Hello Runners!
They say it’s those April showers that bring May flowers… except for when it happens in September instead.  Chelsea was colorful with blossoms this week, and I think it’s fair to say we made it even brighter!  What gorgeous photos this week (and the flowers are nice, too 😉  

Running this Week.  As we bring September to a close, it feels like we are beginning to settle in, and it has been fun to get back to some of our favourite routes.  On Monday we will revisit an old standard as we run along the canal east to Brick Lane and take a little street art detour.  If we’re lucky, maybe some of the women who went on the SJWWC tour last week can give us the inside scoop as we run by.  This is a 6.5-mile destination run (you can shorten it a bit by walking the art part at the end), so don’t forget your contactless card and a mask for the tube ride home, as well as for the detour at the iconic Beigel Bake Brick Lane Bakery so you can take home some of the best bagels in London!  Wednesday we will keep it simple and local with the Regents Park Inner/Outer Circle loop.  And Friday we are officially making our first trip to Borough Market for the year.  This 6-mile route goes the standard way to Big Ben, then crosses the Westminster Bridge and runs along South Bank to Borough, one of London’s oldest and largest food markets, right around London Bridge.  The site has been a market since the 12th century!  If you haven’t yet done this route or been to the market, plan on finding some serious foodie treats to take back to your families– after you reward yourself with a Monmouth coffee, a Rabot hot chocolate, or a fresh juice from the market!

Introduction of the Week:  Pace Group Leaders.  WRW is an all-volunteer group– we still call ourselves ‘a group of friends, running together,’ despite having grown immensely since the time around 2003 when our founder, Paula Mitchell, started running with a few of her friends who either were runners or wanted to learn to be.  These days it takes more than one woman  to keep WRW running.  Our pace leaders will keep an eye on routes and directions, and be aware and communicate what pace they are aiming for on any given run; but please remember that each of us is ultimately responsible for our own pace, as well as for generally knowing where we are going!  Big thanks to these ladies for taking on the pace leader role for 2021/22: 

Wonder Women Runners 

Claudia Figueroa, Tamar Brooks (who created and leads the group), Krista Sensurucu, and Yvonne Horrell are the Wonder Women Runners pace leaders this year.

12’s pace group

Carol Osborne and Fernanda Spinelli are leading this pack– a new addition in 2021!  We are so grateful for their leadership in starting this group!
11’s pace group

This group is led by veteran pace group leaders Magali Kivatinetz, Veena Gopal, Jen Iannazzo, and Melissa Kay.


10’s pace group

(from the top left) Heather Davenport, Jane Novak, Stephanie Mager, Anne Scolari, Jess Browne, Jennifer Egsgard, Laura Beal, and Abby Khatiblou.
9’s pace group

Pace leaders for the 9s this year are Emily Duffy, Marigold Dooley, and (not shown) Meredith Snizek.
8’s pace group

The 8’s are led this year by Stephanie Gladis and Miki Neant.

Next week we will do a few more introductions, but if this email gets any longer or more picture-intensive this week, we’re going to break the internet!Shoutouts and Announcements.  Miki Neant and Kelly Willis ran as guides for Sinead Kane, a visually impaired Irish ultrarunner, in the Self Transcendance 24-hour track race last Saturday and Sunday.  Running with her for several hours, including through the night, they supported her 197 kilometer, 3rd place female, 7th place overall finish.  And as always when WRW runners take on a challenge, plenty of WRW friends were on hand to cheer and support them, of course!  On Sunday, Laura Beal took on the 55-mile London to Brighton Cycle Ride, a hilly challenge that this year included a hail storm!  Well done, Laura!  And finally, at least a few runners ran the actual, rescheduled and live Hampton Court Palace Half last Sunday (let me know if I’ve missed anyone!).  Congratulations to Bjorg Fridbjornsdottir, Stephanie Gladis, Charlotte Sinclair and Mandeep Rai!  
The Hackney Half is this weekend– do let us know if anyone runs that, so we can give some cheers next week!  We will also be looking to give some in-person cheers for our London Marathon runners next week, on Sunday, Oct. 3!  Running the official course will be Kelly Willis, Charlotte Sinclair, and Stephanie Gladis.  Running the virtual course will be Laura Beal, Clare Missin, Jess Browne, and Miki Neant.  When we have more details on the virtual routes, as well as the timing for all the runners, we will share them either via WhatsApp from your pace leaders, or in an early Saturday email next week.  As always, we are proud of all of our marathoners, and excited to cheer for you!
Finally, just another welcome to all of our new runners!  It has been so much fun to run with you these past weeks, and we can’t wait to show you more of our favourite routes in this city we love.  Please let us know if you are having trouble finding your pace, connecting with a group, or if you have any questionsl

Signing off and wishing you all a happy Sunday.  As always, I’m looking forward to seeing you out on the pavements!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 27 September – Brick Lane Art Tour – 6.6 miles
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/JtJprR11K2
This route is a slight variation of the Brick Lane route we’ve run in the past.  It takes you down several streets known for their street art.  Street art is constantly changing so there are no guarantees, but chances are good you see something spectacular!

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

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

Run up the ramp at the side (on the left) to get up to Kingsland Road.  Turn right (you’ll be running back over the canal). Follow Kingsland Road– you’ll see the Gherkin building in the distance in front of you, and Kingsland Road will become Shoreditch High Street at Old Street and you will turn right shortly after onto Rivington Street.  Turn left at Curtain Rd, run a couple of blocks and turn left on New Inn Yard.  You should be seeing some art by now!  Make your first right onto King John Court and left onto Holywell Lane.  At the end, cross the road and bear slight right onto Bethnal Green Road. Take your first left onto Ebor St, right on Redchurch St, right on Chance and then left on Whitby to see some more popular art areas.  Turn right onto Club Row, cross over Bethnal Green Rd and turn right and then the first left onto Sclater St.  At Brick Lane, turn left and run up to Beigel Bake and Crosstown Doughnuts on your left.  
For the journey home, you can take the Shoreditch High Street Overground to Canada Water and then take the Jubilee Line home. Or you can walk through Spitalfields Market to get to the Liverpool Street tube station.

Wednesday 29 September – Regents Park Inner/Outer Circles (3-5 miles) 
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/BoeFK1Khvv

From St Johns Wood Church Gardens 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 Outer Circle until you reach the traffic light at the 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 coffee.  Don’t forget to stretch, whether on the corners or in the park!
3 mile alternate:  walk to the Charlbert entrance and run around the outer circle, ending where you started, and walk back to the High Street.
4 mile alternate:  skip the inner circle

Friday 1 October – 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!

OR stay closer to home by running 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

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hello Runners!

Wasn’t it great to get back to the Pergola this past week?  And, well, to all of our places!  If you are new to WRW, welcome– before you know it, you will consider these streets and sights ‘your places’ as well!  It has been so much fun to meet and get to know some of you in the past couple of weeks.  And it’s been a joy to see so many old friends on the pavements and around the cafes in St Johns Wood!  If pictures speak a thousand words, I’ve included the rapid-fire slideshow below for a little novella of our week.

Running this week.  Monday we are introducing a standard Wednesday route, the 5.5-mile Kensal Rise loop.  This one takes us on the canal west, through Queen’s Park to Kilburn and Maida Vale before turning back to St Johns Wood– OR several runners have mentioned they prefer doing this one in reverse so they hit the canal a little later in the morning.  The reason for doing this on a Monday this week is because we’re delaying our destination route until Wednesday so we can see the floral displays for Chelsea in Bloom, which is to coincide with the rescheduled Chelsea Flower Show.  When we’ve done this in the past– usually in the spring!– we’ve learned the displays are only just being set up on Monday mornings.  The route goes to Sloane Square, then down Kings Road a piece before doubling back to head back to Hyde Park, where it just happens to hit the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen at about 5.7 miles should you have time for a coffee in the park.  OR you might choose to do a bit more exploring in the Sloane Square area– our route takes you past a taste of the displays, but there will be more to see, and you can find details at Chelsea in Bloom.  The event also carries into Belgravia in Bloom, and some of these are just a few blocks left (or east) of Sloane Square.  Finally, on Friday you have your pick of Heath routes– we’re highlighting ‘The Betsy’ (5 miles) and ‘Highgate’ (7.5 miles) in the Routes section below.  And– spoiler alert– the Borough Route will be our official pick next Friday!  As always, all of our routes for the week, with maps, directions and RunGo links, can be found at the end of this email.

Spring Half Marathon.  We have had questions from runners about whether we will resume our spring tradition of travelling to a European half marathon in 2022.  Many of you are eager to travel!  The short answer is “Yes. We hope so!”  Quite a few race organisers are in the middle of hosting fall races postponed from the last 18 months, and so have yet to confirm spring dates. This will delay the announcement a little this year, but rest assured we are working behind the scenes– led by our fearless trip boss Sue Wheeler– and we’re hoping to have a race announcement before the end of October. Stay tuned. 

Shirt sayings.  On a similar note, kitmaster Marissa O’Malia is working on some new gear for us!  The color combo on the annual shirt is always a surprise, and every year we also call for your ideas for pithy but inspirational quotes for the back of the shirt– which is also revealed at kit distribution time.  We have had some great ones through the years:  ‘We Run the (Social) Distance’… ‘Another Run Stronger’… ‘Any Time, Any Where, Any Pace’… ‘Keep Calm and Run On’… ‘This is my Happy Pace’…’In it for the Long Run’…’We Run London’… and others you’ve seen some of us long-time veterans wearing.  So what will it be this year?  Send us your ideas!

The rescheduled Hampton Court Palace Half is taking place tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 9am.  This is the rescheduled version of the half we did virtually last spring, and I’m not aware of anyone who is running it live at this point.  But there are several available entries floating around if you want to take the starting line at the last minute!  Let us know– best way is to Whatsapp your pace group, as most of the Pace Group Leaders are aware of who has the bibs available, and thus can help facilitate picking it up!  Also, if you did the race virtually and have never written in to receive your medal and shirt, please let us know ASAP and we’ll send you the info to claim your bling!

Shoutouts.  A huge WRW shoutout for a super-inspiring run Miki Neant and Kelly Willis are involved in this weekend.  They are going to be guide runners at the Self Transcendance 24-hour Track Race, for Sinead Kane, an elite Irish runner who is visually impaired and is seeking to once again be named to the Irish national endurance running team.  Miki will be running many hours through the middle of the night with Sinead, and Kelly is on standby to step in throughout the event.  See the links above for more on the event and on Sinead Kane.  The race is taking place at the Millenium Stadium in Battersea Park if you want to go down and check it out (I think it is closed to spectators from 10pm-6am, though!) OR you can follow real-time results here (search Sinead Kane).  For reference, the last time this race was run, in 2019, the first-place woman covered 137.5 miles in the 24-hour timeframe.  We are so proud of Miki and Kelly for their involvement in this intense event!

With that, I’ll sign off for now.  As always, I can’t wait to be out there running with you again on Monday!  Enjoy the rest of the weekend– see you in the park!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday, 20 September – Kensal Rise (5.6 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/PKciDDCGzKor in reverse: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/19LMJ4Pzt8

Please be aware of pedestrians and bikes along the canal and form a single file whenever needed! You might also want to try running the route in reverse, as commuter traffic on the canal gets lighter a little later in the morning. Start out heading west on St. John’s Wood Road and cross Grove End at the traffic light. Turn left on Cunningham, right on Aberdeen, and cross Maida Vale to the right side of Blomfield Rd. Stay on the right side of Blomfield Road as you run parallel to the canal. Turn left at the second bridge over the canal (at Westbourne Terrace Road), turn right just after the bridge, follow the sidewalk along Delamere Terrace, and join the canal path heading west at this point. Run to the Ladbroke Grove exit. Here we turn right and run over the bridge along Chamberlayne Road to Harvist Road. Turn right on Harvist, which turns into Brondesbury Road, and take that to Kilburn High Road/Maida Vale. Turn right and follow Maida Vale 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.)

Wednesday, 22 September –  Sloane Square for Chelsea in Bloom (5.7 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/gtvSKbNeAq
Everybody starts out to Hyde Park, taking the usual route down Lisson Grove to Seymour Place, etc. Once inside the park, turn left and run down towards the southern edge, following the path to the right before it leaves the Park (Rotten Row). Run to the large gated exit (Albert Gate) before the tall ‘One Hyde Park’ complex, cross Knightsbridge and turn right on Knightsbridge, then a left onto Sloane Street after Harvey Nichols. Follow Sloane St until it ends at Sloane Square.

Turn right and curve around the square to the left heading towards King’s Road.  Make a quick left onto Duke of York Square and then a right and a right to run around the square and get back to King’s Road.  Turn left and run down King’s Road to Chelsea Manor St (about a third of a mile), admiring the floral displays in the various shops along the way.  Cross King’s Road and head back the way you came but turn left onto Cadogan Gardens (before Sloane Square).  Take the first right onto Culford Gardens and then a left onto Pavilion Road.  Run until the road ends, make a right, and then a left back onto Sloane St.  At Knightsbridge, cross the street and head straight onto the passageway – Serpentine Walk.  Continue straight into Hyde Park and keep going straight, keeping the Serpentine on your left as you head toward the Hyde Park Benugo where we will all meet up for coffee.

Friday, 24 September – The Heath
RunGo for The Betsy option:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/dkhuleD0zF

Most Fridays we run the Heath!  This week we are highlighting two options depending on where you are in your training.  For both options, head out to Avenue Road, then up Fitzjohn’s per all the Heath routes.  

The first option is The Betsy.  Named for the runner whose favorite route this was, it is a shorter option that leaves out the second hill after you reach the tube station in Hampstead.  At the top of Fitzjohn’s, cross over towards the station and turn right.  Take the first left down Flask Walk and continue straight until you reach the Heath.  Enter the Heath and run until you intersect with the wide path.  Turn right and run down the path, curving to the right.  Run the wide path as usual but don’t turn left to run up Parliament Hill. Instead, veer right at that juncture and follow the trail across the ponds. After the ponds, the trail veers left and shortly after there is an opportunity to take a right turn on the intersecting trail that heads towards E. Heath Rd (taking you next to the fields used for the Art Fair, parking etc at different times of the year). Cross E. Heath Rd at the pedestrian crossing, then run on Downshire Hill Rd to Haverstock Hill. Turn Left on Haverstock Hill, running home the usual way (turn right on Belsize Ave, left on Lancaster Grove, right on Crossfield, right on Adamson, then cut through the Swiss Cottage public area by the Hampstead Theatre, turning onto Fitzjohns to St Johns Wood Park Rd to St Johns Wood Terrace and then to Starbucks).

OR 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.

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!
Our first full week of running gave us some glorious, sunny skies!  For those of us who have weathered the last couple years of on-again-off-again lockdowns and restrictions, it is amazing to be able to run together without policing numbers, and to meet in any number of open cafes for coffee time after the run!  One of my personal goals for the year is to hold on to my sense of gratitude for these freedoms it is so easy to take for granted (so, when you see me with a goofy grin on the High Street, you’ll know what’s going on in my head…either that, or I’m over-caffeinated again!).

Running this week.  Monday we will head toward Hyde Park, one of our ‘home courts.’  You can do route options that loop back to St Johns Wood from the 5-8 mile distances (see in the Routes section below), or you can do a loop in the park and then hop on the tube at Hyde Park Corner or route yourself to Bond Street or Baker Street for a quick tube ride home.  Wednesday we’ll head east on the canal to the Camden Lock, then exit and run through Mornington Crescent to Regents Park for a nice little variation on a 5-mile loop.  And Friday we’re still officially headed up the hill to Hampstead Heath, but we’re going to do the Pergola route, which rewards us with a beautiful ‘secret garden’ many Londoners don’t even know about.  As always, route maps, directions and links can be found in the “Routes” section below, as well as links to the RunGo turn-by-turn directions.

WRW Training Routine and Plan.  As promised, it’s time to give a training overview to those who are new to WRW or haven’t been through a regular running year during Covid times.  Generally speaking, our weekly runs fall into a pattern:  

• Monday is the longer, slower run each week, in which we stretch out our mileage and endurance as we build to a half marathon in the spring.  As our year progresses, some of these will be destination runs (Wembley, Canary Wharf, Kew Gardens, and others).
• Wednesday is generally a shorter run, often a looped route, and always with the option of doing it at a faster pace.  When we get a little further into our season we will start to introduce some tempo training options for Wednesdays. 
• Friday we usually do hill training, which is why it is a tradition to run up to Hampstead Heath for the most beautiful hills in London.  Sometimes we take a break and run to Borough Market, but we really encourage you to work in some of the hill days if you don’t have an injury which prevents it.

As far as the longer-term plan, we have a basic training plan we tweak each year depending on the timing of our destination race.  We always factor in ASL school breaks, as so many in our running community have children at the school.  If you’d like to take a look ahead, we have old training plans on our website, and we will update them once our race is set.  The Routes team has a whole arsenal of fun and practical routes to match the training objectives week-by-week.  And by the way, Race Boss Sue Wheeler is working hard to find just the right option for us this spring, but unfortunately a lot of races are holding back on announcing spring dates just yet, so even more than usual she has her work cut out for her!
Finally, not to be too repetitious, but this is important for anyone just joining us… please let us know if you are having trouble finding a pace group that works for you.  Most everyone seems to settle in over time, but we all would hate to see anyone struggling to find a place that works for them.  We can help, and there is a place for everyone!  Let me just give a quick thanks at this point to Jen Iannazzo, who has welcomed so many new runners already this year and is always working to help people find the right pace group.

Announcements and Shoutouts.  Another shoutout to all who did the London Summer Run 10K last weekend.  It looked like such a fun event, and you all represented so well!  I included a few photos last week, and there are some in the lead photos this week as well (my favorite is Miki as a penguin!).  Looking ahead, Marigold Dooley is running the Richmond Half Marathon on Sunday– good luck, Marigold!  Next weekend is also the officially rescheduled version of the Hampton Court Half Marathon we were meant to run as a group last spring.  Many of us completed our half marathon in our fun, improvised Race Week last April, and we sent in our results for the official medal and shirt. (Let us know this week if you never sent for them, and we can pass along the info on how to get it done in time).  But some of us may have decided to keep our registrations live on the possibility of running the half in person next Sunday, 19 September.  Please let us know if you are planning to run that event OR the Hackney Half next weekend.  We want to give shoutouts, of course, but we are also happy to help connect people who are running the various events and may not realise they have WRW co-runners. Also let us know if you are planning to run the London Marathon October 3, either the official route or the virtual version.  It’s a WRW tradition to cheer our runners on in this event, and we don’t want to miss anyone!

That’s it for this week.  Look for an extra, separate e-mail in the coming days, with introductions of the team working behind the scenes to keep WRW running, as well as some other important information for the year ahead.  But in the meantime, I can’t wait to see you in the park and run with you again on Monday!  Enjoy the weekend!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday, 13 September – Hyde Park 5, 6, 6.5 or 8 miles

Click here for all of the Hyde Park interactive route maps

We start from Barclays, run down Circus Road and turn left on Grove End/Lisson Grove. Cross diagonally at the light to go onto the west side of the street. Cross over Marylebone Rd (now you’re on Seymour Pl) and run until the road ends. Turn right on Seymour St, cross Edgware Rd, and turn left at the next street (Stanhope Pl). Cross into Hyde Park, cross over the Carriage Rd and you’re ready to go.

Hyde Park 5 miles
With this route, run straight when you enter the park and turn left when the path ends. Turn left again at Hyde Park Corner and head back up along the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals of War exit. After you cross Park Ln, make your first left onto Park St and keep going until you get to Park Rd. Turn left on Park Rd and make your way back to Starbucks.

Hyde Park 6 miles
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/ybk4zOsBh9  

Here, turn right at the silver sphere after entering the park. Turn left when you get to N Carriage Rd and run down to the Serpentine.  Turn right and then left to run over the bridge. Turn left to run along the Serpentine. Turn left again at the end of the Serpentine and head back up along the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals of War exit. After you cross Park Ln, make your first left onto Park St and keep going until you get to Park Rd. Turn left on Park Rd and make your way back to Starbucks.

Hyde Park 6.5 miles

Like the 6 miler above, you turn right at the silver sphere after entering the park. Cross over N Carriage Rd and turn left just after the Italian Gardens. Run along the water (it turns into the Serpentine) and stay right at the end to run along the southern edge of the park, all the way to Hyde Park Corner. Then turn left and head back up along the eastern edge of the park before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals of War exit. After you cross Park Ln, make your first left onto Park St and keep going until you get to Park Rd. Turn left on Park Rd and make your way back to Starbucks.
Hyde Park 8 miles

This run takes you around the periphery of the park. As before, you turn right at the silver sphere after entering the park.  Cross over N Carriage Rd and keep going until the end of the park. Turn left to run along the edge.  Just keep turning left until you’re heading  back up along the eastern edge of the park. Exit at Upper Brook St/Animals of War Memorial. After you cross Park Ln, make your first left onto Park St and keep going until you get to Park Rd. Turn left on Park Rd and make your way back to Starbucks.

Wednesday, 15 September – Camden Lock/Mornington Crescent/Regents Park (5 miles)RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/QROqFQPvJi

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. Take the first right turn onto 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 left 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 follow the paths on the east side of the park to take in the Frieze sculptures, cross the Broad Walk at the ornamental fountain and head along the path with the Zoo to our right. Turn left onto the Outer Circle, past the Avenue Road exit, and right at the second exit (where we usually enter for the canal or park). Run up Charlbert Street to St John’s Wood Terrace, make a left, and head back to Starbucks.

Friday, 17 September – – The Heath Pergola (6.3 mile)
RunGo link:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/soXpd8ec3K/edit
Head out from Barclays to Avenue Road, then up Fitzjohn’s per all the Heath routes.  
In order to help with sidewalk crowding, we are assigning pace groups to run on opposite sides of Fitzjohn’s.  The 8s and 10s should run up the left (west) side while the 9s and 11s should run up the right (east).

Continue past Hampstead Tube Station all the way to the roundabout just beyond Whitestone Pond. At the roundabout, use the pedestrian crossings to cross counterclockwise over to New End Way to Jack Straws Castle (now a personal training gym) and continue past the parking lot entrance and past the bus stop to turn left onto a small street called Inverforth Close. A short way down, there is a trail to the right with a green barrier gate and a sign that says “The Hill Garden.” Here are pictures of the trail: 

Follow this trail until you come to an entrance on the left for “The Hill Garden and Pergola”, enter it and go to the right around the big bushes. You will see a beautiful reflecting pool. Run alongside it and up the stairs-you are on the Pergola! Run or walk the length of the Pergola.  Don’t forget to look at the beautiful views, admire the flowers and take a pic or two. Please be considerate and don’t run if others are walking the Pergola. When you have finished with your Pergola time and reached the far end, take the stairs down and turn left to run on the wide trail back to New End Road, turning right to run by Jack Straws Castle and crossing left at the pedestrian crosswalks by the roundabout to put you back on the standard Heath route. Turn left from the crosswalk and then right to enter the Heath. Run the wide path as usual but don’t turn left to run up Parliament Hill. Instead, veer right at that juncture and follow the trail across the ponds. After the ponds, the trail veers left and shortly after there is an opportunity to take a right turn on the intersecting trail that heads towards E. Heath Rd (taking you next to the fields used for the Art Fair, parking etc at different times of the year). Cross E. Heath Rd at the pedestrian crossing, then run on Downshire Hill Rd to Haverstock Hill Rd. Turn Left on Haverstock Hill, running home the usual way (turn right on Belsize Ave, left on Lancaster Grove, right on Crossfield, right on Adamson, then cut through the Swiss Cottage public area by the Hampstead Theatre, turning onto Fitzjohns to St Johns Wood Park Rd to St Johns Wood Terrace and then to Starbucks).

And of course there are always the other Heath routes if you prefer:

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill. Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6+ miles:  The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route OR Pergola route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route
Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hello Runners!
How wonderful was it to be back together this week?  Having been unable to freely mingle as one big group for so long made this week’s gatherings feel especially great and a little surreal.  A very big welcome to those of you just joining us– we are so happy to have you!  Every one of us was new to the group at some point, so we genuinely want to make you feel comfortable and included, and we look forward to getting to know you.  I loved meeting so many of you at yesterday’s SCOOP event at ASL!

Running this week.  It’s a good week to work on settling back into a running routine, so we will make it easy by keeping it local and giving you lots of options on distances for each route.  Our first Monday back, we traditionally run the WRW standard route to Big Ben– don’t forget to bring a contactless or Oyster card and mask for transport home.  The standard route is four miles to the Westminster tube station, or you can take earlier exits at Hyde Park Corner or Green Park.  You can also extend the run back to Green Park for a five-mile run, or back to St John’s Wood for eight.  On Wednesday we’ll do the Primrose Hill/Regents Park loop, which enters Primrose Hill from the Elsworthy Rd side, goes to the top of the hill (great view, great photos!), and then coasts down the hill and into Regents Park.  The full route is five miles, but the routes section below includes suggestions for modifying it for three- or four-mile options.  Friday our official route will once again be up to the Heath.

As always, route maps or links, directions, and RunGo links are found in the Routes section at the end of each e-mail.  RunGo is a live, on-the-run navigation app we have found useful for way-finding, especially when we get on to more complicated routes. It’s certainly not required, but it’s a great tool if you are interested in turn-by-turn navigation.

Announcements and Shoutouts.  Just a reminder for all of us as we take off toward Hyde Park for the first time this year:  please be aware and considerate of the Londoners with whom we are sharing the pavements.  We can be unintentionally intimidating to pedestrians when we’re caught up in our run and our conversations– especially now, when no one is accustomed to seeing larger groups like us on the pavements around them!  Please make sure we don’t take the full width of the sidewalk when there are others around, and do give enough space that they don’t feel we’re running over them.  (And it goes without saying, do be careful at street crossings– don’t just follow the person or group in front of you into the intersection!)

If you are new and not finding the right pace group, please speak up!  We really want to help you find the people who are doing the pace and distance you’re looking for, but sometimes it might take more than one try to get it right.  Any of the returning runners can point you to someone who will be able to help.  And if you are a returning runner, try not to worry too much about established pace groups these first couple of weeks.  Everyone has a different summer running (or not running!) mode, and we each need to be careful to avoid injury by not trying to just pick up where we left off last spring.  Find the pace that is right for you right now, and there will be others who are running that pace.  If we take a couple of weeks to get back in the groove, our pace groups will begin to settle in naturally.  

The Cancer Research 10K London Summer Run is taking off as I finish writing this e-mail.  Good thoughts to all our WRW participants– I look forward to sending shoutouts next week!  Actually, since my phone just lit up with starting line photos, I’ll share a few below (feeling a kind of BBC Breaking News vibe, here)!   Please do keep us up-to-date on races or events you or a WRW friend are doing, and always feel free to send photos from any run– we have grown into such a big group, this is a good way to stay connected! 
In the next few weeks, our emails will talk about our training routine and introduce some of the people who make sure WRW is working (pace leaders, routes team, kit, the Race,  membership, beginners coaches, etc).  But we’re going to stick to the basics for another week:  meet, run, smile, stretch, drink coffee, and enjoy being back together!Looking forward to seeing you out there this week!  
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 6 September  – Big Ben (2-8 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/JDPjKnb1VC
This is a WRW standard, and such a fun route!  We run right through the heart of London and stop at the famous Big Ben. The 8 mile option is for runners who’ve been training for a fall race.
On Monday we head to Hyde Park via the usual route. Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove. Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end. Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place.   Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill. Run 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.2 mile alternate:  stop at Hyde Park and take the tube from Marble Arch3 mile alternate:  stop at Green Park and take the tube from Green Park

Wednesday 8 September –Primrose Hill/Regents Park Loop (3-5 miles)
RunGo:
Start out as if we’re headed for the Heath, running down St Johns Wood Terrace until it reaches the T.  Turn left, then right, then left again at Avenue Rd.  At the crossing just a short distance up Avenue Rd, cross over and run down Elsworthy Rd a short distance until you see a small road on the right that ends in the entrance to Primrose Hill park.  Once in the park take the path that angles to the left, then bear right at the first fork and left at the second.  This will take you up for a fantastic view from the top of Primrose Hill.  After you’ve caught your breath, take the path that goes down on the right (if you are looking out toward London), then curve around to the left at the first split.  Follow this path all the way down the hill to the crossing at Prince Albert Rd.  Cross at the zebra and head straight into the park via the bridge and across the Outer Circle (NOT a zebra, please note!).  In Regents Park, take the path that angles to the left, running behind the zoo.  Cross the Broad Walk by the fountain and continue across on the path that heads toward, but not all the way to, the perimeter of the park.  Follow this to the far corner, and then turn right to run along the southern edge of the park, inside the fence.  Continue to follow this around  the boating pond to run across the little bridge at the far end of the pond, then bear right to follow the contour of the pond to its end.  Continue on the same path until it meets the diagonal path that runs behind the zoo (the same one we ran in on).  Turn left to follow that to its end and then turn left onto the Outer Circle and follow it for a short distance to the crossing at Charlbert.  Exit the park and take Charlbert to St Johns Wood Terrace to finish at our Starbucks/Pret corner of the High Street.3 mile alternate:  Rather than go out to the Broad Walk, curve around to the right and turn right to run straight past The Hub, between the fields, and straight out to Charlbert St.  Run 2 blocks and turn left on St. John’s Wood Terrace and head to Starbucks.4 mile alternate:  Rather than cross the Broad Walk, turn right and run straight, cross the road and keep going.  Turn right at the end and run straight, eventually getting to the water so it is on your right.  At the boathouse, curve to the right to go over the bridge and make your first left to get to the Charlbert entrance.  Run 2 blocks and turn left on St. John’s Wood Terrace and head to Starbucks.  

Friday, 10 September – The Heath
There are multiple mileage options below, and the link will take you to all the maps.  
<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!
Welcome to the 2021-22 WRW Running season!!  It is SO great to be back in London, and I hope you are all feeling as excited as I am about the start of our WRW year together!  

Happily, we have fewer restrictions facing us at the moment than we have had in the last year and a half.  For starters, we will now be able to meet all together(!) in St Johns Wood Church Gardens, beginning this Wednesday, September 1.  We will meet at 8:20 (for an 8:25 start) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, and for now there is no need to spread to the far corners of the park as we have done over the last year.  Let’s take the opportunity to reconnect across pace groups by meeting near the park entrance on Wellington Place (the one closest to St John’s Wood High Street) before we break into our groups to take off on the run.  As with current guidance across the city, masks are optional, but we would encourage you to bring one along on the run (along with a bank card or ApplePay, as always) in case you end up taking public transport at some point.  

It goes without saying that we must continue to be mindful of Covid precautions and sensitive to the community around us.  Please do not run with the group if you are experiencing covid symptoms or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive.  If you have not had a vaccine, we respectfully request that you consider wearing a mask when with the group, as some of our members (or their family members) may be immuno-compromised.  We will keep current on the rules and conditions in the UK, and will adjust our plans as needed throughout the year.

Running this week.  As always, route maps, descriptions and links can be found at the end of this e-mail.  This week we will ease into the routine with our customary ‘first week’ runs, beginning on Wednesday with our home course in Regents Park.  The suggested route is the Outer and Inner Circle, but there are so many options to run as short or as long as you like in the park– and there are also many options for coffee together on the High Street when your run is finished!  On Friday, our tradition is to run up the hill to Hampstead Heath.  In the routes section below is a link to all the Heath routes.  Even if the hill seems a little daunting, you can take the pace easy, and enjoy the challenge with friends.  Alternatively, ask around at the park and you will undoubtedly find others who want to stick to a flatter route this week

Announcements…  If you are new to the group, Welcome!  Whether you have never run more than a few miles, or you have many marathons under your belt, you belong, and we are glad to have you!  I’m trying to keep this e-mail contained, but it still may seem like a lot of information.  Don’t worry!  We are a super friendly group, and we pride ourselves on helping new people become addicted to running with us.  Just show up, say hello, and ask anyone in the group for help with finding someone to run with at a pace that is comfortable for you.  

Beginner Group.  Our Tuesday-Thursday Beginner group will start this Thursday morning, Sept 2 (meeting at Barclays).  As you know, this group is for true beginners, women who have never run before.  It starts out with one-minute intervals at a very slow jog, so is not appropriate for anyone who is able to run even a mile or two. If you know of anyone who would like to be part of the 2021/22 beginner group, please let us know— it’s really helpful if beginners can find their way to us sooner rather than later! 

Wonder Women Runners.  For those who are not beginners, but are coming back from a long injury or a break from running, or are not yet confident with covering a few miles at our varied pace options (from 12 min/mile down to 8 min/mile), Tamar Brooks will be leading a ramp up group again this year– The Wonder Women Runners– with Claudia Figueroa and Yvonne Horrell.  Let us know if you are interested and we can connect you with Tamar, or simply ask anyone during meetup at the park and we will get you connected.  Next week’s e-mail will include more details on pace groups and our basic weekly schedule, but it is worth mentioning that we are very excited to have added a 12s pace group this year, with Fernanda Spinelli and Carol Osborne leading the way.

 … and Shout-outs!  Congratulations to all who ran the London Landmarks half marathon recently, including Jess Browne, Alysia Hoyt, Claire Missin, Laurie Morgan and Mandeep Rai.  And more shoutouts to the crew who ran the Vitality Big Half last Sunday:  Bjorg Fridbjornsdottir, Stephanie Gladis, Miki Neant, and Charlotte Sinclair.  And a big additional shoutout to Bjorg, who ran a beautiful ultramarathon in Iceland in July– the Laugavegur Trail Ultra, at 53 kilometers and 1900 meters of climbing!  Let me know if I’ve missed anyone in these races or any others recently– shoutouts are free, and so much fun!  And finally, a huge cheer for Rebeca Ehrnrooth, who is about to finish the famous Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) trail ultramarathon as I write.  The race runs a giant ring around Mont Blanc, beginning and ending in Chamonix, running through France, Italy and Switzerland, and climbing more than 32,000 feet along the way.  It is truly an epic undertaking!
Upcoming events.  The Cancer Research 10K London Summer Run— a Covid adaptation of the popular annual London Winter 10k– will take place next Sunday, September 5 from 9:30 am.  It appears that entries are still open.  If you are signed up to run already, make yourself known on your group’s whatsapp chat if you want to find friends to run with!  (And if you are not yet on a pace group whatsapp chat, please let us know and we’ll get you connected!)  Going forward, please feel free to send us information on upcoming races.  We can’t include everything in the weekly e-mail, but we do try to flag some of the events our community might love.
We will leave it at that for now.  Let’s just celebrate being back together for a couple of great, familiar runs this week!  I cannot wait to see the group gathered for a fresh new start on Wednesday morning!  In the meantime, enjoy the bank holiday, and happy back-to-school wishes for all!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Wednesday 1 September – Regents Park Inner/Outer Circles (3-5 miles) 
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/BoeFK1Khvv
From St Johns Wood Church Gardens 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 Outer Circle until you reach the traffic light at the 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 coffee.  Don’t forget to stretch, whether on the corners or in the park!
3 mile alternate:  walk to the Charlbert entrance and run around the outer circle, ending where you started, and walk back to the High Street.4 mile alternate:  skip the inner circle

Friday, 3 September – The Heath
Come on, you know you can’t wait to get back up that hill!  There are multiple mileage options below, and the link will take you to all the maps. 
<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 Route6+ miles:  The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route OR Pergola route7.5 miles: The Highgate route8 miles:  The full Heath route
Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.
—————-
Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.com/
COVID-19: https://womenrunningtheworld.com/covid-19/
Facebook Group:  Women Running The World (request to join)
RunGo Group: WRW London (https://routes.rungoapp.com/group/wrw)
Email: [email protected]

Hello Runners!

What a beautiful week and weekend we have had!  I don’t think we could have asked for any better conditions for our celebration in Regent’s Park on Friday, and you all made it truly special and memorable.  It may be that a new tradition has been born this year– our end-of-year picnic celebration!  Out of all the chaos the pandemic has sown into our lives, finding creative ways to fill the spaces left by the things we couldn’t do has given us some great memories of unique experiences, and made us appreciate all the more anything we were able to do!  This will be an email filled with thank-yous, so here is the first one– thank you all for embracing all the new things we’ve done!  Everything would fall flat if there weren’t people rallying around to bring life and joy to the things we’ve done together!

And with that said…. drumroll… it’s time to rollout the WRW Annual video, created this year by the brilliant Janelle Meyer!  More in praise of her efforts below, but for now, here’s the link you’ve all been waiting for:  The Amazing WRW Race! 

Running this week.  It’s a short week, as we follow the ASL calendar and school ends on Wednesday!  Monday we have scheduled the traditional last run to Big Ben.  It’s a 4-mile jaunt, but you can carry on back to Green Park to make it closer to 5, loop back to St Johns Wood for more mileage, OR carry on from Big Ben across Westminster Bridge for one more run to Tower Hill (7 miles)!  On Wednesday, when ASL has a half day, we’ll cap off our year as we usually do, with the familiar run around Regents Park’s Inner and Outer Circle.

After Wednesday, we are officially on ‘WRW summer break’– but you know there will still be people running!  To help those who want summer running partners in London, we are reactivating the WRW Summer running whatsapp chat (which you can join by clicking the link).  There are many women on the chat still from previous summers, so you may find you are already there!

Shoutouts, announcements, and mostly, Thank-Yous!  Let’s start with a big congratulations to all who are celebrating a graduate this year!  Whether here in London, or at university abroad, I hope you were able to celebrate the occasion in a meaningful way!

And speaking of meaningful ways… I have been wrestling with how to deliver big thank yous to all of the people who make WRW work on a weekly basis.  It’s hard to let this go without a microphone and the ability to conjure a standing ovation for each one of these ladies, but I will try to be brief if you will promise to fill in around my little summaries with all the extra praise and superlatives that these women deserve!

Amy Grace (Beginners guru and webmaster)– Thank you, Amy, for ALL you do for WRW– from running the Beginners Program, to keeping us online, to keeping me sane.  I don’t think people realise how much you do for all of us– as our coach, webmaster, historian, data keeper, and guardian of all WRW institutional knowledge!  On a weekly and daily basis, you are centrally involved in every decision about WRW.   I’m truly not sure how we would function without you!

Sue Wheeler (race boss and finance director)– Sue, thank you for being the steady hand that guides us through all things race- and finance-related!  We all owe you SUCH a big thanks for having the clairvoyance to book us on a UK-based half-marathon this year:  the Hampton Court Half allowed us to snatch one victory back from the pandemic and its lockdowns, by giving us a gorgeous, self-supported race option that could actually happen!  Beyond the race, I count on your wisdom, perspective, and creativity in every decision we make!

Jen Iannazzo (membership) – Ah Jen, did you have any idea what you were getting yourself into when you agreed to be our membership-minder?  You have been a phenomenal addition to the team, welcoming something like 70(!) new members to the group this year with the lowdown on who we are and how we work.  But beyond that, you’ve gone the extra distance to help each one find a place within the group, being in touch both by e-mail and (once it became legal!) face-to-face.  You are also a wonderful sounding board, and I am excited to work with you again next year! 

Marissa O’Malia (kitmaster) – Marissa, I cannot even express for all of us how much joy your kit selections have brought to this strange year!  Truly, I’m not sure there could have been any better choice than the happy, bright colors and the oh-so-appropriate slogan this year!  We are all beyond grateful for the kit.  And your positive, inclusive, encouraging and always helpful presence is a joy to be around.  I have to mention how it made me smile to see you pull an extra clothing accessory from your ever-stocked bag for a friend at the picnic Friday!  You truly are the kitmaster extraordinaire!

Our Routes Team – Erin Roth, Melissa Kay, Dinae Norris, Janelle Meyer, and Darcy Fautz – Thanks to you ladies for the planning sessions by zoom, the new routes, and especially for stepping up to be the sounding board whenever we had to make operating changes related to Covid rules.  You have especially been so understanding and gracious in those times I crashed in asking for a last-minute opinion a few hours before the e-mail was due to go out.  Lockdown and social distancing have made it a frustrating waiting game as far as putting out routes for the group, and we missed a lot of favorite runs this year because we had to be so separate.  I SO look forward to getting our groove back next year!

Our Beginners Coaches – Amy Grace, Melissa Kay, Paola di Meo, Renata Figueiredo, Jess Browne, Shannon Ashton, and Sue Wheeler – You coaches this year, including the two last-minute ‘temporary/permanent’ recruits, went above and beyond!  You are always so caring and attentive to the beginning runners, but you went to all the extra lengths this year to make sure each woman felt supported through the more extreme period of lockdown, and to help them forge a bond despite having to be separate for so long.  I know that you each feel the reward of having made the journey with our new ex-beginners, but you deserve so much recognition from all of the group for making it possible this year!  And in addition to these regular coaches, a special thanks goes out to all the women who took the time and care to do coaching runs while we were on one-on-one coaching duty.  I’m afraid I will miss someone if I try to list you here, but please, please know how much you are appreciated by me, by the coaches, and by the ex-beginners you ran with!  And further thanks to all of those who supported the Silver Linings’ Hampton Court Half Marathon with logistics, cheering, and extra running alongside!  You made the capstone event feel like an event, and we all are grateful.

Our Pace Group Leaders – Miki Neant, Marissa O’Malia, Meredith Snizek, Jane Novak, Stephanie Mager, Laura Beal, Heather Davenport, Jess Browne, Jen Iannazzo, Veena Gopal, Melissa Kay, Magali Kivatinetz, Tamar Brooks, Fernanda Spinelli, Claudia Figueroa, and Carol Osborne – A big thank you to each of you for really stepping up this year.  Even while we were separate for an extended time this year, pace group leaders were asked to look out for your people more than ever, beyond just whether they are falling behind on a run.  You were on standby for everything from people needing running partners to people feeling isolated and needing an ear or a shoulder.  And when there was no common meeting time or space, you became a trusted means of quickly and reliably communicating with the group.  You were asked to organise breakfasts, destination runs and celebrations– and you did it all with good grace and creative, positive energy.  I am so grateful for your leadership this year.  You have been the glue keeping us together while the pandemic and the lockdown response was like a centrifuge spinning us apart!Our Film-maker Janelle Meyer – thank you, Janelle, for taking on the ultimate challenge of creating a WRW annual video… in a year when you couldn’t actually gather people together to do any filming!  Your creative solution is nothing short of brilliant, and it has given us a lasting and fun memento of our year together (well, and apart!).  There is nothing better than being able to laugh in the face of adversity, and I think ‘toilet paper plyometrics’ will always make me laugh along with the ‘Get Off of my Cloud’ soundtrack!  

Our Photographers – Tamar Brooks, Miki Neant, Jennifer Egsgard, Jen Iannazzo, Shannon Ashton, Marigold Dooley, and many others – thank you to all the talented people holding cameras throughout the running year!  And thank you for being so gracious about me shamelessly lifting them from group chats, Facebook and any other means by which I could manage to snag them!  You deserve credit every week for your creativity, and often I can’t even keep track of what came from whom.  But your skills amaze me (I have banned myself from ever again taking a group running selfie!).  Special thanks to Tamar for all the work to make beautiful memories for the Silver Linings Beginners Group, with great individual photos at the start, along the way, and at the finish of their Hampton Half.  As with all you do for us and for others, your efforts were above-and-beyond and are much appreciated!

Goodbyes.  The saddest part of every last e-mail is the goodbye part.  We have once again made electronic goodbye cards for each of our leavers.  Please take the time to follow the link, sign the card, and add a picture if you have one (the website is fairly intuitive, if a little fiddly sometimes).  The cards will stay open until next Saturday, June 19– then all of our collective good wishes and memories in the cards will go to our leavers by e-mail.  Apologies that they are a little light on the personalization to start, but I will be adding more photos to the cards throughout the week!

2021 WRW London Leavers:

And that, as they say, is a wrap.  It has been another wild year for all of us.  I know we’ve been over it all before, but just one final time I want to say how proud I am– both of you all, and of all of us together— for how we’ve made it through another year of re-adjusting hopes and expectations.  Even though we were often forced apart over the last 18 months, I think our shared experience has brought us close in ways we will always remember.  And the jubilance of coming out of lockdown over the last couple of months has given us memories all the sweeter!  For those who are leaving this year, you will be missed.  But you will always be part of Women Running the World– since our description pretty much covers the globe, there is no getting away from us!  Our love and best wishes go with each of you!

Best summer wishes for everyone.  I hope you will keep running.  But what I really hope is that you are able to spend time with the people you love in the places you love.  We will be waiting here for you with a big London running reunion at the end of August!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 14 June – Big Ben, or on to Tower Bridge (4-8 miles)RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/eckLcQj4pf
This is our traditional last-Monday-of-the-year run– right through the heart of London to Big Ben. From this 4-mile mark you can either take the tube from Westminster, run back to Green Park for the tube, or make it an 8-mile loop back to St Johns Wood. OR, if you feel like continuing on, why not turn it into a final run to Tower Bridge? 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 about a five mile run by turning back at Big Ben and running to the Green Park Tube Station, then tubing it home.

To continue on to Tower Hill, carry on across Westminster Bridge and exit left down the stairs on the South side. 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!

Wednesday 16 June – Regents Park Inner/Outer Circle (5 miles)RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/BoeFK1Khvv
From Barclay’s head down Wellington Road to the traffic circle at Lord’s Cricket Ground and bear 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 Outer Circle until you reach the traffic light at the 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 Barclay’s for a stretch before heading to Starbucks.

Hello Runners!
It was a short week for us with the bank holiday, but we packed in all the iconic sights and some good breakfasts, too!  Wednesday’s Leavers’ Run through the sights of London could not have been more beautiful, and some of your photos are stunning!   

Running this Week.  Monday we will head to Brick Lane via the canal to see what’s new in the local street art and maybe grab some bagels to bring home.  Wednesday we’ll start on the canal again, but it’s worth the repeat to run down Farringdon to Embankment and then back up to Whole Foods Piccadilly.  And Friday we can either head up the hill for a Heath loop of your choice, or run to Borough Market (for treats before our end-of-year celebration in Regents Park that afternoon).

End-of-year Celebration this Friday!   We will gather by pace groups in Regents Park at 1pm Friday for a picnic.  Your hardworking pace group leaders will let you know how your group will be organising the food part of the celebration, whether brown-bagging, potlucking, Deliveroo-ing, or white-glove catering!  Bring blankets, beverages, and plan to spend some time just hanging out together and toasting this really unique year, and most especially the friendships and running partners who helped us through it!  Though we still have to keep our groups to the 30-person threshold, we’ve scouted and planned five different but adjacent spots where all the groups will be able to see and visit each other, while keeping to the rules, of course.  There is a restroom nearby, and hourly paid parking on the Inner Circle (see the map below).  There will be no formal programming or speeches, but the annual WRW video, produced by creative mastermind Janelle Meyer (who is, sadly, also a leaver!), will drop during the event.  And finally, our rain date is Monday, so if it looks dubious, we will decide by mid-day Thursday and let you know!

Announcements and Shoutouts.   Though none of us want to think about our friends leaving, we do have over 20 WRW runners leaving London this year (a few have already gone).  Look for a separate e-mail this week with links to cards for each of them, so that we can each send with them our love and good wishes, not to mention any great photos to help commemorate our time running together!

Thanks to our kitmaster Marissa, for staying in touch with Lululemon.  They have given us early access to a big Lululemon sale at the Marylebone store.  From 9-10am Friday morning (June 11), WRW runners and SJWWC members will have first pick before the sale opens to the public– some may want to build that into their run plans Friday morning!  

Though we are out of time for planning an official run of it, Tamar has passed along info on the Mayfair sculpture trail, which opened this month.  The site includes photos and maps, so it could be a great motivation to get out there right away next week after official WRW runs end next Wednesday.

If you hear of anyone who would like to join the Beginner’s class of 2022, please connect us or pass along their contact info to [email protected].  As anyone who has been through this program knows, it can be an amazing, life-changing experience!  The program is for people who have truly never been runners before.  It starts out with one-minute intervals at a very slow jog, so is not appropriate for anyone who is able to run even a mile or two.  Our regular M-W-F group can help people who have been runners before ease back into it and work up to joining our M-W-F runs.

I’m trying, really I am, to rein in the long e-mails, friends!  So I will leave the sappy stuff for next week and sign off now just asking for fingers crossed for good weather Friday!  In the midst of all kinds of end-of-year craziness– moving, graduations, kids with exams, goodbye gatherings– I hope to see you out taking some time for yourselves on our London runs together.  Have a great week!
xx Micki

ROUTES
Monday 7 June – Brick Lane Art Tour – 6.6 milesRunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/JtJprR11K2
This route is a slight variation of the Brick Lane route we’ve run in the past.  It takes you down several streets known for their street art.  Street art is constantly changing so there are no guarantees, but chances are good you see something spectacular!
We will head out in the same way as though we are running to The Wall. Take the Canal east to the Wall—go up the ramp to Muriel Street, take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings. Here’s the entrance to the path:

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

Run up the ramp at the side (on the left) to get up to Kingsland Road.  Turn right (you’ll be running back over the canal). Follow Kingsland Road– you’ll see the Gherkin building in the distance in front of you, and Kingsland Road will become Shoreditch High Street at Old Street and you will turn right shortly after onto Rivington Street.  Turn left at Curtain Rd, run a couple of blocks and turn left on New Inn Yard.  You should be seeing some art by now!  Make your first right onto King John Court and left onto Holywell Lane.  At the end, cross the road and bear slight right onto Bethnal Green Road. Take your first left onto Ebor St, right on Redchurch St, right on Chance and then left on Whitby to see some more popular art areas.  Turn right onto Club Row, cross over Bethnal Green Rd and turn right and then the first left onto Sclater St.  At Brick Lane, turn left and run up to Beigel Bake and Crosstown Doughnuts on your left.  
For the journey home, you can take the Shoreditch High Street Overground to Canada Water and then take the Jubilee Line home. Or you can walk through Spitalfields Market to get to the Liverpool Street tube station.

Wednesday 9 June – Farringdon/Piccadilly Whole Foods – 6.5 milesRunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/wO9FZTEsoH
How can you resist a fun destination route that ends up with delicious and healthy food options to bring home?  We start out heading east on the canal and run to the Wall. We’ll exit the canal there and turn right onto Rodney, which will turn into Penton Rise, then King’s Cross Road, and eventually Farringdon, which we will stay on until we reach the embankment. We then turn right and run along Victoria Embankment to Northumberland (just past Embankment Tube Station). Turn right onto Northumberland and run through Trafalgar Square onto Cockspur and then turn right onto Haymarket. Take Haymarket into Piccadilly Circus and turn left onto Coventry. Run through Piccadilly Circus, across the street and onto Glasshouse Street, where you will see Whole Foods Market.

Friday 11 June – Heath/Borough – 6 milesWe have our celebration picnic at 1pm today.  Why not run down to Borough to pick up some goodies for lunch?  Or do a loop in the Heath so you’re back home in plenty of time to prepare.I think we all know the way to Borough by now so no map this week!
Heath Options -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 Route6+ miles:  The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route OR Pergola route7.5 miles: The Highgate route8 miles:  The full Heath route
Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.