Hello everyone! Welcome back to London. A special welcome to the new folks joining the group. I hope you all had a wonderful summer. Can’t wait to see you Wednesday for our first run of the season. I’m going to wear my new yellow hat and my green Outward Bound shirt that has my name in big black letters on the front! I may look a bit silly, but you’ll recognize me! Come say Hi! I’m looking forward to running with you.
We’ve got a lot to cover so I’ll jump right in.
Email List: We’re going to start an alum list for those who won’t be running every week but would like to receive periodic updates. If you would like your name to be taken off the weekly email list all together or you would like to be added to the alum list, please let us know.
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 slow/short 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.
Welcome: For the returning runners, as you are connecting with old friends and hearing about the summer, remember the new folks and take a minute to introduce yourself and welcome new runners!
What is your goal?: We’re going to start the new year with everyone running together Mon, Wed and Friday. This will give us a chance clear the cobwebs, meet new runners, and see how natural pace groups come together. During these first few weeks, think about what you would like to achieve this year not only in terms of fitness, but also socially and competitively (i.e., do you want to do any races). I’m happy to talk to you if you have questions. After a few weeks we will break into pace groups.
Spring Half-Marathon: Chris Roberts has been hard at work planning our spring half-marathon trip. Stay tuned for the big announcement of where and when we’ll be running in 2014. Please remember that we have to balance many factors in choosing a race including timing, travel and finding a race that is appropriate for our beginner runners. (Chris has investigated every single race that is being held in Europe in the spring!)
That’s all for now, except to say thanks for your patience and support as the new leadership team gets in gear. We are all looking forward to a great year. See you at Starbucks at 8:15!
Keep running,
Jane
ROUTES THIS WEEK
Wednesday 28 August – Notting Hill (up to 6.5 miles)
This is one of our traditional Wednesday routes and it gives everyone some options in terms of distance. If you want to go the whole 6.5 miles, go for it! If you want to just put in a few miles, you can run along the canal and then turn around and come back. There is always someone else who is up for the same distance. Everyone runs at their own pace, so don’t worry about holding anyone back.
If you are new to the route, we leave Starbucks heading west to Lisson Grove/Grove End, then wind our way down to the canal. We follow the canal for a couple of miles then head south along Ladbroke Grove until turning on Elgin Crescent then zigzag over to Westbourne Grove. We then run east to join the canal near Paddington and continue on to St. John’s Wood.
A new year begins, and Starbucks beckons…
28-30 August Running Info
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
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Friday 30 August – Hampstead or the Heath (3-8 miles)
Up the hill!! (Admit it, you missed it this summer!) This route also gives us a lot of distance options. The full route is 8 miles but you can easily complete anything from 3-8 miles. (If you have never run this route before, let me know so we can stick together as we enter the Heath.)
If you have been struggling with IT band issues, tight hamstrings or haven’t run much over the summer – you might want to consider staying flat and doing a loop around Regent’s Park or running down to Hyde Park. (Don’t forget to stretch!)
Click here for all of the Heath routes.
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There is no Lower School today so we decided to stick with a simple local run for those who may have limited time. 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.
We head up the Fitzjohn’s hill to the top but instead of turning into the Heath, we follow the road (which becomes Hampstead Lane) all the way around the top of the Heath until we enter Highgate. We turn left of Southwood Lane and then right on Jackson’s Lane. We cross over Archway road. The entrance to the greenbelt is a bit tricky to find, so make sure to stick with a runner who knows the route. (We promise to look out for those of you who are new to the route!) At the end of the greenbelt, we enter Finsbury Park, turn right to head toward the Finsbury Park tube station and the Happening Bagel Bakery. (You have to admit that is a great name!)
Betsy and Alev will be leading a group to a Turkish coffee shop near Piccadilly Circus. The group will run to Hyde Park, follow the eastern side of the park to Hyde Park Corner then continue on the south side of Green Park, pass Buckingham Palace and go through St James Park to reach Big Ben. Continue up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, then up Haymarket to Piccadilly Circus, turn left onto Piccadilly and end at a wonderful Turkish coffee shop, 
We’ll be doing our “Sights of London” run all over town. We stop in front of the iconic locations for photos. Instead of running with a dozen cameras, it would be great if we had only a few cameras and someone would agree to make the photos available to everyone. Any volunteers??? The entire route will be something around 7.5 miles with options to shorten or lengthen the route. The pace for the run is wide open – come-one-come-all – seriously!!! Because we’re stopping so often for photos, there is plenty of time for people to catch up. (I borrowed those words from Paula’s email last year – could you hear her enthusiasm? PLEASE JOIN US – It will be fun!)
Take Lisson/Seymour to enter the park at the NE corner. Run west along the northern edge of the park crossing over Carriage Rd. At the Italian fountains, turn left and run south following the water’s edge. Run under Carriage Rd, pass by the Lido cafe, then cross over the Serpentine bridge at the eastern edge of the water. From there, take a diagonal path towards the park exit at Brook St. The map to the left shows the route following Upper Grosvenor but we normally take Brook St by the US Embassy. Run back to Starbucks in SJW via Baker St. or Gloucester Place.
Why not???? Let’s run to the Whole Foods Cafe on Glasshouse St (near Piccadilly Circus). That location has some tables outside. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can have coffee al fresco. After coffee, I’m walking up to Choccywoccydoodah – it’s about a 5 minute walk up to Foubert’s Place. Have a look at this website (
Trafalgar Square, we’ll take Haymarket up to Piccadilly Circus. Just north of Piccadilly Circus, there is a little cut-through to reach Glasshouse St. (see map below left). The Whole Foods Cafe is on that street. After having 
coffee, I’ll walk up Lower John and Carnaby St to reach Choccywoccydoodah. Join me if you 
have time. It’ll be worth the walk – I promise!
From Starbucks, head north of St. Ann’s Terrace then turn left on Acacia running by the SJW tube station. Carry on across Wellington Rd and at Abbey Rd turn right. Run up Abbey Rd/West End Lane to Finchley Rd. where you will turn left. At Hendon Way, veer left then after about 1/3 mile turn left on Cricklewood Lane. Run about 2/3 mile to Shoot-up Hill. Turn left and run down about 1.5 miles to Quex Rd. Turn left to cut across to Abbey/West End then retrace your steps to Starbucks in SJW.
This is the route we did yesterday. Again, it’s difficult to give directions in the heath (turn at the 2nd big tree on the left????) but hopefully seeing this map will help give you an idea of where we were.
Betsy is out of town but this is the route she was doing in the fall. It’s lovely. Ex-beginners – this is basically what we did together in our hill running “lesson” (see map to the right).
