Hello Runners!
Well done on our first official week back to WRW running!  We had some cold days, but getting out and running does chase away the chills pretty quickly.  We all know the pavements in London are often mysteriously wet in the mornings, even if it hasn’t visibly rained– but we may forget that they become really frosty and slippery when the temperatures dip close to freezing!  I’m so relieved we seem to have escaped this week without any big slips, but please do continue to watch your footing if the cold temperatures hold!

Running this week.  We have a fun week ahead!  Monday we get to run a brand new and really cool route created by routemaster Miki Neant– into some territory we haven’t traditionally covered much.  We’re taking a spin around the City, past St Paul’s Cathedral, through Barbican, past a few Banksys, and back to Bond Street tube station for 8 miles, but also with options to go shorter (5, 6.25, or 7 miles) or longer (9.5), as detailed in the writeup below.  It’s going to be such a fun and rewarding route, and Amy Grace has given us some audio prompts in the RunGo route.  But it will be unfamiliar to many of us, and it gets a little complicated around Barbican– so make sure to study the route ahead of time and keep the directions and/or RunGo handy as you run!
On Wednesday we are doing a track workout at Paddington Recreation Ground, in Maida Vale.  We’ll warm up with the run to the track, do some striders, then four sets of 800 meters at an up-tempo pace (see below for details), and then a mile cool-down either within and around the park to finish at the large Starbucks in Maida Vale, or back to St Johns Wood High Street.  If you are not doing tempo workouts, then take a runner’s choice local route and meet the rest of your group for coffee afterwards.  And finally, on Friday we will head back to the Hill, with a recommendation to carry on up to Highgate this time and then run back across the Heath to our normal exit and return to St Johns Wood, for a 7.5-mile route.

WRW Kit Distribution and Collection.  It’s time for the big reveal!  Those who ordered 2021-22 WRW kit items last fall will be receiving an e-mail this week with details for kit pickup and payment, and we will finally see this year’s fabulous annual shirt with its mystery colors and slogan, as well as all the other great items brought to us by kitmaster Marissa O’Malia and trip boss Sue Wheeler!  In addition we will be collecting for Berlin Half-Marathon expenses (group meals and tours).  Watch your Inbox for details, and plan to personally collect and pay for (in cash, please!) your kit on the morning of Tuesday, January 25. The e-mail will provide details on what your total owed will be, so that you will have time to obtain cash for pick-up morning.  If you are unable to attend at the given time, please arrange for a friend to do the pickup for you.

Training Notes.  In case you missed it in last week’s email, here is our training schedule for the next eleven weeks up to the Berlin Half Marathon.  Last week we talked about the weekly schedule of long, slow runs, tempo training, and hill runs.  We mentioned that the long, slow distance run is the most important run to stay consistent with.  By “slow” we mean comfortable and conversational– about 60- to 90- seconds slower per mile than your goal race pace.  Paula Mitchell, our founder, explains the compelling reasons for slowing down on the long run here.  In a ridiculously oversimplified nutshell, long, slow runs are what triggers your body to produce mitochondria, which is the ignition tool for fueling our runs most efficiently.  If we don’t slow down, we miss out on that benefit.

Save the Date.  Whether you are planning to run the half or not, we have some great runs planned for the next few months.  Here are some upcoming dates for your calendar:
Tuesday, January 25 – WRW Kit pickup and collection for kit and Berlin trip
Monday, January 31 – Canary Wharf (9 miles)
Sunday, February 13 – London Winter Run 10k
Monday, February 14 – Greenford (9.75 miles)*
Monday, March 7 – Canada Water (10 miles)
Monday, March 21 – Kew Gardens (11 miles)
* optional swap of Monday/Wednesday runs the week of Feb 14 for those running the Winter Run 10k on Sunday

That’s it for now, friends.  It was so much fun to see everyone out on our runs this week– you are all looking so strong!  Keep running, stay healthy, and don’t forget how lucky we are to be able to run together in this beautiful city!  See you out there!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 17 January – Covent Garden/St Paul’s/Barbican Banksy (8 miles)RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/u1F8chnwdo
This route finishes at Bond Street tube for 8 miles.  You can shorten it easily by getting on the tube at Barbican (5 miles), Chancery Lane (6.25 miles) or Tottenham Court Rd (7 miles).  Lengthen it by running back to SJW to add another 1.5 miles.
Exit the church garden SJW high street entrance and turn to the right/south.  Cross Prince Albert Rd and turn right onto Park Rd to the Mosque.  Turn left onto Hanover Gate and continue straight to enter Regent’s Park.  Turn right at the first path and run along the lake.  Run straight, cross York Bridge Rd and continue straight until the first exit of the Park on the right – Park Square West.

Run onto Park Square West and cross Marylebone Rd. and run around Park Crescent on the right side.  Turn right onto Portland Place.  Cross Oxford Street and keep straight onto Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus.  Keep straight onto Coventry Street towards Leicester Square.  Keep straight, pass Leicester Square Tube station.

At the 6 street junction, keep straight onto Long Acre. After the Covent Garden Tube station, turn right onto James Street to Covent Garden.  Go straight through Covent Garden to the other end then turn left towards London Transport Museum.  Turn right into a small path onto Tavistock Court and then left onto Tavistock Street.  At the end of the street, Turn right onto Drury Ln.  At the end, turn left and run along the Aldrich crescents.  Continue onto The Strand and then onto Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, until St Paul’s Cathedral.

Run into St Paul’s Churchyard and turn left to run under the Temple Bar Gate.  You are at Paternoster Square –  immediately turn right, turn left at the kiosk.  After the tube station, cross 2 streets to turn left onto St Martin’s Le Grand, then Aldersgate.  Keep right and at the end of the road, just before the roundabout, look for the little entrance on your right to the escalator that invites you to go upstairs.
Cross the footbridge and head towards the Museum of London.  Turn right to continue onto Bastion Highwalk.  At the first opening, turn left onto Albian Highwalk.  Keep running straight onto Gilbert Bridge.  Keep straight, pass the huge golden statue on your left.  Turn right onto the Speed Highwalk, following the yellow line.  At the end, take the stairs down to Moor Lane and turn left.
Turn left onto Chiswell St.  As you continue straight, run past the street sign for Lamb’s Passage.  Be vigilant and continue straight about 10 meters.  STOP in front of Sundial Ct.  TURN LOOK BACK! Banksy’s Robb London is there.  Continue running towards West on Chiswell St.  Keep right and head into the tunnel.  At the first street on your right, Golden Lane, STOP! look right on both sides of Golden Lane are 2 Banksys.

Continue running until the end of the tunnel and cross Aldersgate St.  You can stop at Barbican tube to make it 5 miles.  Otherwise, continue straight onto Long Ln.  Turn left at W Smithfield and half way through turn left onto Giltspur St.  Turn right on Newgate St and continue straight onto Holborn Viaduct.  Continue straight onto Holborn.  You can stop at Chancery Lane station for 6.25 miles.  Continue straight onto New Oxford Street and then Oxford St.  Finish at Bond Street Station or head back to SJW to add another mile and a half.

Wednesday 19 January – Paddington Rec Track intervals (4 x 800s) (approx 5.5 miles total)

Meet as usual, then the groups will jog the 1.5 mile warm-up to the track at Paddington Recreation Ground.  Run up to Barclays and turn left on Circus Road, which becomes Hall Rd and then Sutherland Rd (without any turns). There is a crosswalk just before Randolph Ave. and the rotary. Turn right onto Randolph Ave, pass Maida Vale tube, then the entrance to Paddington Rec is on your left on the next block.  Look for the red phone booth!

The workout is a total of 5 miles:

– 1.5 mile jog to track

– Stretching and some striders before you begin the workout. (See link for explanation of striders).

– 4 x 800 meters (2 laps) with one lap recovery at a very slow jog in between each 800.  

– 1 mile warm down around the park at Paddington and on to the Starbucks in Maida Vale, or a 1 mile warm down back to St. John’s Wood

Two quick tips:
1. Try to run each of the 800s at a similar speed. Ideally you don’t want to push so hard on the first one that you are significantly slower on the last one. It would be better to hold back a bit in the beginning so that you can maintain the same speed or even speed up toward the end.  The following are suggested pace group targets, but please adjust according to how you feel, your current fitness level, and whether you have been doing any speed work or tempo runs so far this season:

8’s – 3:30 for 800 metres

9’s – 4:00 for 800 metres

10’s – 4:45 for 800 metres

11’s – 5:15 for 800 metres

12’s – 5:45 for 800 metres

2. See if you can get into a group of 5-8 runners that have a similar pace and then do the workout together. It is so much more fun and inspirational if you tackle this challenge together. You will likely spread out a bit in the running, but when you get to the recovery lap, wait for the others to catch up so that you can start the next interval together.

Friday 21 January – Highgate (7.5 miles)
Head up Fitzjohn’s, as usual, and continue past the Hampstead Tube and Whitestone Pond to stay on Spaniards Road.  Do not enter the Heath at the normal entry point, but stay on Spaniards Road as it wraps around the outside of the Heath, past Kenwood House and past The Bishops Road where Spaniards Road turns into Hampstead Lane.  Continue on Hampstead Lane as it edges around the outside of the Heath in a gentle rise until you reach The Grove, where you turn right. [The Grove is a pretty, tree lined street just before the Highgate roundabout.]  Run to the first right turn, a lane called Fitzroy Park with a traffic barrier across the road. Pass around the traffic barrier—this is fine!  And continue down the road, past lovely homes and a famous allotment on the right side. This road curves downhill to the left and takes you to the entrance of the Heath on your right side, near a set of bathrooms and just before Merton Lane to the left.

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

OR – run the route of your choice in the Heath:
<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

Happy New Year, Runners!

I hope 2022 has begun splendidly for you, and that the long break was filled with good things– whether it was favorite people and places, or simply a chance to relax and recharge!  Whatever the news cycle is on a given day, let’s begin our running year together with gratitude and optimism.  Every day that begins with a run with friends is something to be grateful for!  

Running this week.  We like to come back from break with a few old favorites that give us all the flexibility to run together even while adjusting the routes according to whatever kind of running we’ve each been able to do while apart.  So Monday we will run the Big Ben route– which can range from 4 to 8 miles.  Route instructions for various distances are in the writeup in the ‘Routes’ section below.  Whichever you choose to do, don’t forget to greet Big Ben, as it is emerging from the scaffolding cocoon it’s been inside for the last few years!  Wednesday we will run the Primrose Hillzzz.  We’re extending the warmup run a little bit, and then three hill reps is our official workout.  But if that’s too much straight off, we will be repeating this run in a few weeks, so you can do what you are able to this time, and work toward the full three loops (or more?) next time.  And Friday we will do our ‘first Friday’ Borough Market run.

Training Note.  We are 12 weeks out from our planned half-marathon in Berlin!  It’s time to take stock of where we are and look at the training plan that will get us to 13.1 miles.  Below is a screenshot of the standard training plan from now to the race.  This is what we base our route planning on, but remember it is a guideline, not an absolute prescription!  We know that some of you regularly run more miles than this, and that some have to be very careful about mileage totals so as not to get injured.  We trust you will tweak the schedule as necessary for your own goals and circumstances.  

Just a reminder of a few basic tenets of our training schedule:

• Our long, slow, distance runs are generally scheduled for Mondays.  These are our key, endurance-building runs, and they are essential– probably the most important run of the week!  They are best done at a steady pace considerably below your race pace.  We’ve talked about this before, and I will provide the links and explanation again in an upcoming training note.  But trust us, you will benefit from taking these at a contained pace that will build your endurance rather than depleting your legs and your energy!
• We will be offering a tempo workout option most Wednesdays from now until early March.  This is the way to improve your speed and pick up your pace if you have time goals for your half (or if you just want to run faster).  If you don’t want to do the tempo workouts, no problem!  There will definitely be people running a normal mid-distance run on Wednesdays, and that is absolutely fine!  A 5-6 mile midweek run, perhaps at a slightly faster pace than your Monday runs, is a perfectly solid training plan!
• We still do hill runs on most Fridays.  These are great for building your cardio, strengthening the legs, and getting us up into the green spaces of the Heath!  There will always be people who are not running the hills, so if you need to keep to a flat run, you will not be alone.  We schedule the Borough Market run the first Friday of every month, and in those weeks we try to work a little bit of hill work into the runs on the days around it (like doing Primrose Hillzzz on Wednesday, or Holland Park the following Monday).

Shoutouts and Announcements.  Don’t forget to let us know what shoutouts and recognition to give in our weekly note.  As we head into the long, dark part of winter, we’re keen to celebrate every bright spot!  It looks like registration is still open for the Cancer Research UK London Winter Run 10K on February 13.  Though we do not officially do it as a group, this has been a popular run amongst WRW runners for several years now.  There is a good chance you have friends already signed up, and that makes it easy to make an event of it!
There’s an old Irish blessing that goes: “May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.”  I love that an old, wishful saying basically summarizes our daily experience in this group!  It’s wonderful to get back to our running routine– can’t wait to see you all in the church gardens Monday morning!  

xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 10 January – Big Ben  (4- 8 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/JDPjKnb1VC

On Monday let’s get back into the routine with an oldie but a goodie.  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 along the edge of Green Park, past the Victoria Memorial and cross The Mall at the traffic light. Run down The Mall and enter St. James Park.  Run over the bridge across the lake 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 a five-mile run by turning back at Big Ben and running to the Green Park Tube Station, then tubing it home.

Wednesday 12 January – Primrose Hillzzz  (5 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/rCmIF5iIyY
We’re combining hills and intervals this week with Primrose Hillzzz, the zzz for the zig zag hill repeats that are sure to get your hearts pumping and glutes working! We’ve doctored the usual start of the run to give us a little more warmup distance in Regents Park before tackling the first hill.

Head out from St Johns Wood Church Grounds to enter Regents Park by the Mosque. Run straight into the park and turn right after you cross the bridge, following along the water to the end of the lake and then curving around to the right to join the Broad Walk. Turn left and run to the fountain, and then go left to run the diagonal path alongside the zoo. Say hello to the camels, look for the tigers, and carry on out the park at the path that leads across the Outer Circle to Primrose Hill. Once in Primrose, take the first path on your left, run up past the entrance from St Edmund’s Terrace and continue up until the path forks, taking the path to your right all the way up to the top. Enjoy a brief moment taking in the view and then head down the left path all the way to the bottom corner of the park (corner of Albert Terrace and Prince Albert Rd). Run along the bottom of the park, past the Children’s Playground, Cafe and outdoor gym to where you entered the park. Repeat this loop two more times (or more if you like!). On your final loop run back up to the St. Edmund’s Terrace entrance and turn left out of the park. St Edmund’s Terrace will become Allitsen Rd and will take you back to St John’s Wood High St. Turn right and head back to Starbucks.

Friday 14 January – Borough Market  (6 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/6U5vDjwEEA
It’s not the first Friday in January, but it’s our first Friday together– 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!).

Hello Runners!
Can you believe it’s our last official week of running together in 2021?  I’m going to resist the urge to wax all philosophical about the year behind us– because it seems like that just tempts fate to make the year ahead of us even more interesting.  I will just say that together we all are an amazing force for powering through whatever comes our way– the great, and the not-so-great.  But lately it has been mostly great– with that Chelsea Baubles run last Monday, our first tempo workout on Wednesday, and a fun Friday with some groups heading up the hill and some to Borough Market.  We’ve got a couple more festive runs you can hopefully squeeze in during this coming busy week.  

Running this week.  Monday we have a new route, created by routemaster Paola di Meo to let us take in for ourselves the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree we’ve been hearing so much about (for the record, I think it is a lovely and generous tradition for Norway to gift us the tree each year).  Paola’s 7.5-mile route covers familiar territory, but takes us on slightly different streets to mix it up a little, so be sure to take a look at the map and directions, so you don’t just autopilot onto our usual routes!  On Wednesday we’re giving two official options– the popular Primrose Hillzzz workout, which is a 4-mile loop ending back on the SJW High Street.  OR you can opt to go for one lap of Primrose Hill and then divert to run through Regents Park, down Regent Street, through Carnaby and Seven Dials, to finish at Covent Garden (5 miles).  And Friday we will cap off the 2021 running year with one last trip up to the Heath with your route of choice.

Training over the holidays.  There’s so much to think about at this time of year, whether it’s kids out of school, travel, or simply celebrating with friends and family.  It’s okay to back off of your running schedule a little bit during this busy time.  You can maintain your fitness for up to a couple weeks with 2-3 maintenance runs (per week!) of 30-60 minutes.  Of course it’s great if you can do more, but your body will also appreciate a little break.  However, because our break is a full three weeks, it’s really a good idea to try to hit some longer, more regular runs either in the first week or the last week before we officially resume.  If you are in London, there will likely be others running, so you can organise on Whatsapp and do some of your favorite routes together.  When we start back up on January 10, we will give a flexible route (4-8 mile options), a regular Wednesday run, and a Borough Friday to help ease back into our training before we begin to turn up the training for the April 3 half marathon.

Shoutouts and announcements.  The next regular email will hit your inboxes the weekend of Jan 8-9 (unless I just get too lonely without you all, and start writing you random notes in the meantime;)!  If you are on the Berlin Half Marathon list, look for an update from tripmaster Sue Wheeler in the next day or two.  
A shoutout this week goes to Marigold Dooley, who will complete her final half marathon of the year tomorrow, after having taken on the challenge of running one a month with alum Janelle Meyer last January.  Also sending a shoutout to Janelle, who finished hers last weekend!  The half that Marigold will run tomorrow (with many from her pace group, as well as other friends she runs with) is notable in another way as it is her big farewell-for-now run, as she will be moving to Texas with her family over break.  As a beloved 9s pace leader, social run organiser, friend-to-all and general force-for-good, she will be very much missed!  

And just like that, it’s time to wish you all a wonderful holiday, with warmest wishes for peace, love and enjoyment of this season– whatever, however, and with whomever you are celebrating.  I know many of you will be traveling, so I’ll add wishes for safe journeys, good health, some stability in the travel rules, and negative Covid tests!  (Not exactly a classic holiday wish, is it??).  As we ring in a new year, I look forward to every mile we will run together, every post-run coffee we will enjoy together, and most of all to the friendships that will continue to grow as we share those miles and cafe tables.  You are an extraordinary group of women!  Have an extraordinarily happy holiday!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 13 December – Trafalgar Square Tree and Chinatown Loop (7.5 miles)
We start by heading to Hyde Park via the usual route down Wellington Road and turning right on St Johns Wood 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 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 to Constitution Hill and The Mall all the way to Trafalgar Square. Cross the square, turn left onto Charing Cross Road and then left again onto Irving Street entering Leicester Square. Keep running clockwise the square and turn left onto Swiss Ct where is the Swiss Glockenspiel clock. Turn right onto Wardour street and the second right onto Gerrard Street. Turn right onto Newport Place and left onto Little Newport Ct. Turn left onto Charing Cross Road heading towards Tottenham Court Road tube station. Cross New Oxford Street and take Tottenham Court Road, keep running all the way north to Euston Road. On Euston Road turn left and keep going straight. In proximity of Regent’s Park Tube Station cross Marylebone Road and take Park Square West. Cross Ulster Terrace outer circle and enter Regent’s Park. Take the first path on your left. Cross York Bridge and keep following the path passing over the Boathouse Cafe and crossing the bridge on your right. Take the first path on your left and run the usual way back to St Johns Wood High Street for coffee!

Wednesday 15 December – Primrose Hillzzz, with option to Covent Garden via Seven Dials (4 – 5 miles)
Both options today begin the same– head out from Barclays, past Starbucks, and take a right on Charlbert Street, heading into Regent’s Park at the North Gate entrance. Run straight into the park, following the left fork until you get to the first intersection, where you go left. The Hub and the cricket nets will be on your far right. Follow this path until the end, over the Outer Circle and the bridge, then bear right and cross the zebra crossing to the entrance to Primrose Hill. Once in the park, take the first path on your left, run up past the entrance from St Edmund’s Terrace and continue up until the path forks, taking the path to your right all the way up to the top. Enjoy a brief moment taking in the view and then head down the left path all the way to the bottom corner of the park (corner of Albert Terrace and Prince Albert Rd).  Run along the bottom of the park, past the Children’s Playground, cafe and outdoor gym to where you entered the park. From here you have two choices today:

OPTION 1: Primrose Hillzzz to Covent Garden (5.15 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/4p1y05bYRZ
To head for Covent Garden and more of festive London, turn left to cross back over into Regents Park.  After you cross the Outer Circle, bear left on the path that runs along behind the zoo.  Turn right when you reach the Broad Walk, and run straight down to the southern edge of the park, where you will cross the Outer Circle again and run around Park Square East.  Run halfway around Park Crescent and turn onto Portland Place, which becomes Regents Street.  After you pass the Oxford Circus tube station, take a left on Great Marlborough St, run past Liberty, and then take a right onto Carnaby Street.  Run through Carnaby’s butterflies to the end, where you will turn left on Beak Street.  Make a right on Lexington St. after just a few blocks, and follow it until it runs into Shaftesbury Ave., where you will turn left.  Follow Shaftesbury to Earlham, a small street just after you cross Charing Cross Road.  Turn right on Earlham, run through Seven Dials (hopefully the lights will be on!), and continue one block to the end of Earlham to turn right at Neal St.  Follow it for just a couple of blocks, making a slight jog to continue onto James St., then turning left on Floral St.  Make the first right onto Bow St., and then the first right onto Russell St., and follow it into the center of Covent Garden.  There are some great options for coffee or breakfast here, including Pain Quotidien, and the Covent Garden, Leicester Square, and Charing Cross tube stations are all an easy walk whenever you’re ready to head home.

OPTION 2: Primrose Hillzzz (4 miles)

If you are keen to get more hills in, or you don’t have time to leave the neighborhood today, you can stick with the standard Primrose Hillzzz route.  Repeat the loop up the hill, back down on an angle, and across the bottom of the park two more times (or more if you like!). On your final loop run back up to the St. Edmund’s Terrace entrance and turn left out of the park. St Edmund’s Terrace will become Allitsen Rd and will take you back to St John’s Wood High St. Turn right and go find yourself a nice hot drink!

Friday 17 December – The Heath – 4 – 8 miles
It’s Friday so up the hill we go!  Join us for the last official Heath run of 2021.  Which route will you choose?
<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!
Sooo many lights!  What a fun week to run together– the early start for the Lights Run is a little brutal, but so rewarding!  And extra, extra credit for those who were so creative with holiday attire at that hour (Carol, Fernanda, Abby, Meredith, Alysia, Vera, Charlotte, Roni… I’m looking at you guys!  But also sure I’m missing some– it was early, and dark!)

Running this week. Don’t forget to don your crazy tights apparel for Monday’s festive run through the holiday baubles and decorations of Chelsea. And since we’re going to the trouble, let’s take a moment before leaving the park to gather up for a big, group photo opp.  This run is a new addition to our repertoire, based on one created by Janelle Meyer last December.  We hope the baubles we visited last year will be there again this year, but even if not, it should be a fun run on new streets!  
Wednesday we have lined up our first tempo workout for this year– the Regents Park pyramids.  See the description  in the Routes section below on how to do this run.  If you prefer not to do tempo training or you have an injury or other consideration, there is always the option to do a usual, looped Wednesday 5-6 mile route instead– no questions asked!  But otherwise, why not give this workout a try?  If it seems intimidating, just remember that you are in control of how you do your fast runs; and also remember it is natural to have women of all different fast speeds in the same pace group.  Your group likely will start to separate on the hard running intervals, but you can use the recovery jogs to regroup so that you set off on the next interval together.
Finally, Friday we will head back up the hills to Hampstead Heath.  Pick your route with your group, enjoy the view from the top, and meet your friends from all pace groups back in St Johns Wood for coffee!

Training note.  As we begin to add in a tempo training option on Wednesdays, you might like to read over these notes from our founder, Paula Mitchell (scroll down past the stretching section at the start of this page– but also, don’t forget to stretch!).  Tempo runs are what help us increase our speed and build the physical and mental endurance to hold a faster pace for a longer time.  They are key to improving speed if you have a time goal for the half marathon or any other race.  There are so many training resources available online, and they go into varying degrees of technicality and specificity on the different types of tempo/speed training.  For our purposes at the whole-group level, we will keep it simple for this one:  the ‘running hard’ intervals mean you are pushing yourself out of your comfort zone into a pace that is only sustainable for you for a short time (ideally the 1-, 2-, or 3-minute interval in the workout!).  Again, that pace will vary from runner to runner even within the same pace group, and that is fine!!  Here are a few things (again, from Paula!) you could think about to help you during the fast intervals: 

• swinging your arms straight forward and backward (if they come across your body, they slow you down),
• relaxing your arms/shoulders by shaking out your hands (don’t keep your hands in fists),
• thinking about increasing your foot turnover instead of just running faster (you’re not lengthening stride, but picking up your foot faster– like a hot potato game), and
• keeping your chin up and shoulders back (hunching over compresses your lungs and decreases your oxygen intake ability).

Most of all, try to have a little fun with these different workouts!  There is NO judgement here about how fast you do them OR whether you choose to do them.  But for anyone with a time goal or a desire to increase speed overall, these workouts will help.

Shoutouts and announcements.  Such a big shoutout to give today… (drumroll)… Miki Neant has finished her goal of running the distance from London to Kabul this year!  That’s 4166 miles (6704km)!  Miki took on this challenge to benefit an organisation called Free to Run, which supports women and girls in conflict-affected areas of the world.  You can read more about her personal running journey and this epic endeavor here.  We are so inspired by both your running and your heart, Miki!
Please let us know what you’ve been up to, so we can give you a shoutout!  And apologies if I miss anyone (I absolutely have the nagging feeling I’m forgetting someone now even as I write).  I don’t often know what’s happening with our alums, but I did see that Bridget Perry ran the Seattle Marathon last Sunday, and Chris Roberts ran the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon on– Thanksgiving!– to complete the Atlanta Triple Peach series.  Congratulations and well done to both of you!
Registration is still open for the 2022 London Winter Run 10k to be held February 13.  This is a popular race with many WRW runners, and it is good timing on our training calendar and a good opportunity to remember what a race atmosphere feels like for those who are headed to Berlin in April!

In other news, the weather apps claim we are going to be rained upon all week.  We know that’s not a problem– running in the rain just makes us feel all that much more awesome when we finish (at least, after we dry off!). But just a cautionary word to all at this time of year, that should temperatures dip a little lower than predicted, we may get some icy pavements.  Please pay attention as you head out this week.  Areas that tend to get icy first include the canal walkways, bridges, and sometimes the pavements in the Heath.

I’ll close the note today with a photo from a few runners who braved the rain early this morning for a trip to the Columbia Rd Flower Market for festive goodies.  Looks like so much fun!  I can’t wait to get out there and run with you all this week!  But meanwhile, hope you are keeping warm and happy this weekend.  Warm and light wishes especially for those of you celebrating Hanukkah!  See you tomorrow morning…
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 6 December – CRAZY TIGHTS RUN!  Chelsea Baubles to Green Park – 7 miles
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/yJCrjgiMvE
We are going to tour some of Chelsea’s holiday decorations on this run so keep your eyes peeled as you’re running to so you don’t miss anything!  We start out the usual way to Hyde Park, down Lisson Grove to Gloucester St and over to Hyde Park.  Once in the park, run straight and keep going straight to the southern edge of the park.  Cross over the street and pass the French Embassy.  Cross the street and turn right and then bear left onto Brompton Rd just after Sloane St.  Run down Brompton for about half a mile and turn left onto Egerton Terrace, then right on Egerton Gardens and left on Egerton Crescent.  At the end of the crescent, turn left and then left again to get back onto Brompton Rd.  Shortly, turn left onto Draycott Ave and take your first left onto Walton St.  After a quarter mile, turn right onto Lenox Garden Mews and continue straight onto Halsey St and then a right onto Cadogan St.  When that street merges into Cale St, cross immediately and turn left onto Godfrey St.  Turn right at King’s Road and run a little over a quarter mile where you will turn right into Carlyle Square.  Run around the square and make a right onto King’s Road again and then a quick left onto Old Church St.  Run down to the river, taking a left onto Chelsea Embankment and the first left onto Cheyne Walk. Take the second left onto Cheyne Row and then a right onto Upper Cheyne Row and then the first left onto Oakley St. Take a right onto King’s Road and run to Sloane Square, crossing the square diagonally to get onto Sloane Square Rd which turns into Cliveden Pl.  Run through Eaton Square and at Grosvenor Gardens, cross over straight onto Lower Grosvenor Place. Turn left onto Buckingham Palace Rd and then left at Spur Rd.  Cross in front of the palace, making sure to wave hi to the Queen.  Continue to Green Park and the tube.

Wednesday 8 December – Regent’s Tempo Pyramids

We will now start focusing on tempo running on Wednesdays.  This week we will do ‘pyramids’—they are fast but also fast to be done with so give them a try!

Head over to Regents Park, the normal way.  Enter the Park at the Charlbert Entrance and veer to the left path.  When you reach the first intersection with the other sidewalk (or when you feel properly warmed up– take more time if you need it!), it is time to turn on your running jets.  You will run hard for 1 minute, then recover by running slowly for 3 minutes; then run hard for 2 minutes and recover by running slowly for 3 minutes; then run hard for 3 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes; run hard for 2 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes and finally run hard for 1 minutes, recover run slowly for 3 minutes.

The ‘pyramid’ looks like this:

1 minute hard                     3 minutes jogging recovery
2 minutes hard                   3 minutes jogging recovery
3 minutes hard                   3 minutes jogging recovery
2 minutes hard                   3 minutes jogging recovery
1 minute hard                     3 minutes jogging recovery

You can use the recovery time to circle up and reconnect with your pace group, as everyone will do the hard run at different paces.  This kind of workout is much more fun if done as a group, and it’s obviously about progressing up and back down through the intervals rather than about the route.  If you need to extend the amount of time for the jogging recovery, that’s fine, you can jog up to twice the amount of the hard run time [so 6 minutes max recovery jog for the 3 min hard run].  

This type of running is best done within the park so you don’t have to contend with driveways etc.  If you find you need more mileage in Regents Park, just keep looping however you see fit.

Friday 10 December – The Heath
It’s Friday, so time to head up the hill!  Choose from any of our routes, from 5 to 8 miles.
<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 solid week of training, with some great runs done and great company had!  It was so much fun to visit Ted Lasso’s world in Richmond on Monday– we even got an ‘us-ie’ with him!  And as always, the run along the Thames to Hampton Court Palace was beautiful.  Apologies that we did not know about the palace now being closed on Mondays, or that they have changed the grounds such that you can’t access the cafe without paying admission.  That was disappointing, but good that we could take consolation in the great little cafes across from the train station.  For those who weren’t able to make the trip this time, we do usually try to run this adventure route again in the Spring after the half marathon.

Running this week.  This is a short running week, as ASL’s Thanksgiving holiday begins Wednesday.  Our only official run will be Monday, when we head to Whole Foods Piccadilly on a 6.5-mile urban run that takes in a variety of iconic London locations.  We start out east on the canal for a few miles before exiting at the Wall to head down Farringdon Road, under the Holborn Viaduct, and close to St Paul’s Cathedral (look to left at the Fleet Street intersection).  Then we run along Embankment before turning up toward Trafalgar Square and ending at Piccadilly Circus.  See the “Routes” section below for full directions, a map, and a RunGo link.  Whole Foods has a seating area upstairs if you want to take a coffee and hang out a bit, and it’s a great place to get your shopping done if you are cooking a Thanksgiving meal!  Wednesday and Friday are ‘runner’s choice’ days– reach out to your pace group via Whatsapp to coordinate if you want to do a group run with those who are in London for the break.  And don’t forget to make plans for our annual lights run next week (Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 6am). 

Shoutouts and Announcements.  Jess Browne is in Lisbon today, running the Lisbon half marathon with our alumna friend, Litsa Savastino.  The race is starting as I write this– so sending out good luck and all of our wishes for a strong and happy run!  Kudos and congratulations to the ladies who went out and ran the Grand Union Canal Half Marathon outside London last weekend: Marigold Dooley, Phil Kelvin, Abby Khatiblou, Clare Missin, and Meredith Snizek.  Well done, ladies!  And big congratulations to Francesca Rangheri on her first marathon last weekend, to Rebeca Ernrooth (who ran it as an ultra), and to Stephanie Gladis, who rocked the Ravenna marathon.  Last, but certainly not least, congratulations to Miki Neant and Kelli Willis, who quietly ran another virtual Abbott Global Marathon last weekend.  Do keep us in the loop on your upcoming running events– it’s an inspiration to see what everyone is doing and to get to cheer you all on.
Lululemon Marylebone are giving us early access to their Black Friday sale, this Wednesday morning (24 November) at 9am.  We can shop their sale an hour before it officially opens.  You can ask about our regular 15% discount, but in the past that has not always been available on top of their Black Friday sale prices.

The ever-popular London Winter Run, a 10k to benefit Cancer Research UK, is back on for 13 February, 2022 after two missed mid-winter dates (one because of high winds and one because of Covid).  While this is not an official event we run, many WRW runners sign up each year and enjoy a fun Sunday morning out running through London together, amid inflatable snowmen and people in penguin costumes!  It’s also a great opportunity and good timing to take part in a local race ahead of the Berlin half marathon.  You can find the signup page here.

Berlin Half Marathon.  Anyone planning to run the Berlin Half Marathon in April with WRW should have received an email this week confirming that you are signed up or on the waiting list for our group events.  Please let us know if you think you are registered but you did not receive an email this week.

Training note.  We will publish the training calendar leading up to the Berlin Half Marathon after Thanksgiving (last year’s training plan can be found here, if you just can’t wait for a peek). Be assured we are well on track, building a strong base now to begin going longer distances after the Christmas break.  We will also begin offering some speed training and interval options beginning next month, to help not only with speed but with overall endurance and strength.  These are always optional, depending on any physical limitations/injuries, or your inclination.  But if you are able, these sessions can be fun when done with your WRW friends!

Save the date.  Be sure to mark your calendars for some highlight runs in the coming month.  Details for the Lights run will be in next week’s e-mail, of course, but just a reminder here so you can make whatever arrangements are needed in your household to make the 6am start!  Many women manage to do the run each year, hop on the tube at Bond Street or Baker Street, and make it home before their kids leave for school.  And meanwhile, fish around in the back of your sportswear drawer, or do a little crafting or shopping if you like, to find some crazy tights for the Monday, December 6 run.  It’s always good fun, and yes, we are quite a spectacle on that day!
Wednesday 1 December – Annual Holiday Lights Run @ 6 amMonday 6 December – Crazy Tights RunWednesday 15 December – Hyde Park to Covent Garden
That’s it for this week, ladies.  Safe travels to everyone on the road for American Thanksgiving and the ASL school break.  You know that I won’t let this slip by without telling you once again how thankful I am for all of you, and for our running community. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I hope to see you in the park tomorrow morning!

xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 22 November  – Whole Foods Piccadilly via Embankment (6.5 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/sPLE0JCI3K

Here’s a chance to do some pre-Thanksgiving shopping after the run!  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.

Wednesday and Friday, 24 and 26 November – Runner’s Choice!  Thanksgiving break
Round up your running friends who have stayed in London, and pick the route of your choice!

Hello Runners!
It’s always nice to pause at the weekend and think about the miles we covered together in the last week: an old favorite route (Finsbury Park), a fun new route to Victoria, and a Remembrance Day route that has to be one of the best themed London tours out there.  And such is the magic of running with you all, that I didn’t even remember it was rainy on Wednesday until I noticed wet pavement in the photos!  

Running this week.  This week we get to start with our run to Hampton Court Palace!  Please note: We do NOT meet at the St Johns Wood Church Gardens for this run!  We will meet at the Finchley and Frognal Overground Station (not the Finchley Road Underground Station!) at 8:30 to catch an 8:44 train.  See the “Routes” section below for full directions.  Please communicate on your chat so that Pace Leaders know who to look out for, and please be prompt, as the group can’t miss the train to wait for an individual.  We will arrive in Richmond to start the run at 9:25, so if you are thinking about timing you can figure your run time for 8 miles, whatever time you spend in the Tiltyard Cafe, and plan for a 35-40 minute train ride back to London Waterloo, plus time to tube home.  Trains from Hampton Court depart at :24 and :54 each hour.

But now for the fun part– with this run, not only do we get to relive half-marathon glory on a portion of last spring’s route, but we also have a new feature this time.  Erin Roth has struck again, tweaking the Richmond start of the run to make it ‘Ted Lasso Style!’  We will run by the pub, by Ted’s house, and past some other locations from the show.  Maybe we’ll all be inspired to tell the people we’re running with what we appreciate about them!  All credit to Erin for the fun idea and theme!  And if that’s not enough, Dinae Norris forwarded info on the Standing with Giants exhibition taking place on palace grounds at the moment:  it’s an art installation that includes more than 100 specially commissioned silhouettes of WWI soldiers, including Indian soldiers who camped on the grounds in 1919, when they traveled to the UK to participate in the victory parades.

After that eventful Monday, we will come back to being more local on Wednesday, with a loop in Regents Park.  And Friday we are finally headed back up the hill to the Heath!  Come on, you know you have missed it!

Shoutouts and Announcements.  Francesca Rangheri and Rebeca Ehrnrooth ran the Milton Keynes ‘Enigma Millenium Falcon’ Marathon Saturday (isn’t that a great name for a race?!).  Stephanie Gladis is running the Ravenna marathon on Sunday.  Abby Khatiblou, Clare Missin, Marigold Dooley, and Meredith Snizek are running the Grand Union Canal Half Marathon on Sunday.  And I believe Miki Neant is also running the Abbot Global Marathon locally on Sunday, after having competed in another Surrey League Cross Country race on Saturday.  Cheers for all of these runners, kudos for getting out there, and apologies if I’ve missed anyone (let me know)!

Please bear with us as we repeat here the Covid-related note you may have seen on your chats this week:
As Covid cases are on the rise in our community, we wanted to send around this reminder from the first WRW email of the year:  Please do not run with the group if you are experiencing covid symptoms or if someone in your household has tested positive.  
While UK guidance does not currently require a fully vaccinated person to isolate if a member of their household has Covid, we are asking this additional courtesy to help prevent widespread exposure in our community.  Though most of us should no longer be at great risk of serious illness from Covid, we cannot assume others, or their family members, are not vulnerable.  And with the holidays upon us and a myriad of plans hanging in the balance, we need to be mindful of how great an impact an exposure and a positive test could potentially have on another family– or multiple other families– if we are careless with our choices. 
This reminder is prompted by the rising number of cases in the local community, and the possibility that this trend may continue and even accelerate throughout the winter.  As always, we want to be here to support one another.  Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any concerns or additional thoughts.  And if you do find yourself caring for a household member with Covid, and thus not running with us, also know that we will miss you during that time, and we are happy to support you in any way we can.

Looking ahead.  The Christmas Lights run is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 1 (a 6:00am start!).  It has been brought to our attention that the lights on Regents Street will be switched off from midnight to 2pm this year, so the angels will not be lit up in all their glory for our early morning run.  We think that was also the case last year, and the run was still great and there were lots of lights to see!  We’ll be doing a test run, however; and will let you know of any adjustments to the plan.  Also, start looking for your crazy tights!  The date is not officially on the calendar yet, but we traditionally have a colourful, crazy tights run around this time of year!

It’s going to be another great week for running together.  All of you showing up for yourselves and each other week after week is literally what makes WRW work, so I think I’ll get a head start on the Ted Lasso Style run and tell you all that ‘I appreciate you!’  Enjoy your Sunday!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 15 November – Richmond to Hampton Court: Ted Lasso “I appreciate you” Run (6 or 8 mile option)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/hoLSzRNtLbMapMyRun: https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/4735532848
We will meet at the “Finchley Road and Frognal Overground Station” at 8:30 for the 8:44 train to Richmond. We will arrive in Richmond around 9:25 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, where some scenes from the show were filmed (and where Roy’s niece Phoebe tallies up of the number of curses he uses). 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 very pretty path called Barge Walk, which follows the river all the way to Hampton Court Palace. Once we arrive at the Palace and gather for coffee at the Tiltyard Cafe on the Palace grounds with lovely outdoor space (and indoor too in case of inclement weather!). Just cross the courtyard in front of the palace and then walk past the rose gardens to the cafe; no need to pay the Palace entrance fee.

Head back to London via Hampton Court train station. To get there, cross over the Thames on Hampton Court Bridge and the train station will be on your left. 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 17 November – Regent’s Park Inner/Outer Circle (5 miles)RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/BoeFK1Khvv
From the Church Gardens head down past the church and turn left onto Prince Albert Road. Run to the pedestrian crossing where we will cross and head to the Outer Circle. Turn right and run on the inside of the circle past Winfield House which will be on your left. Continue around the OuterCircle until you reach the traffic light at intersection with York Bridge. Turn left and proceed to the Inner Circle. Run one complete loop of the Inner Circle and back out across York Bridge where we will take a left and continue on Ulster Terrace which is part of the Outer Circle. At the next large intersection take a left and continue on the Outer Circle, heading north back towards the Zoo and Camden. Pass the entrance to the Zoo on your left and continue to the bridge at North Gate which we will cross to reach Charlbert Street. Run up Charlbert Street until St John’s Terrace where we turn left and run back to the High Street for a stretch before heading to Starbucks or Pret.
Note – you can make this a 4 mile run by cutting out the inner loop.

Friday 19 November – Hampstead Heath (4-8 miles)
It’s Friday, so we’re heading up the hill to the Hampstead Heath!  Choose your route with your group– the standard 6 miles, the Pergola, Highgate, the Betsy?  If you choose to run the 8-mile route around Kenwood House, be aware that a lights display is going up and it’s possible part of our route will not be accessible.  You can find all of our Heath routes here, but for convenience we’ll include one of the standard 6+ mile routes below.

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running up 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!
Do I say the same thing every week?: What a fun week it has been!  It was cold, but we lucked out with bright sunshine each running morning.  And it was great to see runners mixing it up a little amongst the pace groups– it seemed like all week pace groups kept overtaking each other and getting great photos together, and some people opted to try running with a different group one day.  It is so rewarding and fun to get to know runners from all across WRW.  You can see more highlights from our colourful week in this 3-minute slideshow (thanks, Jen Iannazzo!).

Running this Week.  Monday we are doing a destination route with hills, to Finsbury Park.  Sometimes when we don’t get our hills in on Friday (we did Borough last week, and this Friday will also be a generally flat run), we like to throw in a hill or two on a different day.  It’s a great run, taking in the beautiful Parkland Walk, which may still have some colourful foliage and gives us the chance to visit the ‘Spriggan’ (Cornish fairy) sculpture embedded in the walls of an old railway arch. Supposedly, this sculpture and the Parkland Walk itself, provided the inspiration for Stephen King’s short story “Crouch End”.  If you’re not up for the full 7 miles yet, you could exit the run at Highgate Station, or perhaps take transport to start the run at Swiss Cottage or Hampstead.  On Wednesday we have a brand new route brought to you by Paola Di Meo, who has created a fresh way to get to Victoria, where we can take our pick of coffee spots before jumping on the tube to get back to SJW.  Or if you need a looped run on Wednesday, you can run with your group to Hyde Park, then meander back for the distance of your choice.  

And finally, on Friday, we have the annual Remembrance Run.  This amazing run tour was created a few years ago by route-master Erin Roth, and it is a meaningful and fascinating way to observe Remembrance Day and take in some of the history on our local streets.  Please take the time to look at Erin’s guide (attached below), which tells the story of the landmarks we pass.  I promise you will be moved and inspired by it– this is no ordinary run!  There are plenty of places to exit if you need to keep it shorter, but it also begs for many stops to check out the landmarks, so you may find it a good run for extending your mileage.  Enormous thanks to Erin for this special contribution to the WRW running repertoire!

Announcements and Shoutouts.  Sending big cheers out for Kelly Willis, who is running the New York City Marathon Sunday.  Good luck, Kelly!  And though we aren’t always able to keep up with all that our alums are doing, it did cross my chats this week that Becka Goldberg and Mariya Treisman are running the Newburyport half marathon in Massachusetts tomorrow.  So a good luck shoutout to these ladies as well!
Do let us know if you take on a race– or if you know a shy WRW runner who is doing so– so we can add cheers and kudos for them.

Christine Wilt is part of the organising group for the kids’ version of the Park Run series.  These 2k runs take place every Sunday morning at 9am at Paddington Recreation Ground for kids aged 4-14.  It is a fun, no-pressure environment for kids to try out running.  The organisation needs volunteers every week to help make the event work.  Find more information on the event here, and more on volunteering here!  

Save the Date.  We have some great runs coming up, including the Hampton Court Adventure Run, next Monday, November 15.  Don’t forget to block off the whole morning for this ‘adventure run,’ and be sure to save time on your calendar for these extra-special runs:
Mon., Nov. 15 – Hampton Court Adventure Run– Block off the full morning for this twice-yearly favourite route.  Take the Overground to Richmond for the 7-mile run to Hampton Court Palace (hopefully with coffee in the Tiltyard Cafe on palace grounds!), then take the train back via Waterloo.
Wed., Nov. 17 – The Wednesday Scramble— A new WRW social running event designed to mix it up a little bit!  Stay tuned for details!
Wed., Dec. 1 – The Christmas Lights Run— Kick off the holiday season with an early start to run to central London and view the holiday lights before dawn (and before the crowd descend!)  A WRW tradition!

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone!    It’s going to be a great week for running together.  Can’t wait to see you in the park and on the pavements!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday, 8 November – Finsbury Park via Highgate and Parkland Walk (7 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/OqSvoVYSBa
For this run we start up Fitzjohn’s as if we’re going to the Heath, but pass the Heath entrance and continue up Spaniards/Hampstead Lane into Highgate. Bear right onto Highgate High Street. Turn left down Southwood Lane (the road next to Gail’s) and go down the hill, then veer to the right (not a hard right turn!) onto Jackson’s Lane. Continue down Jackson’s to Archway Road and make a right, then a relatively quick left onto Holmesdale Road. Run a short distance on Holmesdale and the entrance to Parkland Walk will be on your left. Follow the path to Finsbury Park, cross over the train tracks, turn right and run along the western edge of the park and exit onto Seven Sisters Road. Happening Bagel is across the street, Costa is to the right, and Finsbury Park Station is further down on the right (on the Piccadilly and Victoria tube lines).

This route is a little trickier than most to cut short for less mileage, but the Highgate tube stop (Northern Line) is around the 5-mile mark on this run, so it is possible to catch the tube back to St Johns Wood.

Wednesday, 10 November – Hyde Park/Belgravia/Victoria (5.67 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/qB5iJAnbET
Head out to Hyde Park, taking the usual route. At the silver orb turn right on N Carriage drive. Follow the path straight all the way and then turn left to W Carriage Drive. Keep following the path crossing the bridge reaching the exit of the park. Exit the park crossing Kensington road and enter Exibition Road (you’ll pass the London Imperial College on your left and the V&A Museum on you right).
At the end of Exhibition Road turn left onto Cromwell road. Cross at the traffic light to change side of the road and continue on Cromwell Road. Turn left to Beauchamp place, go straight until you’ ll see on your right Pavillon road. Follow Pavillon road until the end and  turn left to Sloane Square. Cross the square and head to Lower Sloane Street. Turn left on Pimlico Road and keep going straight until reaching Orange Square. Then turn left to Ebury Street. Go straight until  Grosvenor Gardens. With the Grosvenor Gardens on your right turn right and cross the road and then cross again to the left. Head inside the Nova food Complex if you are up for a coffee at Ole and Steen or  a doughnut from Crosstown. Victoria tube station is on your right. To make it 6 miles, take Buckingham Palace Road to Green Park tube station.

Friday, 12 November – Remembrance Day Run (9 miles, with stops)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/7qQw1Iwo3X
Don’t forget to look at the attached guide that accompanies this run and tells you about the sights we will be passing!
Head down Circus Road and cross Grove End Rd to Hall Rd. Remember Davies the dental surgeon at the corner of Hamilton Terrace. Run down the hill to the Sutherland roundabout, taking the left after the Warrington Pub onto Warrington Crescent. Keep an eye out to the left for the five tudor style houses on your left — this is the site of the WW1 bombing. Carry on down Warrington Crescent, past the Warwick Avenue Tube Station until you reach the bridge over the canal — and picture those incredible “Idle Women” making their way in narrowboats carrying crucial war supplies from London to the industrial north and back again. Straight on to the tunnel that goes under the Westway, then over the curving metal pedestrian bridge to run alongside Paddington Station. You’ll pass a Paddington Bear statue on your right — a reminder of those young evacuees. Keep Paddington Station to your right as you leave the canal area, cross Praed St, cross Sussex Gardens and continue straight down London St until you come to a small roundabout with a Fuller’s pub ahead on the left. Turn left in front of the pub onto Strathearn Pl, right onto Clarendon Pl, and cross at the zebra crossing into Hyde Park, which would have had a very different feel during the two wars. Cross N Carriage Dr, the sandy horse trail and the hard path paralleling it, and then take the SECOND angled path to the left to head towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park — the goal is to get to the corner we always exit the park from onto Hyde Park Corner. There are a few path options but as long as you angle left here you will eventually end up in familiar territory. Cross into Hyde Park Corner with its four war memorials. After taking a look, cross at the traffic light as normal to Green Park, but turn left in the park to get to the Bomber Command Memorial inside its columned portico. Continue for a very short distance past the memorial and the path forks to the right — it is signposted “Buckingham Palace”. Follow this path towards the palace. At the open area where many paths meet and a large Victorian lamppost stands, turn right towards the palace. You’ll pass a modern, low-built Canadian war memorial in the grass to your the left — it isn’t in the write-up but is something to visit sometime. Continue towards the palace, across the top of St James Park and left on Birdcage Walk. There is a long iron fence that runs along the right side of the road. Just after the gate marked with the “Wellington Barracks” sign in blue you will see the side of the rebuilt Guards’ Chapel with its low bell tower. Continue to Parliament Square with the statue of Churchill, then turn left onto Whitehall. The Cenotaph is in the center of the road and shortly after that you will come to the Women of World War Two Memorial. Continue up Whitehall to Trafalgar Sq and stay on the right side of the road while edging around the right side of Trafalgar Square. Shortly after St Martin-in-the-Fields you will see the Edith Cavell Memorial, opposite the National Portrait Gallery. Use the crossings to get across to the Portrait Gallery, go around to the right of the Portrait Gallery onto the angled Irving St that becomes a pedestrian way into Leicester Square. Cross Leicester Sq on the diagonal and take a right after the big clock and M&M World onto Wardour St. Follow Wardour St all the way up to Oxford St. This will likely be a very busy stretch of the run…be careful of pedestrians and cars! At Oxford St, look across at the Next store, housed in the grand Bourne & Hollingsworth department store building with its handsome green window panels. Continue straight across Oxford St onto Berners St, left on Mortimer St, right on Langham Pl, right on Park Crescent, across Marylebone and into Regent’s Park. Follow along the right side of Regent’s Park and emerge onto the Broad Walk. The ‘Home Depot’ would have been nearby buzzing with mail distribution 101 years ago. Cross the Outer Circle at the traffic light, across the canal, left to Primrose Hill. Run across Primrose Hill to the gate at St Edmund’s Terrace, and proceed to Starbucks as normal.

Hello Runners,
It’s been a busy week for WRW, with our fun Fall Coffee at Regent’s Park Bar and Grill Wednesday, and our (partially rained out) Halloween Run on Friday.  Also, between ongoing Berlin hotel reservations, the race signup, and our exciting WRW kit order, you have received about five times the normal e-mail communication from us!  Thank you for your brilliant response rate– it really does help with the planning.

Running this week.  Monday we will run to Kensington High Street via Brompton Cemetery for our rescheduled Costume Run.  It’s All Saints Day– the day after Halloween– when some faiths and cultures visit the graves of family members.  When the rain was falling heavily early Friday morning, we sent word round through the pace group leaders to reschedule our costume run for Monday, so check your chats to see who will be in costume on the ‘makeup’ run on Monday!  The Brompton Cemetery is one of the Royal Parks, and has been open as not only a cemetery, but also a public park, since 1840.  Over 200,000 people are buried there, including such notables as suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst (her grave is on the main path near the exit). You can find some of the cemetery’s fascinating history and a map here.  The run ends on the Kensington High Street, which gives us many options for coffee, from Whole Foods to Ole and Steen or Joe and the Juice!  Wednesday we are running the 5.5-mile Kensal Rise loop.  And Friday we have the 6-mile Borough Market run, which we will be putting on the schedule for the first Friday of each month.

2022 WRW Half Marathon in Berlin– now on a WAITLIST basis!  Your enthusiasm for the spring half marathon has been off the charts– we’ve literally never had such a huge and immediate response!  We have now reached capacity for event space, which is why we have closed the Google Form RSVPs for the WRW trip.  From this point we will keep a waitlist of people who would like to join the trip.  If you did not complete the RSVP but would like to be added to the waitlist, please e-mail tripmaster Sue Wheeler.  Note that registration for the race itself is still open.  If you have told us you are coming on the trip, please be sure to register for the half marathon itself before it sells out!  And please remember our longstanding WRW policy of no non-runners on the trip.  This is a special weekend for WRW runners to share with the women they run alongside throughout the year.  Do get in touch with us if you have any questions about this or anything else to do with the race plan.  We will shortly be moving all race communications to a separate mailing list of those who have signed up. 

Training note: background on routes and mileage.  We are still in base-building mode of our training, so we should be enjoying runs that are a comfortable pace and distance for us– perhaps building toward being comfortable with a 6-mile base by winter break, if you will be training for the half marathon.  We are a big group, with many different types of runners, all running with different objectives and fitness levels (but pause here a moment to reflect on how fantastic our general fitness level is!).  That’s why we offer routes each week that fit our general training plan but can be adjusted in length depending on your own needs.  When the routes team plans our calendar, they are looking at at least four years’ worth of previous runs, as well as the general training plan.  The mileage will never be something we haven’t done at this point in the year in previous years, and we will always try to mention options for shortening the run either in this note or in the routes section.  In addition, they are trying to fit in all the old favorites, and also trying to think of new routes, destinations and fun ideas.  They consider whether a route offers any nonstop running, and if possible, they consider traffic, detours, and any other complications.  This is definitely not to say pace groups or parts of pace groups can’t do their own thing from time to time!— it’s great to come up with your own ideas or redo routes that make you happy!  It’s just to give you the perspective on what goes into the routes you see published here each week.

One of the most beautiful things about this group is that we encompass everything from the most casual of beginning runners all the way to ultrarunners and semi-elites– and we all support each other, cheer for one another, and share this community built around running.  If you are newer to the group, or on the casual end of things, it may seem daunting to see the longer runs posted.  But there are always ways to make those runs shorter, and no one in this running group will ever judge a runner for taking the shorter route or for running whatever pace is comfortable for them.  At the other end of things, some runners extend the routes, or turn the destination runs into out-and-back runs; and it is wonderful that we so often get to see them on our routes even when it means they have to consider how to adapt them to meet their training goals.

Shoutouts and announcements.  Congratulations to Anna Zlateva on finishing her virtual NYC marathon last weekend!  And a shoutout to Miki Neant for her guide-running support for Irish ultrarunner Sinead Kane in last week’s 24-hour race in Gloucester.  Finally, one further shoutout for Phil Kelvin, who set a new course record in the W70 category at the Cabbage Patch 10-Mile Race two weeks ago!  Amazing!  Apologies if I’ve missed any runs or races this week.  Do let us know if you have a notable run coming up, or if you’ve just completed one!

More thank you’s for some of the people who have done so much to make the last week exciting for us all.  Magali Kivatinetz organized such a great coffee in Regents Park– the venue, the food, and the coffee were all fantastic!  Thank you, Magali!  And huge appreciation to kitmaster Marissa O’Malia, who not only managed to secure kit for us despite the challenges everywhere this year, but also has done countless rounds of design and numbers e-mails with suppliers.  Most of all, even now Marissa is trying to secure specific kit items to match demand with the limited supply we mentioned in the kit e-mail.  She is like a high-end personal shopper for kit– with hundreds of clients!  

Save the Date.  Be sure to save time on your calendar for these extra-special runs/events!
Fri., Nov. 12 – The Remembrance Run– Annual WRW running tour in honor of Remembrance Day (Nov. 11).
Mon., Nov. 15 – Hampton Court Adventure Run– Block off the full morning for this twice-yearly favourite route.  Take the Overground to Richmond for the 7-mile run to Hampton Court Palace (hopefully with coffee in the Tiltyard Cafe on palace grounds!), then take the train back via Waterloo.
Wed., Nov. 17 – The Wednesday Scramble— A new WRW social running event designed to mix it up a little bit!  Stay tuned for details!
Wed., Dec. 1 – The Christmas Lights Run— Kick off the holiday season with an early start to run to central London and view the holiday lights before dawn (and before the crowd descend!)  A WRW tradition!

Happy Halloween to all!  Hopefully the rain will clear out for any festivities around St Johns Wood this evening.  But meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed your extra hour of sleep last night and are warm and dry this morning.  See you out on the pavements this week!

xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday, 1 November – Brompton Cemetery to Kensington High Street (6.5 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/Sv1mfzlEl2
We start out the normal way to Hyde Park. Once you enter the park, turn left and run along the east side of the park. At Hyde Park Corner turn right and run along the south side exiting at the gate we normally use at William Street [next to the French Embassy]. Cross the street, take a right. Turn left at Brompton Road (just past the tube) and take Brompton all the way (admiring Harrods as you pass) until Fulham Road. Veer left on Fulham Road and continue to Brompton Cemetery – with its black wrought iron gates and a red phone box on either side. Turn right to enter the Cemetery. Run through the Cemetery then exit and turn right onto Old Brompton Road, then turn left onto Earls Court Road. Cross Cromwell Road, then turn right onto Cromwell Road and then turn left onto Marloes Road. Continue north on Marloes making your way through the streets to Kensington High Street. Whole Foods will be to your right.

To shorten this route, try running straight across Hyde Park, going straight at the silver sphere and exiting the park directly on the other side at William Street.  This cuts approximately half a mile from the route.  Other suggestions could be to walk across the cemetery and take in the sights, then carry on with the last part of the run as a cool-down; or walk the last bit of the route to the High Street.  The Earl’s Court tube station is along the route should you want to exit early– with the shortcut across Hyde Park, Earl’s Court should be just over the 5-mile mark.

Wednesday, 3 November – Kensal Rise (5.5 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/1rhb3AdSh7
This route takes us along the canal to the west. Please be aware of bikes along the canal and form a single file whenever you hear someone call out ‘bike!”.

Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End Road, then right on St John’s Wood Road at the traffic light. Then 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 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 motorway is over our heads.)

Friday, 5 November – Borough Market (6 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/6U5vDjwEEA
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!).

The Westminster tube station is at the 4-mile mark on this route if you need an early exit.  Or, if you are looking for a shorter run but still want to end at Borough Market, try taking the tube to Westminster or Green Park and intercepting your group at the desired location along the route.

Hello Runners!
It was another great week to run together in London!  From the Parks to the Pergola to Peggy Porschen, we covered a lot of ground.  And thanks to everyone who went a couple of extra miles Thursday morning to cheer for the Beginners Class of 2022 as they made their first run to Big Ben– you gave them a great moment with the surprise, and a first glimpse of the kind of community they are joining!  
Running this week.  Monday it’s time for an old favorite route to Tower Hill.  It’s a beautiful 7-mile route that basically follows our Borough Market run but then continues along the South side of the Thames to Tower Bridge and across, to end at the Tower of London.  From there you can take the tube at Tower Hill, or it’s an easy walk back to London Bridge tube station for a direct line to St Johns Wood.  You can also exit the route at Borough (London Bridge tube) for 6 miles, or Westminster for 4 miles.  On Wednesday we will follow the first half of the Camden/Mornington Crescent route, then circle through Regent’s Park and around the boating pond to end at the Regent’s Park Bar and Kitchen for an all-WRW coffee (with thanks to our special consultant for coffee procurement, Magali Kivatinetz, for setting it up).  There will be space inside, as well as plenty of room outside, so come and enjoy hanging out with runners from all the pace groups– we will celebrate the prospect of our Berlin running weekend next spring, and there may even be a few small prizes on offer from our race boss Sue!  

And finally, Friday– don’t miss the annual Halloween run!  Extra points if you show up in costume for this run to the scenic Hampstead Cemetery, on your choice of a 6- or a 7-mile route (or another option is to hop on the Jubilee line at West Hampstead).  How creative can you be??  

Shoutouts and Announcements.  Anna Zlateva is running the Virtual TCS New York City Marathon today in London!  Good luck, Anna — we are cheering you as we read this!  Meanwhile, as I write, Miki Neant is guide-running again for Irish endurance runner Sinead Kane in the Gloucester 24-hour Elite Track Race.  As with the Battersea event a few weeks ago, this race runs nonstop from 10am Saturday until 10am Sunday, and Miki will likely run with Sinead for many of those hours.  

Congratulations and great job in the Oxford Half Marathon last weekend to Jess Browne, Darcy Fautz, Alysia Hoyt and Carmine Najjar!  And congratulations to Phil Kelvin on finishing the Cabbage Patch 10-Mile Race last Sunday.  

Hopefully you all received the Berlin Half hotel email (let us know right away if not), and you are signed up for the race and have reserved a room!  Do reach out if you have any questions.  And, as mentioned in last week’s email, Marissa is ready to hit ‘send’ on the WRW kit order e-mail.  Look for that in the next day or two, and be sure to read it carefully and respond promptly if you want to order an annual shirt or other kit this year, as our stock has been significantly limited by the ongoing global supply chain issues.
Speaking of global issues, please do continue to take care of one another as we enter colder weather and Covid cases continue to rise in the UK.  Most of our time together is spent outside, and most of us are fully vaccinated; so hopefully incidences in WRW will remain extremely low.  But it’s a good idea to take a lateral flow test from time to time.  If you should happen to test positive, please let us, your pace leaders or the women you ran with know right away.  Fully vaccinated people do not have to self-isolate after an exposure, but it is important for them to know they’ve been exposed, so they can monitor and test themselves.  When we have had cases in the group so far this has worked well, and we are grateful for how conscientious you all have been!

Save the Date.  Be sure to save time on your calendar for these extra-special runs/events!

Fri., Nov. 12 – The Remembrance Run– Annual WRW running tour in honor of Remembrance Day (Nov. 11).
Mon., Nov. 15 – Hampton Court Adventure Run– Block off the full morning for this twice-yearly favourite route.  Take the Overground to Richmond for the 7-mile run to Hampton Court Palace (hopefully with coffee in the Tiltyard Cafe on palace grounds!), then take the train back via Waterloo.

It should be a fun week– with great seasonal destinations, the buzz of a race and some new kit to think about, and a WRW social to enjoy!  I look forward to seeing you in the park– happy running!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 25 October – Tower Hill (7.1 miles, or options for 4- or 6-mile routes)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/eckLcQj4pf
Today we will be running across, along and across the Thames and in and around some of the oldest parts of London. The sights will be stunning! We start off as though we are running to Borough Market— down Grove End and into Hyde Park, under Wellington Arch, along Green Park, through St James Park and towards Big Ben then across Westminster Bridge. At the end of Westminster Bridge, exit left down the stairs and run along the Thames Path past the London Eye, Royal Festival Hall, Blackfriars Bridge, Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe to the Golden Hinde, admiring all the landmarks as you trod past. Follow the walkway to the right of the Golden Hinde and at the junction with Southwark Cathedral, turn sharp left and follow Montague Close, passing through the tunnel. You are now on Tooley Street. Shortly, you will see a Legible London standing road sign for Tooley St/London Bridge (photo below) – turn left and go through the passage to meet up with Queen’s Walk/Thames Path. Turn right onto the walk. Continue on the Thames Path past the HMS Belfast, City Hall and Potters Fields, to Tower Bridge. Climb the stairs up to the Bridge (don’t go under the Bridge), then run across Tower Bridge (the views!), continuing past the Tower of London (more views!) until you reach the stairs down to Tower of London Park. Take the stairs down and follow the paved path along the park. Just past the park is a junction in the path-turn right to run in a tunnel under Tower Hill Road, past part of the original London Wall and up to the Tower Hill tube station. Now, think of all the history you’ve witnessed in just 7 miles!

If you don’t want to do the full 7 miles yet, you can simply end at Borough Market for 6 miles, or stop at Westminster for 4 miles.

Wednesday 27 October – Camden Lock/Mornington Crescent/Regent’s Park Coffee (5.15 Miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/3Oz5Lz9hEF
Head to the canal going eastbound to Camden Lock, where we cross the small, cobblestone bridge, exit the canal and turn right onto Camden High Street (alternatively, turn right just at the bottom of the bridge and go through the opening between the buildings to get to Arlington Road). At the first intersection with Jamestown Road take a right after crossing Jamestown Road and then the first left onto Arlington Road. Run straight down Arlington Road, make a slight right onto Mornington Crescent, follow it around and turn right onto Hampstead Road. At the first intersection, turn right onto Granby Terrace and the second left onto Stanhope Street. Continue down Stanhope until we reach Trinton Square. Turn right and run between the office buildings at Regent’s Place, past the nice fountains, to the end of Trinton Street. Use the pedestrian crossings to cross Osnaburgh Street and Albany Street. Head left to the intersection of Euston Road, where you take a right and run briefly along Euston Road. At Park Square East, turn right through the gates towards Regent’s Park. We enter the park at the Outer Circle intersection and stay on the path on the far right (east side) of the park. After you cross Chester Road, take a left on the second path and follow it, keeping toward the boating lake and running around it all the way to York Bridge, where we will turn left and run to the Inner Circle. Cross the road, turn left, and run the short distance to the cafe.

Friday 29 October – HALLOWEEN RUN! – Hampstead Cemetery (7.1 or 6 miles)
RunGo link:   https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/aVzrkOhVjU (7.1 mile route)
From the Church Gardens, head straight out to run up Cochrane St.  Turn left on Acacia and cross Wellington Rd.  Turn right on Loudoun and run until it ends at a traffic circle.  Turn left on Belsize Rd and then a quick right to head onto Fairhazel Gardens.  Take your first left onto Goldhurst Terrace and then a left when it curves around.  Turn right on Prior Rd and run to the end, turning left onto Broadhurst Gardens.  Take the next right onto West End Lane and run about half a mile, taking care to avoid pedestrians as much as you can.  Keep West End Green on your right and when the Green ends, turn left onto Fortune Green Rd.  When the street bears right, cross and enter Fortune Green Park.  Run straight through and enter the narrow pathway that leads to the cemetery.  Take the first entrance on the left and run a loop to the left around the cemetery chapel side.  Then cross the path to take a loop around the other side, running straight and then turning left just before the street exit.  There you will find the lovely Art Deco Bianchi monument as you circle through.  Once back on the cemetery road, turn right (you’ll see the chapel) and then turn right again to continue on the path you were on from Fortune Green.  Follow this path to the end, between school playing fields, and turn left to follow it out.  Once on the street, turn left to get on a path (you’ll see bike entry barriers) that takes you along the far side of the playing fields.  At the end of the path, continue straight onto Somali Rd, then jog left and then right to get onto Sarre Rd.  At the end, turn right onto Mill Lane (larger street).  Take a left onto Fordwych Rd.  At the end, turn right onto Maygrove Rd and then a left onto Kilburn High Rd.  Again, take care to avoid pedestrians.  Run a few blocks and turn left onto Netherwood St.  At the top of the hill, turn right onto the aptly named Hilltop Rd then left onto Hemstal Rd.  At West End Lane, cross and turn right and then a quick left onto Cleve Rd.  Turn right onto Priory and the second left onto Goldhurst Terrace.  Keep left onto Aberdare Gardens.  At the end, turn right onto Fairhazel Gardens and go straight across Belsize Rd.  Jog left and then right to get back onto Loudoun.  At the top of the hill, turn left onto Boundary Rd and cross over Finchley Rd.  Turn right onto St. John’s Wood Park and take that to St. John’s Wood Terrace.  Turn right and finish at Starbucks.

For a 6-mile option, begin the run as above, but after you run the two small loops in the cemetery, exit as you came in, and follow West End Lane until it meets Abbey Road.  Turn left onto Abbey and follow it back to St Johns Wood, then turn left on Grove End Road to head for the SJW High Street and a coffee.  If you need to keep the run even shorter, you can hop on the tube at West Hampstead for just over 4 miles.