tube card because we often return home on the Tube. If you are new to the group, I’ll wear my orange and blue hat so you can find me in the crowd. Come say HI!

This week we return to some of our favourite runs. Monday we head off to the heart of London with a 4-mile run to Big Ben and then we take the tube home from Westminster. (If you prefer a 2-mile route you can take the tube home from Marble Arch or a 3-mile route is the tube home from Hyde Park corner or a 5-mile route is taking the tube at Green Park after you hit Westminster.) Runners who are training for a fall half-marathon can loop back home for an 8-mile route. As always, if you haven’t been training all summer, don’t be tempted to do the longer route. Gradually adding mileage is one of the best ways to avoid injury. For the new runners, don’t be tempted to run too fast especially as you add new mileage. You should be able to talk the entire time during the Monday run. If you are struggling, consider slowing down a bit. Just let me know if you need some help finding a group that is running your pace. I’m happy to help.

Wednesday we run west along the canal and loop back home through Kensal Rise. The entire route is 5.5 miles, but you can easily shorten it by turning back at any point along the canal. If you want to run a total of 4 miles, the 2-mile turn-around point is when the Westway motorway is over your head.

NEW ROUTE FRIDAY
I’m really hoping that the construction on Fitzjohn’s Avenue clears up soon. (But I know many of you were perfectly happy to do a flat run last Friday!) For now we’re going to offer three options for the Friday run.

Option 1: Old Heath routes (assuming sidewalk is passable)
Our standard Hill routes up Fitzjohn’s are great at the start of the season because they offer many options for gradually adding mileage without the route being too tricky. Basically you can always run up the hill for awhile and then turn around and run down whenever you want. Unfortunately the current sidewalk situation makes it difficult for our large group to make it up the Hill without completely swamping the sidewalk which wouldn’t be fair to the other pedestrians, especially during the school run. SO for now we’re going to offer the standard routes as a possible option and I’ll email again on Thursday to give you an update on the sidewalk construction to see if they are doable.

Option 2: New Heath route – 6-mile IN REVERSE
We’re also going to start learning the 6-mile Heath route IN REVERSE. You’ll see the map and directions below. A few of us ran this route in the summer and we liked it. We have adjusted it so that we are basically off of Fitzjohn’s on the way up the Hill so you miss the busy pedestrian and traffic pollution time. Consider giving it a try this Friday and then let me know what you think about it.

Option 3: Flat run
Feel free to pick your own route if you would like to do a flat run. There is usually a group doing a flat run on Friday that you can join.

Sidewalk awareness
We are such a large group! Please remember not to block the sidewalk when we gather at Barclays or when we stop at Starbucks at the end. We want to be good citizens of St. John’s Wood.

Returning to running
I’ve heard from a few people who are returning to running after some time off. I’m happy to connect the runners who are not quite ready for our standard routes. If you are working up to 1-4 miles, you can send me an email at [email protected] and I’ll let you know about other women who are in the same boat.

T-Th Beginner Group
Our beginner group is off to a great start! If you have any friends who are interested in joining, please have them email [email protected]. Remember that the beginner group is for women who have never run before.

Stay Tuned – Spring Half-Marathon Trip
We’re hard at work behind the scenes trying to find a race for our spring half marathon. As you know, we have to balance many factors in choosing a race including timing, travel and finding a race that is appropriate for our beginner runners. We have our eye on a few races that look great and we are hard at work behind the scenes talking to the race directors, negotiating hotel contracts and researching all the logistical details. (Thank you Chris Roberts!) We can’t announce anything until those important details are finalised, but we hope to be able to announce the 2017 race around the end of September or early October. I know it’s tempting to bombard Chris with questions about the race, but please be patient. We promise we will announce the race as soon as we possibly can.

Keep running,
Jane

ROUTES THIS WEEK

Monday, 5 September – Big Ben (4-8 miles)
 This is such a fun route! We run right through the heart of London and stop at the famous Big Ben. The 8 mile option is for runners planning to do a fall half-marathon.
On Monday we head to Hyde Park via the usual route. Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove. Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end. Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place.   Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill. Run past the Victoria Memorial down the mall and enter St. James Park.  Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben. Those running four miles will take the tube back to SJW from here and those running eight will turn around and follow the same route back. You can also make it about a five mile run by turning back at Big Ben and running to the Green Park Tube Station, then tubing it home.

 

BigBen4mi

Wednesday 7 September – Kensal Rise 4-5+ miles
The beginning of this run takes us along the canal to the west.  Please be aware of bikes along the canal and move into single file whenever you hear a ‘bike!’ shout.
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 the canal entrance on Blomfield. Enter the canal heading west and 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 highway is over our heads.)

KensalRise6mi

Friday 9 September – The Hill

As I mentioned above, he’s a new route to try, the “Reverse” Hampstead Heath 6 miles!

Start from Barclays running down Circus past the SJW High Street until it dead ends and turn left on Townshend Rd. Turn right on Acacia and then left on Avenue. Here’s the new part!  Cross Avenue Road at the Elsworthy cross walk and continue on Elsworthy. Veer left at the fork onto Harley Road and follow Harley to Adelaide. Cross Adelaide and continue past the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre on Winchester Road. To avoid Fitzjohn’s, turn right on Adamson Rd, then left on Crossfield Rd, then left on Lancaster Grove, then right on Buckland Crescent which becomes Belsize Park,then Belsize Ave. At the end, turn left up Haverstock Hill. Run past the Royal Free Hospital on the garden path or turn right on Pond Street, which becomes Constantine Rd, then Severnake Rd. Enter the Heath at the entrance across from Roderick Road. Follow the path past the Parliament Hill Track. Take a sharp left after the Gazibo and run up Parliament Hill. Enjoy the view at the top! Run down the other side of the Hill. At the fork in the woods, take a sharp right and follow the path up until you exit the Heath at Spaniards Rd. Turn left and follow Heath Street, which becomes Fitzjohn’s Avenue back down the hill. At the Swiss Cottage intersection, cross and follow St. John’s Wood Rd and Ordnance Hill back to SJW.

ReverseHeath6mi

Assuming the sidewalk is passable, you can also tackle the standard Friday routes! You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance. All of these routes are on the website.

If you are not up for a hill run yet, no problem, just let us know. Every week there are a group of women who prefer to do a flat run. We can help make sure that you find each other.

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
6-7miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

31 Aug – 2 Sept 2016 Running Info

Welcome back! A special welcome to the new folks joining the group. I hope you had a fantastic summer. I’m excited for the new year at WRW and I can’t wait to see you at our first run of the season on Wednesday 31 August. We meet at 8:15 in front of Barclays Bank at the corner of Wellington and Circus Roads in St. John’s Wood. For the first day, I’ll wear my blue and orange hat so you can find me, please come say HI if you are new.
As we approach the start of a new running season, here are two important things to keep in mind.
1. Take care of yourself:  This one is easy! Read the emails and learn the routes. Eat, drink (and be merry!). Don’t go too fast, or too far, too early. Stretch, stretch and stretch some more. Make sure you sleep. Have the right gear (for those of you who like to shop, this is fun). If you have an injury, see a specialist for help. If you have a question, just ask. We have lots of general knowledge in the group and we can steer you in the right direction.
2. Take care of each other:  This one is fun! Welcome the new runners and the ex-beginners. (Remember how nice it was when someone welcomed you!) Say Hi! Encourage the new runners to persevere, and congratulate all on success, big and small. Notice if someone is suffering and offer to help. Sometimes an encouraging word or a distracting conversation can work wonders! Be aware of the runners in your group and stop at traffic lights so no one is left behind.
Easing back to running
If you haven’t run in awhile, no worries! I’ve already heard from a bunch of the group who plan to start out with slower/shorter runs. At the start of the year, we’ve designed the routes to have plenty of options for distance. Most likely there will be someone running at your pace and your distance. We do have a group of women who are planning to run a half marathon this fall. Don’t be tempted to join them on a long run or be discouraged that you can’t keep up. Remember, they have been seriously training all summer to get ready for a fall race.
Here’s my bit of start-of-the-year arm twisting – Now is the time to start back with the group. I know the beginning of the school year can be very busy but the longer you wait to get started, the more difficult it is. Come out and run and I promise you’ll be glad you did!
A group of friends
A small reminder to everyone that WRW is really just a group of friends who like to run together. We have a lot of knowledge in the group from the experience of running, but none of us (especially me!) are professional experts. We tend to offer general wisdom about training such as it’s important to gradually add mileage and it’s important to properly stretch. It’s crucial that if something is bothering you, little or big, that you seek out professional advice from an expert. Or if you are new to running or new to running longer distances, you may want to see an expert to make sure that you are healthy and OK to tackle this challenge. We have the names of some experts listed on our website.
Pace Groups
We tend to be flexible about the pace groups at the start of the year, but I imagine that we’ll naturally fall into our groups pretty quickly. Please remember to look out for new runners who may need some help finding the right group. We’ll share more details about the pace groups in the coming weeks.
Tuesday – Thursday Beginner Group
The first day for the beginner group will be this Thursday 1st September. Our beginner group is for real beginners, women who have never run before. We start our training with running for a minute and walking for two minutes. Please help us spread the word about our beginner group. If you know anyone who is interested in the beginner group, have them email us at [email protected].
Fall half marathon
Please let me know if you are planning to do a half marathon this autumn so I can connect you with the other women who are currently training for a long race. There is a group planning to do a long run on Bank Holiday Monday 29 August. Please send an email to [email protected] if you want to join them.
Construction on the Hill
Each Friday we tend to run up Fitzjohn’s Avenue to Hampstead Heath. At the moment, the road is under major construction and most of the sidewalk is blocked. We talked to the friendly construction worker last Friday and he said the work is supposed to be finished by Wednesday. If not, we’ll probably need to adjust our Friday route this week.
Thanks for your patience with this long email. That’s all for now – see you at Barclays at 8:15!
Keep running,
Jane
ROUTES THIS WEEK
Wednesday 31 August – Regents Park loop (4 miles)
We’re starting with a familiar, local loop. Head down Grove End Road as though going to Hyde Park BUT at Marylebone Road, turn left and follow Marylebone Road, past Madame Tussauds, then turn left at York Bridge/York Gate and right at the Outer Circle. Follow the Outer Circle counter clockwise, all the way to the crosswalk by the US Ambassador’s House. Cross out of the Park and head to Starbucks.
If you are training for a fall race and want a longer run, you can add some mileage in the park. If you add another loop on the outer circle the total will be 6.8 miles.
If you are not up for 4 miles, that is fine. Come with the group for awhile and you can always turn around and head back at any point. We’ll meet you at Starbucks when we’re finished!
RegentsPark4mi.png

Friday 2 September – The Hill
It’s Friday, so everyone up the Fitzjohn’s Hill. You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance. All of these routes are on the website. (As I mentioned above, we may need to adjust the Friday route if the construction on Fitzjohn’s Avenue is still impacting the sidewalk.)
4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill. Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7 miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route
Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes

6 – 10 June 2016 Running Info

Hi Everyone,
We have our last two official runs this week, but we’ll still be running over the summer, see more on that below. The best way to keep your conditioning and avoid injury is to keep running. Monday we have two options. First, you can join the adventure team that is travelling out to Richmond and running to Hampton Court Palace. Please read the plan in the route section and especially note that we are MEETING AT THE FINCHLEY ROAD AND FROGNAL OVERGROUND STATION. If you are planning to go to Hampton Court, please email us so we have a general idea of who to look out for. We are not waiting for anyone, so don’t be late. If  you can’t make it to Hampton Court, we’ve suggested the run to Big Ben because it’s a favourite London route or you can choose to do one of the Hyde Park routes or a route of your choice. Wednesday is the last day of school so we have the 4-mile extended Regent’s Park loop. Come celebrate the start of summer with a short, local run!
Summer running in London
This is the last official WRW email of the year, but we’ll still be running over the summer! If you’re in town, plan to meet at Barclays at 8:30 on MWF and the group will decide on the route that day. We tend to have a small group that runs most weeks, especially in June and early July. It just depends on who is in town. Darcy Fautz ([email protected]) has volunteered to be a contact point for the summer, so please email her if you’re planning to run or if you want to check and see if anyone else is running.
See you in August!
The first running day of the 2016-2017 year will be Wednesday Aug. 31. If you know anyone interested in the Mon-Wed-Fri group or the beginner group, please have them email [email protected]. Spread the word about WRW! We’re looking forward to meeting all our new members!
I’ll send an email in the next few days about our June 13 social event.
I’m already looking forward to next year! Have a fantastic summer!
Keep running,
Jane
ROUTES
Monday 6 June
Option 1 – Richmond to Hampton Court (8 miles)
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 by 9:15 to start our run.You can take a bus up Finchley Road to the station or take the tube to Finchley Road, turn left and walk up to the Overground Station. Leave the Richmond Overground Station and turn left onto The Quadrant. Then bear right on Water Lane until the river path where we turn left.
Now we stick to the river path along the Thames for the rest of our run. We will pass Petersham, Ham House and run briefly along Lower Ham Road. We keep right at Canbury Gardens and run into Kingston. In Kingston, we run as close to the Thames as possible on Thames Side, past the pier, up the stairs and left across the bridge at Horse Fair to the other side of the Thames. Here we turn left and continue along the Thames on a very pretty path all the way to Hampton Court where we will pass some of the gardens and see the Palace from the outside. We will head back to London from the Hampton Court train station which is across the bridge from the palace. The train runs every 30 minutes, at 24 and 54 past the hour.

RichmondHamptonCourt8mi

Option 2 – Big Ben (4+ miles)
For this run we head to Hyde Park via the usual route and run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under the arch and down Constitution Hill. Run pass the Victoria Memorial down the mall and enter St. James Park. Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben. You can take the tube from Westminster (4 miles) or run back to Green Park (6 miles) or run home (8 miles).

BigBen4mi

Wednesday 8 June – Extended Regent’s Park Loop (4 miles)
Head down Grove End Road as though going to Hyde Park BUT at Marylebone Road, turn left and follow Marylebone Road, past Madame Tussauds, then turn left at York Bridge and right at the Outer Circle.  Follow the Outer Circle counter clockwise, all the way to the crosswalk by the US Ambassador’s House. Cross out of the Park and head to Starbucks.
 RegentsPark4mi

30 May – 3 June 2016 Running Info

Sights of London, 25 May 2016

Sights of London, 25 May 2016

I want to thank each of you for helping to make this year at WRW a success! Thanks to everyone who came out for our Sights of London run and also to everyone who was able to join us at coffee afterwards. A huge THANK YOU to Laura Smith and Chris Roberts for organising the Leavers Coffee. What a great morning – except that we’re going to miss all our leavers so much! (Nancy says we need a new name for “Leavers” – maybe next year it will be the WRW Graduation Coffee?!)

Thanks to everyone who joined our run to the West Heath on Friday. It was fun to explore a new and beautiful area of the Heath and get happily lost a few times. We’ll work on coming up with a “simple” route so that the West Heath can be one of our standard Friday runs.

Monday is a Bank Holiday so we’ll meet at Barclays for a bit later start at 8:30. Wednesday we’re running to The Wall and Friday we’re doing our last run to Borough Market (or you can do the Heath if you prefer.)

Save the Date – Monday June 6 Adventure run – Richmond to Hampton Court Palace
We’re trying something new! We’re taking the train to a beautiful destination, running and then taking the train home. This means the morning run will take more time because there are two train trips. I know it is a busy time of year. If you can’t join this time, don’t worry. This is a bit of a test and if it goes well, we’ll plan to add some similar types of runs throughout the year next year. If you’re planning to attend, please email [email protected] so we know to look out for you at the station.

Here’s the plan: 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 by 9:15 to start our run. (You can take a bus up Finchley Road to the station or take the tube to Finchley Road, turn left and walk up to the Overground Station.) When we arrive in Richmond we’ll run along the Thames all the way to Hampton Court Palace. The run is approximately 8 miles. We’ll take the train back to London from the Hampton Court train station. The train runs every 30 minutes, at 24 and 54 past the hour.

Save the Date – Upcoming runs
Wednesday June 1 – The Wall
Friday June 3 – Borough Market
Mon June 6 – Hampton Court Palace (more details above) or Big Ben
Wed June 8 – Last official run of the year – Regents Park 4 miles

AND…Monday June 13 WRW evening social with spouses (more details to follow)

Summer running in London
We’re nearing the end of our official WRW year, but we’ll still be running over the summer! If you’re in town, plan to meet at Barclays at 8:30 on MWF and the group will decide on the route that day. We tend to have a small group that runs most weeks, especially in June and early July. It just depends on who is in town. Darcy Fautz ([email protected]) has volunteered to be a contact point for the summer, so please email her if you’re planning to run or if you want to check and see if anyone else is running.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 30 May – Bank Holiday
No scheduled run.  Anyone interested in a run can meet at Barclay’s at 8:30 am and decide on a route.

Wednesday 1 June  –  The Wall (6 miles)
We head down towards Regents Park, then enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance and run east [left] cutting through Camden Lock Market until we run out of canal path at Islington and hit “The Wall.”  [Don’t forget to touch The Wall or else your run doesn’t count 🙂 ].  At The Wall, we turn around and head back to St. John’s Wood.  This is a great route to do a tempo run because there are no traffic lights.  But please be careful and aware of the bikes on the path.

TheWall

Friday 3 June – Borough Market via Westminster Bridge (6 miles)
We head to Hyde Park via the usual route. Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove. Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end. Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill. Run past the Victoria Memorial, down the mall and enter St. James Park. Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben. Continue past Big Ben and cross Westminster Bridge. After the bridge turn left to run along the Thames until the river path ends after Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station. The official address is 8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL.

Borough Market via Westminster Bridge 6 miles

23 – 27 May 2016 Running Info

Hi Everyone,
I finished jury duty – yippee! I’m very glad to be back running with you. Thanks to all the runners who went to see the Queen last Wednesday – what fun! A real London moment. We’ll make sure to include this run in our spring plan for next year. On Monday we’re heading to Brick Lane and the London landmark Beigel Bake. Wednesday is our famous Sights of London run followed by the coffee to celebrate the runners who are leaving London. More details are below. Friday we’re back up the hill. We may explore a new Western Heath route for anyone that is interested. The only thing we can promise is that we will get lost a few times!
 
Wednesday 25 May – Sights of London run and Leavers Coffee
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 4-5 miles and we stop often.
We’ll stop for group pictures at:
– Hyde Park Speaker’s Corner
– Buckingham Palace
– Big Ben
– Trafalgar Square (maybe)
Depending on the timing, we’ll either take the tube back to St. John’s Wood from Westminster or Trafalgar Square. We’ll walk to the Richoux cafe at 3 Circus Road, NW8 6NX. (We’ll be in the upstairs room at Richoux.) If you can’t run for any reason, please still come for coffee. I expect we’ll be there around 10 am. Unfortunately we have many runners leaving London this year!  So take a minute to come and say good-bye. We’re going to miss them so much!
Collecting names for next year’s beginner group
If you have any friends that are interested in being part of the beginner group for next year, please tell them to email [email protected].
Save the Date – 13 June evening event!
We’re planning on an evening gathering with spouses on Monday 13 June. More details to follow.
2017 Race
We’re searching for our race destination for next year. We won’t make an official announcement until the fall, but we already know that the race will be earlier in the year, probably March or the first week in April. The ASL spring break and Easter holiday is much later next year so it will be impossible for us to do the race after the break. This may be another reason to keep up your running over the summer!
Keep running,
Jane

ROUTES

 
Monday, 23 May – Brick Lane via Canal, Kingsland Road exit (6.25 miles)

This is a fun and funky destination run!  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 the 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:

CanaryPic1.jpg

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.

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

KingslandSteps.JPG

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. (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. There is a Casa Blue cafe at the corner, turn right onto Brick Lane and you’ll see Beigel Bake and Brick Lane Coffee on the right. They are FUNKY so bring your cool attitudes! For the journey home, you can take the Shoreditch High Street Overground to Canada Water and then take the Jubilee Line home. Or you can walk through Spitalfields Market to get to the Liverpool Street tube station.

 
BrickLaneviaKingslandRd.png

 

Wednesday, 25 May – Sights of London (4.6 miles)
 This is one of our traditional, end of the season runs.  We will start out the usual way to Hyde Park, where will stop at Speaker’s Corner for a photo.  We’ll then continue on along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, where we will cross towards and run through Wellington Arch then run down Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace, where we will gather again for another photo. Then, we’ll run down The Mall and cross through St James Park to Birdcage Walk and on into Parliament Square, where we’ll take another photo in front of Big Ben. Finally, we’ll head down Whitehall through Admiralty Arch into Trafalgar Square, where we’ll take one last photo and then hop on the tube – Bakerloo, then a transfer to Jubilee at Baker Street – and head to Richoux for the farewell coffee.
SightsOfLondon5mi.png

 
Friday, 27 May – Hampstead Heath Routes
Something for everyone!

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7miles:  The partial Heath route

7.5 miles: The Highgate route

8 miles:  The full Heath route
Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

16 – 20 May 2016 Running Info

Hi Everyone,
I hope you had a good week of running. I’ve missed you very much! As part of my Jury Duty I was put on a trial so I’ve been in court all week. There’s nothing like being prevented from running to make you want to run! I’m really hoping that the trial ends ASAP, but at the moment I’m back in court next week. Cross fingers that I’ll be running with you very soon!

We have some great routes planned for this week. On Monday we head through Hyde Park to Sloane Square and then to the Embankment. The weather looks great at this point for a Monday run along the beautiful Thames. You can stop at the Westminster Tube for a 6-mile route or continue to Green Park for 7 miles. (If you prefer a short run, you could also take the Tube from Sloane Square for about 3.75 miles.) Wednesday we have two options. You can meet at 9:45 for the group going to watch the Queen’s Procession (more below) or meet at the normal time for the Kensal Rise route. Friday we’re going to Happening Bagel through Highgate and the Greenway. I know it’s busy at this time of year, but come join us!

Going to see the Queen!
Wednesday is the State Opening of Parliament, which begins with the Queen’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster escorted by the Household Cavalry. We have a group meeting at Barclays at 9:45am to run down to the Palace to watch the procession. We’ll follow our standard “Big Ben” route until we find a good place to watch. The procession begins around 11:00 but we should plan to be in place around 10:30, she arrives at the Houses of Parliament at 11:15 so there’ll be a bit of waiting around and dealing with the crowds, but the group that went last year were able to see the Queen and all the magnificent procession that precedes her arrival. A London adventure! Last year we had a relatively small group so we decided to stick together and we waited for each other along the route. If we have a large group that might be more difficult to do. Here are a few tips from last year in case I’m not there. When we got to Buckingham Palace there were huge crowds along the gates. Don’t be tempted to stop here. Keep going along the gates where we usually run and cross the Mall as we usually do when we run to Big Ben. (If they don’t let you cross, you could run along the Mall on the other side.) Run along the Mall until you find a good place to watch. We found an empty spot along the Mall and were able to stand in the front row. Here is a link to the route for the procession
http://changing-guard.com/ceremonial/state-opening-parliament.html

Tuesday AM Strength Training for Runners
Toni Franz wanted to share some information about a local strength training class for runners at Primrose Hill that she has been doing this year. She found it very helpful for her running and contributed to a huge improvement in her half-marathon time in Nice. The information flyer is below or if you have any questions you can email Toni at [email protected].

HIT class.jpg
Save the Date
Mon May 23 – Brick Lane – Beigel Bake
Wed May 25 – Sights of London and Leaver’s Coffee
Friday June 3 – Borough Market
Mon June 6 – Adventure Run (more details to follow) or Big Ben
Wed June 8 – Last official run of the year

That’s all for now!
Keep running,
Jane

ROUTES

Monday 16 May – Sloane Sq/Westminster/Green Park–3.75 to 7/10 miles Your choice!

Today’s routes are fun because you can pick whichever distance suits you–in this case one size can fit all!

Everybody starts out to Hyde Park, taking the usual route: west on Circus Road, left on Grove End, all the way down to Seymour Place where the road ends. Right on Seymour, across Edgware, left on Stanhope and enter the park. At the silver orb, turn left and run down to the southern edge, following the path to the right before it leaves the Park. Run to big gated exit before the tall ‘One Hyde Park’ complex, cross over Knightsbridge at William Street, quick right on Knightsbridge then a right onto Sloane Street.

3.75’ers: at Sloane Sq, take the Tube home!

6.33’ers: continue past Sloane Sq down Lower Sloane St/Chelsea Bridge Road to the Thames. Turn left on the Thames side of Grosvenor Rd and run along the embankment to Westminster Tube–you’re done!

7+’ers: continue left on Birdcage Walk, cutting through St James Park to the Mall, then left on the Mall towards Buckingham Palace, crossing before the circle to reach Green Park. Run up to the Green Park Tube on Piccadilly St and head home!

10 milers: for anyone needing a longer run today, continue past Green Park Tube, through Mayfair to Baker Street and head to SJW Starbucks–this will give you almost 10 miles.

Wednesday 18 May

TWO OPTIONS TODAY—TAKE YOUR PICK!

1. OPTION 1: Chasing after the Queen by heading to Big Ben (4 miles) LATER START TIME at 9:45!!!

Big Ben 4 miles:
Remember we’ll meet at 9:45 at Barclays to head down to Westminster to see the Queen’s procession. We’ll follow the regular Big Ben route until we find a good place to watch. For this run we head to Hyde Park via the usual route and run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill. Run pass the Victoria Memorial down the mall and enter St. James Park. Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben. Depending where we stop, we’ll take the tube home from Green Park or Westminster.

2. OPTION 2: Kensal Rise (4-5+ miles). NORMAL 8:15 START TIME!!!

If you prefer not to head into Central London for the Opening of Parliament ceremonies, then Kensal Rise is a good alternative run.

The beginning of this run takes us along the canal to the west. Please be aware of bikes along the canal and move into single file whenever you hear a ‘bike!’ shout.

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 the canal entrance on Bloomfield. Enter the canal heading west and 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. [Note, some ladies like to turn at Carlton Vale rather than Hall Road—your choice!] If you want to shorten this route, run west on the canal and turn back at your desired half-way point.
(The 1.8 mile mark is at the point on the canal when the Westway highway is over our heads.)


Friday 20 May – Happening Bagel via Highgate and Finsbury Greenbelt (7 miles)

For this run we start up Fitzjohn’s like we’re going to the Heath but pass the entrance and continue up Spaniards/Hampstead Lane to Highgate. At the very top of the hill bear right and run slightly downhill towards Highgate High Street. At the second circular intersection, cross the high street at the zebra crossing and go down Southwood Lane. At the bottom of the hill veer to the right onto Jackson’s Lane (which is a very narrow road). Continue down Jackson’s to Archway Road, cross the road and make a right, then a relatively quick left onto Holmesdale Road. Run a short distance on Holmesdale and the entrance to the Finsbury Greenbelt will be on your left. Follow the path until it ends, turn left, cross the bridge over the train tracks and enter Finsbury Park. Turn right and run along the western edge of the park until the entrance on Seven Sister’s Road. After we stretch we will head over the street to the Happening Bagel. Once we’ve bought our bagels we will cross back over the street to Costa for coffee and then take the tube home from the Finsbury Park Station.

9 – 13 May 2016 Running Info

Hi Everyone,
London summer has arrived! Friday was a glorious day to run to Borough Market. Hopefully the great weather will stick around for awhile.

This week we return to some of our old favourite routes to give our ex-beginners a chance to get familiar with them. Monday we’re going to Hyde Park and there are many options in terms of mileage. Wednesday we’re doing the Notting Hill route and Friday we’re back up the hill.

I’m looking at the calendar and it’s hard to believe we only have 5 more weeks of official routes before our summer holiday. I know this time of year is so busy, but try to give yourself a break from everyday stuff and schedule the time to run. We have some fun runs on the calendar, join us!

Save the Date
Mon May 16 – Sloane Square, Embankment, Westminster
Wed May 18 – Going to see the Queen (9:45 start) or Kensal Rise
Fri May 20 – Happening Bagel
Mon May 23 – Brick Lane – Beigel Bake
Wed May 25 – Sights of London and Leaver’s Coffee
Friday June 3 – Borough Market
Mon June 6 – Adventure Run (more details to follow) or Big Ben
Wed June 8 – Last official run of the year

Are you moving this summer?
If you’re moving this summer, or you have a good friend that is moving, can you let us know?  We want to make sure that we can properly recognise you at our Leavers Coffee on May 25. (We’ll miss you!)

Jury Duty!
I’ve been called for Jury Duty starting Monday. Ugh! I’m really hoping that my service is short and that I’ll be back running with you very soon. Remember to look out for each other, especially our ex-beginners.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 9 May – Hyde Park (3 to 8 miles)

Click here for all of the Hyde Park interactive route maps

I think you all know this route by now.

Start:  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.

3 Milers:  Continue south through Hyde Park, past the Serpentine and at the Carriage drive, make a left and head back toward Hyde ParkCorner.  Take the Hyde Park Corner tube home.

5 Milers:  At Hyde Park Corner continue back up/north on the carriage drive.  Exit the park at the Animals in War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to St. John’s Wood.

6 Milers: 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 again and make your way to the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit.  Continue along Upper Brook Street to Park Street, turn left, take it to Park Road and into SJW.

8 Milers: follow the 6 mile run but do not turn left at No Carriage Rd, instead cross over [this is tricky, be careful] and follow until you reach the large broadwalk where you turn left.  Run past Kensington Palace (on your right) and take a left to run along the southern edge of the parktowards Hyde Park Corner, then turn left on the eastern edge and exit at Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit as above.  Take Upper Brook Street to Park Street [left] to Park Road and home to SJW.

Wednesday 11 May – Notting Hill 4-6+miles

Keep your eyes open as this is often a celebrity spotting route!

Start out by heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square [across from Paddington Station].  Go back along the canal and out where you entered, then run back to Starbucks.

You also have the option of a shorter run by not getting off the canal. Run half the distance you want, turn around and head home. As a rule of thumb, the two mile mark is the Westway overpass.

Friday 13 May – The Heath (4-8 miles)
We run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition!

5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

2 – 7 May 2016 Running Info

Hi Runners,

I hope you’re all recovered from our amazing race and ready to get back to some fun runs in London. Monday is a bank holiday so for anyone who wants to run we’ll meet at 8:30 and decide on the route in the morning. Wednesday we’re doing one of our standard routes – The Wall! Feel free to turn before the wall if you want a shorter route. On Friday let’s do something fun and head to Borough Market. For anyone who isn’t up for a destination run, you can always do the Hill.

Good Luck WRW Racers!
Good luck to the US WRW crew that is gathering in Nashville this weekend for the Half Marathon. Good luck to Jody Adams, Colleen Crescenti, Linda Dolan, Tania Grade, Catherine Henson, Julie Hersh, Lisa Hill, Emily Hillsman, Lynne Hodge, Michele Mandel, Carol Mark, Dorrie Marks, Paula Mitchell, Ariadne Petrucelli, Danja Roberts, Sue Rushmore, Diane Schlinkert, Malu Tan, and Kim Ursery (sorry if I forgot anyone). We hope you have a great race and most importantly, have fun!

Save The Date – Sights of London Run and Leaver’s Coffee Wednesday 25 May
Please mark your calendar for Wednesday 25 May for our annual Sights of London run and afterwards our coffee gathering to say “good-bye and best wishes on the next adventure” to some of our dear friends. (Sigh, I hate saying good-bye.) For anyone who is new to this, we run to Big Ben and stop along the way for some group photos at key London landmarks. Then we take the tube home to St. John’s Wood for coffee upstairs at Richoux. If you are leaving, can you let us know?

Save the Date – Running to See the Queen Wednesday 18 May
On May 18 the Queen officially opens Parliament and there is a whole splendid royal procession as she travels from Buckingham Palace to Westminster. Last year we ran down to the Mall to watch the festivities and we saw the Queen in her carriage drive by and wave to us. It was great fun! For those who want to go see the Queen, we’ll meet at Barclays at 9:45 that day. We’ll also have a regular route for those runners who want to meet at the normal time.

Save the Date – Night Out June 13
We’re planning an end-of-year evening social with spouses on Monday June 13 probably at Crocker’s Folly pub. Stay tuned for more details.

Keep Running
I know it’s tempting now that our big race has finished to take a break from running. Especially as life gets increasingly busy as the end of the school year approaches. However, the best thing you could do for yourself is to keep running over these last few months and over the summer. You’ll hang on to the fitness level you built for the race and you’ll start the fall ready to run.

Spring, Summer or Fall race?
One of the best ways to keep running is to sign up for a race. Having that race on your calendar will motivate you to train. Even a short local race can make a difference. Or you may want to consider signing up for a half marathon in the fall. We have a group that is doing the London Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday 9 October. The lottery spots for that race are full but there are still charity openings if you want to commit to raise money for a charity. The Windsor Half Marathon is on 25 September. This is supposed to be a beautiful race, but it is a bit hilly.

Thanks for reading a long email!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 2 May – BANK HOLIDAY
Meet at Barclays at 8:30 and decide as a group where to run!

Wednesday 4 May – The Wall (up to 6 miles)
Run South on Finchley/Wellington Road to the SJW Church Roundabout, follow the sidewalk to the left and cross Prince Albert Road at the crosswalk just beyond the SJW Church.  Continue east and enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance.  Run east [left], cutting through the Camden Lock Market until you run out of canal path at Islington. Touch the canal boat tunnel wall—this is The Wall!—then turn around and re-trace your steps back to SJW.  When you come of the canal at Regents Park, take Charlbert to Allitsen to SJW High Street to Starbucks. You can turn around before the wall if you want to have a shorter run.

Friday 6 May –

Option 1 – Borough Market via Westminster Bridge-6 miles

We head to Hyde Park via the usual route. Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove. Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end. Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill. Run past the Victoria Memorial, down the mall and enter St. James Park. Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down into Parliament Square to Big Ben. Continue past Big Ben and cross Westminster Bridge. After the bridge turn left to run along the Thames until the river path ends after Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station. The official address is 8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL.

Option 2 – The Heath (4-8 miles)
Even after the ½ marathon we run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition!

5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

25 – 29 April 2016 Running Info

Hi Everyone,

Love those orange hats! I’m still floating on a happy cloud about the weekend and feeling very grateful to know all of you. The group dynamic was very positive, supportive, welcoming, fun, appreciative and happy! What a beautiful city to spend the weekend and run a race – I LOVED jumping into the ocean after the race. (I may try to make that a requirement for future race locations!) Some women had a great race and some women had a difficult race, but I hope you see that the race is really just a small part of the whole group experience. WRW is mostly about the friendship and on that metric we totally rocked it! Thank you so much for my amazing gifts! I just love my bracelet and scarf. They are so beautiful and will always be a wonderful reminder of you and our weekend together in Nice. THANK YOU.

Finally another gigantic thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this year at WRW and the race weekend in Nice such a huge success! We are all so appreciative! And because we want to capture all those wonderful memories, Amy is in the process of setting up a photo sharing account for us so we can download and share the photos from the trip. More details on that to come soon.

This week is about enjoying WRW and doing a bit of running if you are up for it. We have an easy and fun run for tomorrow Wednesday. We’re taking the short route to Whole Foods in South Kensington. Plan on a slow, easy 4-mile run (and if you cut through the park, it could probably be around 3.5 miles – I won’t tell on you). It might feel good to get your legs moving again and shake out some of the post-race rust. Upstairs at Whole Foods, there is a big space for us to have coffee and you can do some shopping afterwards. If you are really not up for a run, you could also come meet us at Whole Foods.

Friday we’re back up the hill but if you can’t face the hill, come meet at Barclays and you can organise a group to do a flat run.

Welcome Ex-Beginners – Class of 2016!
Love that name! We’re excited to have the ex-beginners join our MWF group! As a reminder, we have five pace groups (8s, 9s, 10s, 11s, and 12s) but the groups are really just a simple way to organise folks who run at roughly the same pace. Most beginners start in the 11s or 12s. There is a big group of ex-beginners, so wherever you end up there will be other ex-beginners with you. We all know that joining the big group can be intimidating at first, but please know that the first day is the hardest. Everyone is so friendly that you will quickly fit right in. The beginner coaches also help you to get settled into the MWF group. If you find that on the first day the group that you are in is too fast or too slow, don’t worry. It may take a few tries to get a sense of where you should be. (It’s easier to join the MWF group in the spring, because in the fall there are many new runners that just moved to London.) As a reminder we meet at Barclays at 8:15, and we try to start running at 8:20. Let me know if you have any questions about the pace groups or the MWF group. We know that leaving the beginner group and joining the MWF group can feel a bit scary, but we’ll help you make the transition. I promise!

We’d love your help!
Please let us know if you’d like to help in any way with WRW next year. There are lots of jobs, both big and small.

That’s all for now – except to keep running!

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 25 April – Travel day back from Nice ½ marathon

Wednesday 27 April – Wholefoods S. Kensington thru Hyde Park (4 miles)

This route heads to Hyde Park in the usual way, heading down Lisson Grove to Seymour Place, taking a right at the end of the Seymour Place to cross over Edgware Road, then taking a left on Stanhope Place to the park entrance. We will then run to the left, heading towards Hyde Park Corner, but before we get to the corner we will head off to the right and run along an inner path towards Carriage Drive. Here we cross the road and continue on Flower Walk until we reach the south west corner of Kensington Gardens. We can cross Kensington High Street at Kensington Church Street to get to Whole Foods, which will be directly in front of us, where we can enjoy a coffee together and do a bit of shopping!

WholeFoodsKen4mi

Friday 29 April – The Heath (4-8 miles)

Even after the ½ marathon we run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition!

5 miles: The Betsy Route
6 – 7miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.