Hello Runners!
Here we are, at the last e-mail and coming onto the last ‘official’ week of WRW running for the 2021-22 year.  But before we get to the goodbyes, how about a quick look back to the fantastic runs we had together last week?  The Tower may not have been fully blooming yet, but the run to Tower Hill never disappoints, especially when the weather is fine– and despite the forecast for the week, we had some very fine days.  And what a great turnout we had for the Sights of London/Leavers’ Run on Friday, followed by the 2nd Annual End-of-Year Picnic in Regents’ Park.  Everyone looked so relaxed and happy (and summery!) at our casual gathering.  I had to join a little late, and it was a beautiful sight to walk up to all of you gathered– all together!— in the green and sunny park.

Running this week.  On the last Monday of every running year, it’s tradition to do one last run to Big Ben.  Even though we actually just did this run– with the ‘Sights’ run rescheduled to last Friday– we are going to keep it on the schedule.  It’s tradition, after all, and still a great route.  With any luck, more of the barriers from the Platinum Jubilee will be down and we will be free to run the parks again.  It’s just 4 miles to the Westminster tube station if you need to get back for your end-of-year to-do list, or you can carry on from there or run back to SJW.  And for Wednesday, our last official run of the year, we’ll do a quick tour of Regents Park, with the 5-mile Regents’ Park/Primrose Hill loop.  From Friday, we’re on our own to organise our runs independently for the summer.  Which brings us to…

Announcements and Shoutouts.  Though most of us are connected to our pace groups via Whatsapp chat, one of the great things about running in London if you are around in the summer, is getting to run with people from other pace groups!  We open a WRW Summer Running Whatsapp chat each year to help facilitate meeting up and planning.  Many of you may already be on this, as it’s a continuation/revival of last year’s group, but I would encourage anyone spending time in London this summer to try connecting and making friends across our usual pace groups.  The link just above will get you connected.

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

A shoutout to Rebeca Ernrooth of the 8s, who (a little birdy told us) paced a friend the last 50 miles of a 100-mile race on the South Downs Way last night.  What amazing support!  Though there is no weekly e-mail through the summer to keep track of the shoutouts for all the amazing things you all are doing, I would love to hear about them.  Keep us up-to-date on your adventures– maybe there will be a summary of shoutouts at the beginning of the next running year.

Yes, we are still doing e-cards for the Leavers!  Stay tuned for the links in a separate e-mail, so you can sign and post photos for our WRW friends who are moving.  Cards will stay open for signing until one week from today (Sunday, June 19).  Instead of a WRW e-mail on that day, our leaving friends will receive their cards via e-mail.

And finally… Closing out the last e-mail of the year, you know that I will wax both grateful and nostalgic.  First, I am so grateful for all of you– that you keep showing up day after day and week after week for yourselves and for each other!  And I am so very glad we have been able to run together this full year.  Even with some early masking requirements and ongoing concerns regarding Covid exposure and isolation protocols, it’s been a joy to return to running together without all the restrictions we faced over the previous two years!  And I am thrilled that we managed to get back to our destination half-marathons, with a grand-slam of an event in Berlin, thanks to the Herculean efforts of Sue Wheeler and team!  Maybe a few years ago we would have taken all of these things for granted, but the perspective we’ve all gained over our pandemic years begs us to take a moment and appreciate every single wonderful thing we’ve been able to add back into our lives this past year!

And now for the nostalgic… every year, we rush up to this week and the end of the school year with the same blinding speed at which we do our interval training on Wednesdays in January (😉)!  And then we reach the end, it’s over, and we are out of breath but we can’t believe it went by so fast.  It’s hard to say goodbye to our friends who are leaving, but as we say each year, every alum we add to our ranks just reinforces our group name and identity– we are running the world, after all.  To those of you leaving London, as well as to those already reading this from abroad: you will always be a part of WRW!  And as we were reminded this year when we finally got to reunite with so many old friends in Berlin, reunions are wonderful!  To those of you returning to London next fall, I can’t wait to build the 2022-23 version of WRW with you (our first official run will be August 31st)!  

Sending love and wishes for a fantastic summer for all… 
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 13 June  – Big Ben (4-8 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/JDPjKnb1VC
Traditionally, we run Big Ben on the first and last Monday of the WRW running season.  We all know the way by now – choose your distance!

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 15 June– Primrose Hill/Regents Park Loop (5 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/S0AwJViBrd

We’ll keep it close to SJW for our final run of the year for those who need to get back home quickly.
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.

Hello Runners!
Whew!  What a weekend!  Whether you were in London or traveling for the extended weekend, it has felt like a whirlwind, and is sometimes hard to remember what day it is!  While we had to reschedule our ‘Sights of London’ run last Wednesday, I think most of us took in plenty of sights over the weekend.  I know I’ve seen spectacular photos on social media from some of our intrepid runners who went right in and got a front row view of Jubilee festivities (well done!).

Running this week.  Monday we are planning to run to the Tower of London to see the ‘Superbloom’ wildflower moat created for the Platinum Jubilee.  We last ran there in April, when the moat had just been tilled and the wildflower seeds sown.  It will be fun to see the progress on tomorrow’s run– routemaster Erin Roth has given us a scouting report in the ‘Routes’ section below.  One rather big caveat to this… there is a major tube strike planned for tomorrow, June 6.  It is unclear what stations will be closed, but TfL journey planner seems to indicate it will still be possible to travel home to SJW from Tower Hill.  We should check updates tonight and tomorrow morning, and then each of us decide what level of ambiguity we can live with– and whether we are willing to get Ubers/taxis or use other alternate means of transport home if necessary.  If you prefer to stay local, there are plenty of great routes on our doorstep.  Wednesday is a little more straightforward, as we’ve planned a simple standard route around the Inner and Outer Circles at Regent’s Park.  

And Friday, finally, we have the Sights of London/Leavers’ Run we postponed from last week!  Directions are below, and assuming things are slightly more back-to-normal in London, we will attempt to run as one big group.  Please, please do be careful both of other pedestrians, and of traffic— it’s so easy to get distracted when we are in the midst of a big pack!!  At the end of this run, you can choose to tube home from Charing Cross (Trafalgar Square) or to run on through St James Park and back to Green Park tube station.  We will notplan a big meeting at Benugo St James Park, as we our End-of-year Picnic is scheduled for Friday at 12:30 in Regent’s Park (rain date is Monday…so stay tuned)!

End-of-Year Picnic Friday!  Our end-of-year picnic tradition began just last year under the last bit of social distancing rules, when we were looking for a way to celebrate the year together-ish.  But it was such a fun and easy outing, that we’ve decided to keep it going!  This is a BYO event– bring your own food, drink, blanket, etc.; or coordinate to whatever extent you want within your pace groups or with friends.  The point is to enjoy this time together– not to add the stress of another ‘event’ at the end of the school year.  So do this in a way that works for you, but of course as always with that inclusive WRW spirit if you do start making plans to coordinate.  This year we will not need to separate into groups of less than 30, thank goodness!  But we will need to spread out some if we have a good turnout.  So we’ll plan to situate ourselves in the general area of the park shown below, in the Inner Circle in the area in front of the fountains and near the restaurant and public toilets:

Plan to roam amongst the group and see friends across pace groups and, definitely, to seek out and send good wishes with those who are leaving London this summer!

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

Though most of us are connected to our pace groups via Whatsapp chat, one of the great things about running in London if you around in the summer, is getting to run with people from other pace groups!  We open a WRW Summer Running Whatsapp chat each year to help facilitate meeting up and planning.  Many of you may already be on this, as it’s a continuation/revival of last year’s group.  Follow the link just above to join if you want to keep up with London running friends, or find new ones, this summer!
A couple of runners (thanks Sue and Tamar!) forwarded information on the ‘Corgi Trail’ treasure hunt open in London this summer.  It looks like such a fun way to run and explore once all the Platinum Jubilee festivities and our own end-of-year events are done!  Routemaster Miki Neant jumped right on and has created a route that takes in 19 Corgis!  Here is the RunGo link!  She notes that 4 of the Corgis are inside hotel property (which presumably it’s okay to enter to view, just something to be aware of!).  This site offers more details and a map.   

Look out in the photos and in the coming two weeks for familiar faces of WRW alums visiting London!  I’m afraid to start name-dropping, lest I miss anyone (or invade anyone’s privacy), but I have heard of so many beloved visitors hitting town in these next two weeks, it should be very exciting to see some old friends on our runs or about town!  And on that note, our last official run will be next Wednesday, June 15.  For both runs next week, we usually keep it simple and close to home, as there is so much going on at school for all our runners who have children finishing their year.  I can’t believe we are crashing in on the end of our fantastic year together already!  
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends!  I’m dashing out the door for one of the Platinum Jubilee street parties.  Hope you, likewise, are celebrating (or perhaps recovering!) well!  Look forward to seeing you out on our London routes this week!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 6 June – Tower Hill (7 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/eckLcQj4pf
Today we will be running across, along and back across the Thames, and in and around some of the oldest parts of London. The sights will be stunning!  As an added draw, we will have a view of the Tower of London’s Superbloom, created in honor of the Platinum Jubilee. Ten thousand metric tons of soil were craned in and twenty million seeds were cast by hand in the Tower’s moat, to lay dormant until rain and warmth created the ideal conditions for growth. Although the full bloom is still a couple of weeks away, many flowers are out and the changes made to develop a new landscape in this historic location are very cool to see! Come back with friends or family to walk through the moat and try out the slide as well (tickets required, sold out for 6 June).

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

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!

Wednesday 8 June – 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 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 stretch before heading to Starbucks or Pret.

Note – you can make this a 4 mile run by cutting out the inner loop.

Friday 10 June 2022 – Sights of London/Leavers Run – Big Ben, Embankment, Trafalgar Square (5 miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/0BRroh4Wm4
This is a great run!  Even if you haven’t run in a little while – come along!  We run as a (BIG!) group and we wait for everyone at the lights so we can stick together.  (If we get separated we’ll wait for everyone at the photo points.)  The total distance is 4.75 miles and we stop often.  Please be mindful of other pedestrians on the pavement, and give them plenty of space to pass us– especially on narrower areas such as Lisson Grove!

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

We head to Hyde Park via the usual route. Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove. Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end. Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. We’ll stop at the silver sphere (one of our WRW landmarks) for the first picture!  Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch (stopping for a photo) and down Constitution Hill. We expect it will not be possible to stop directly in front of Buckingham Palace because of the Jubilee blockades, so we will plan to stop as we cross the Mall into St James Park to take photos if, as expected, traffic is blocked off (if it’s not, we’ll improvise!).  Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down toward Parliament Square for our photo with Big Ben.  Run toward Westminster Bridge and turn left onto Embankment for a shot of the London Eye across the Thames.  Then cross back over Embankment and run back to Whitehall, turning right to run to Trafalgar Square for one more photo. You can head back to St Johns Wood directly from Charing Cross at Trafalgar Square, or run back through St James Park to Green Park tube station.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

xx Micki

ROUTES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And here’s a look at the full route.

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

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

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

We head to Hyde Park via the usual route. Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove. Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end. Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. We’ll stop at the silver sphere (one of our WRW landmarks) for the first picture!  Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch (stopping for a photo) and down Constitution Hill. We expect it will not be possible to stop directly in front of Buckingham Palace because of the Jubilee blockades, so we will plan to stop as we cross the Mall into St James Park to take photos if, as expected, traffic is blocked off (if it’s not, we’ll improvise!).  Run over the pond and out of the park, turning left onto Birdcage Walk and down toward Parliament Square for our photo with Big Ben.  Run toward Westminster Bridge and turn left onto Embankment for a shot of the London Eye across the Thames.  Then cross back over Embankment and run back to Whitehall, turning right to run to Trafalgar Square for one more photo. Then we’ll make our way back to The Mall and finish at the Benugo in St. James Park for some celebratory coffee.

Friday 3 June – BANK HOLIDAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ROUTES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hello, Runners!

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

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

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

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

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

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

xx Micki

ROUTES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 20 May – The Heath, Runners’ Choice 
It’s Friday, so away we go to the hill for a Runners’ Choice day!  Pick your Heath route with your group– or go crazy and head for Borough Market.
<4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill. Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6+ miles:  The partial Heath route OR the Reverse Heath route OR Pergola route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

ROUTES

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

We will meet at the “Finchley Road and Frognal Overground Station” at 8:30 for the 8:37 train to Richmond. We will arrive in Richmond around 9:08 to start our run. You can take a bus up Finchley Road to the station or take the tube to Finchley Road, turn left and walk up to the Overground Station.

Leave the Richmond Overground Station, cross the road just out of the station at the light and turn left. Turn right onto Duke Street (Sweaty Betty on the corner), then left onto Richmond Green road along the edge of the park. Follow straight along the Green (where scenes of pupils playing football were filmed) and you’ll come to a familiar sight from Ted Lasso: the two red phone boxes, the benches, and the pub (Crown & Anchor in the show, The Prince’s Head in real life). Go straight onto Paved Court and look for 11a, Ted’s home address. At the end of Paved Court turn right and turn left onto Friars Lane. Follow Friars Lane as it winds down to the river path.  

Now we stick to the river path along the Thames for the rest of our run. Shortly after the 2 mile mark you can look to the right and see Eel Pie Island, which appears in the background of the scene where Phoebe tallies up the number of times her Uncle Roy curses. In more distant history the island was known for its hotel which hosted gigs by the Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd and Genesis early in their careers. Eventually we join Lower Ham Road. Keep right at the fork at Canbury Gardens, staying with the river just to your right. As you approach the center of Kingston you’ll run under a metal railway bridge; continue along as close to the Thames as possible until the next bridge, called Horse Fair Bridge. 

At the bridge you have two options — turn left into Kingston to stop at 6 miles, or cross the bridge to continue to Hampton Court Palace for 8 miles.

6-mile route: Go up the stairs on the near side of the Horse Fair bridge and turn left into town. Follow the road to the Kingston train station.

8-mile route: Go under the bridge and turn up the stairs and cross the river. Turn left at the end of the bridge onto a pretty path called Barge Walk, which follows the river all the way to Hampton Court Palace. Unfortunately, we can no longer go to Hampton Court’s Tiltyard Cafe without paying the entrance fee but there are plenty of coffee options across the bridge in town. For coffee, turn right just after you cross the bridge and then left onto Bridge Road, which has a number of options. Or, take the train directly back to London via Hampton Court train station, which is just on the left after you cross the bridge. Be sure to check your travel sites to confirm the options for the trip home. There are usually local and express trains that go into London Waterloo.

Wednesday 11 May: Covent Garden via Little Venice (6 miles)
RunGo: https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/QsTDmIgJaC

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

Friday 13 May: Heath – Kenwood House – 8 miles

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

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

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

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

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

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

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

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

ROUTES

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

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

Start out heading west on St. John’s Wood Road and cross Grove End at the traffic light. Turn left on Cunningham, right on Aberdeen, and cross Maida Vale to the right side of Blomfield Rd. Stay on the right side of Blomfield Road as you run parallel to the canal. Turn left at the second bridge over the canal (at Westbourne Terrace Road), turn right just after the bridge, follow the sidewalk along Delamere Terrace, and join the canal path heading west at this point. Run to the Ladbroke Grove exit. Here we turn right and run over the bridge along Chamberlayne Road to Harvist Road. Turn right on Harvist, which turns into Brondesbury Road, and take that to Kilburn High Road/Maida Vale. Turn right and follow Maida Vale a short distance, crossing the road to turn left onto Springfield Lane, and then following that road as it jogs to the right. After two blocks, take another short jog to the right on Kilburn Priory, and then immediately left onto Greville Road. From there take a left on Carlton Hill, and then a right onto Abbey Road. You’ll pass Abbey Road Studios on your right. Turn left on Circus Road to run back to the St Johns Wood High Street.

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

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

Hello Runners!
So happy to have everyone back together in London finally, and we loved seeing you and your running photos this week!  A special shoutout to the tree-hugging 10s, who followed the mission on Friday’s Earth Day and found some gorgeous Heath trees to hug (see below for photos!).  It was a beautiful week in London, and it was so great to see many of us back out on the pavements and paths!

Running this week.  Monday we have two fun options of varying lengths for you:  Olympic Park via the canal (9 miles), or Coal Drops Yard via the Wall (5 miles).  The first option takes us along the canal headed east, through Chapel Market, and back onto the canal as if we are headed to Brick Lane or Canary Wharf, but for this route instead of running past Victoria Park, we run through and pick up a different branch of the canal on the other side (read your directions, below, and make sure someone is using the RunGo app!).  The second option, Coal Drops Yard, begins with a quick jaunt through Regents Park before settling in on the canal east to the Wall, then turning back to run the last fraction of a mile back to the entrance to Coal Drops Yard, where you can find plenty of coffee options before tubing back from Kings Cross.  Wednesday is a bit of a freestyle route, with the objective of hitting all five gardens within Regents Park.  Though we’ve included directions and a map, don’t get too worried about following the exact route– just enjoy the gardens and try to make sure you see all five!  And Friday we head up the hill to the lovely Pergola.    

Shoutouts and Announcements.  This week we’re sending big shoutouts to a couple of US-based WRW ladies.  Alumna Linda Dolan ran the Boston Marathon last week for charity– standing against bullying, and she looked SO strong doing it!  And Paula Mitchell finished the Canyons Endurance 100K last night in California– another formidable course taken on by the even-more-formidable founder of WRW!  Congratulations and well done, ladies!  Please let us know, local WRW runners, if you or someone we know deserves a shout-out.  As always, they are free!

Next up we have a couple of opportunities to do some good while running.  A couple of runners have passed on these opportunities in the last several days (thanks, Stephanie G and Rebecca E!).  The Vitality 10k on 2 May is offering the opportunity to run for Ukraine, donating the registration fee, and offering a start wave just for these runners (who are encouraged to wear the yellow and blue!).  Just register from this link, and look for the option halfway down the registration page to tick the box to run for Ukraine through the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.  Registrations close tomorrow, Monday 25 April!!Another ongoing possibility is an app we mentioned during lockdown, which is apparently still going strong– Charity Miles.  This organization secures sponsors to donate for miles run by participants, and you can choose your favorite charity or charities for your miles to go to.  There are other options for donating through your miles as well, so check out the organization, the app and all the info at the site above.

With running events back in full force (so great!), there are many to choose from this spring.  There is a growing contingent of WRW runners signing up for the Hackney Half Marathon on May 22, and there appear to be a number of ways to register for that one (I thinkthis is the official one).  Runners who have done it in the past have reported it is a great course and atmosphere!  If there are other local races you are excited about or looking to get some running buddies for, let us know, and we’ll try to pop it in here.

Looking ahead.  Our Save the Date calendar looks pretty much the same as last week.  We have not yet firmly fixed on a date for the Sights of London/Leavers run, and we are also planning a year-end picnic (2nd annual!)– we will try to have those dates nailed down by next week’s email.  Meanwhile, we have all these great runs to look forward to!  Remember the ‘adventure runs’– destination runs that require a tube/train ride either to the start or from the finish (or both)– and they do generally take a bit more time out of the day, so that’s why we want to give you plenty of time to plan if you want to join them.  But there will always be people who are running local rather than to the destination, so just connect on Whatsapp and find friends for your preferred route!  
May 2:  Bank HolidayMay 9:  Hampton Court Adventure Run (8 miles)
May 16:  Alexandra Palace Adventure Run (5 miles, to Finsbury Park finish)
May 23:  Choose-your-own-adventure Pace Group Options
May 30: Virginia Water/Windsor Adventure Run (7 miles)
June 6:  Tower Hill in Bloom for Platinum Jubilee

It’s going to be a great week for running, with adventures to off-our-beaten-path locations, gorgeous gardens, and of course the beloved Fitzjohn Hill!  Sadly, I’m on injured reserve right now, so I’m not seeing you all three times a week (I miss you!).  Please enjoy the runs a little extra bit for me this week– and don’t be surprised if you see me stalking you all in the park or on the SJW High Street!  Have a great Sunday!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday 25 April- Olympic Park (9 miles) or Coal Drops Yard (5 miles)

Olympic ParkRunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/0ny9wERTNC

The route starts out as the Wall. Run along Prince Albert Road to join the canal at Charlbert Street. Run along the canal for approximately 3 miles until the canal pathway ends at the famous “Wall.”

We will run through the Angel neighborhood until we can re-enter the canal path. At the Wall follow the ramp up to Muriel Street. Take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings. 

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. Make your first right at Duncan Street and follow until the end. The entrance to the canal path will be directly in front of you. Go straight along the canal.Follow the canal path to the entrance to Victoria Park on your left. The entrance wall is marked “Victoria Park, Welcome to Tower Hamlets.” Enter the park and stay to the right with the bulk of the park on your left and the canal on your right. After passing a lake on your left, go through the park gates, cross the zebra crossing, and re-enter the park through the opposite gates. Stay to the right to remain parallel to the canal path but still inside the park. Pass the running track on your left, then run a further 150 yards and turn right to exit via St. Mark’s Gate 

After exiting through St. Mark’s Gate, turn right on Wick Lane, through the tunnel and enter the Greenway path on the left, opposite the tall brick chimney.

You will shortly see the distinctive tops of the Olympic Stadium and the Orbital ahead of you. Stay on the Greenway and run past the stadium before taking the descending path to the left to enter Queen Elizabeth Park. Turn right on the road then left to the field in front of the Orbit.

To get to Stratford Station (Jubilee and Central lines), continue past the Orbital, turn right after the Aquatics Centre and head out through Westfield Stratford City Mall (where you can also grab a coffee) before heading home.

Coal Drops Yard
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/0MK1528hq3
Run down Wellington Road and curve around to cross at the crosswalk as usual.  Run down to the mosque and turn left to enter Regents Park.  Cross into the park and turn right to run along the path that will lead you to the boating lake.  Stay on that path until the English Gardens where you turn left.  Run straight through, crossing the road and continuing straight all the way to the Outer Circle.  Cross the road and at the other side of the bridge, turn right along the road and then a quick right to head down onto the canal.  Run along the canal towards Camden.  Turn left into Camden Market and run around the food stalls to get back onto the canal.  Continue along the canal all the way until The Wall.  Touch The Wall (per WRW custom!) and turn around.  Exit at the wide green steps to get to Coal Drops Yard and find a new coffee spot for your group to celebrate another great run!

Wednesday 27 April – Regents Park, Five Gardens in Five Miles, Freestyle (+/- 5 miles)
RunGo: http://routes.rungoapp.com/route/LczCpiStKi
From St Johns Wood Church Gardens run to Wellington Road and turn left onto Prince Albert. At the intersection with Charlbert street turn right, run over the bridge, cross the road and run the Outer Circle going left. Turn right onto The Broad Walk and enter the Park. Follow the path to Chester Road, cross the street and enter the Avenue Gardens. They are two distinct gardens: the English Garden and a formal Italian Garden (with the Griffin or Lion Tazza). Run all the way through the gardens and then loop back to Chester road. Turn left, cross the street and enter the Inner Circle. Run a loop counterclockwise enjoying the Queens Mary’s Rose Gardens, the Japanese Garden Island and the Triton and Dryads fountain. Exit the Inner Circle from the same path you come from and turn left. On your right look for the St John’s Lodge Gardens (also known as the secret garden). Exit the garden, turn right following the Inner circle. Turn right into York Bridge and after crossing the bridge enter the Park through the gate on your right and run back to St Johns Wood.

Friday 29 April- Heath Pergola (6+ miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/soXpd8ec3K/edit
Head out to Avenue Road, then up Fitzjohn’s per all the Heath routes.  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.”

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).

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

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

Hello Runners!
I hope you all had a wonderful, restful week out of the routine– whether that meant skiing, sunning, or hanging in London (which was blessedly sunny and pleasant this week)!  It’s been a strange interval– with our half marathon recovery week just before break, it feels like a long time since we’ve been in the regular running-together mode.  It will be great to meet up again this week and start doing some of the fun, relaxed running we do in the spring, after the half marathon training is done.

Running this week.  Monday is technically still a holiday, so we don’t ‘officially’ meet.  But your Routes team couldn’t resist offering us a fun Easter Monday-themed route, so Melissa Kay has given us ‘the Bunny Hop’ for anyone who wants to meet up and do a bouncy, new run through Hyde Park to finish in Green Park!  Wednesday we will do a 6.8 mile Notting Hill route that takes just a small detour to see some of the neighbourhood’s famous pastel-hued homes.  (Don’t be put off by the distance– even if you didn’t run much in the last two weeks, you just ran a half marathon(!)– you are still plenty fit for 7-8 mile runs if you just take the pace easy and enjoy yourself).  And Friday is Earth Day, so we’ve added a fun twist to the usual Heath run– calling it the Hug-a-tree run as you take your choice of Heath routes and grab a photo of your favorite, huggable tree!

Looking ahead.  This time of year we have so much fun with favourite routes– and there are so many now, it’s hard to get them all in!  We will be offering a number of ‘adventure runs’– destination runs that require a tube/train ride either to the start or from the finish (or both).  Of course there are always a zillion options for fun and beautiful local runs, and always people who are running local rather than the destination, so just connect on Whatsapp and find friends for your preferred route!  But below are some calendar notes to give you a chance to plan if you do want to do any of the big adventure routes: 
April 25:  Olympic Park via the canal (8+ miles), or Coal Drop Yards via the canal (5 miles)
May 9:  Hampton Court Adventure Run (8 miles)
May 16:  Alexandra Palace Adventure Run (5 miles, to Finsbury Park finish)
May 23:  Choose-your-own-adventure Pace Group Options
May 30: Virginia Water/Windsor Adventure Run (7 miles)

Believe it or not, that is it for this week!  I expect we will jump back in with both feet and be back to all the shoutouts, announcements, and other usual running business by next week.  But this week feels like the pause and the deep breath before we plunge into those busy, last two months of the school year and our running calendar.  So as we reach the end of break and travels, and many of us celebrate religious and cultural holidays today, in the next week, and over the course of the month, let me wish you Happy Easter, Chag Pesach Sameach, and Ramadan Mubarak!  And whether or not you are celebrating a holiday, I hope you have a beautiful and relaxing end to this long weekend.  I’m so excited to launch into all the fun weeks ahead with you all!
xx Micki

ROUTES

Monday, 18 April – Bonus Route:  the Bunny Hop (5 miles)
RunGo:https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/OEUCJrfC8u
Get your bunny ears on and get ready for the Bunny Hop run! Head to Hyde Park the usual way via Lisson Grove and Seymour Place.  Once in the park start your hop…aka zig zag your way up and down the park and down to the Serpentine.  Run along the north side of the Serpentine to the bridge and hop on over it, turn to your left and exit the park at Hyde Park Corner.  Hop on over to Green Park and make your way to Green Park tube. 🐰 

Wednesday, 20 April – Notting Hill Pastel Houses (6+ miles)
RunGo:  https://routes.rungoapp.com/route/b9KVZnqmxp

From the top of Church Gardens, run down Wellington Rd and right onto St John’s Wood Road, passing Lord’s Cricket Ground on your right and the LJS Synagogue on your left. Turn left on Cunningham then right on Aberdeen to work your way to Blomfield Rd. Run along the street sidewalk until you turn left to cross the Westbourne Terrace Road bridge. Turn right after the bridge, follow the sidewalk along Delamere Terrace, then join the canal path heading west at this point.
Run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Crescent and turn right. Keep an eye out for lovely pastel houses here!  Turn left at the next road – Rosmead – then your first left on Lansdowne.  Continue straight across Ladbroke Grove on Arundel Gardens and take the first right onto Kensington Park Rd then take a left at Westbourne Grove. Run down Westbourne Grove to the top of Bishop’s Bridge, then left down the steps into Sheldon Square (across from the Paddington Station entrance). Stay along the canal to where you entered, going across the canal on the pedestrian bridge at Westbourne Terrace curving back around to run back on Blomfield to SJW.

Friday, 22 April – Heath 🌍 Earth Day Run – Hug a Tree 🌳 Photo (5-8 miles)

It’s a Friday Heath run with a twist.  In honour of Earth Day we want you to give the beautiful trees of the Heath some love, and send us photos of your best tree hugs!  So pick your destination and find your favourite 🌳 to hug!

<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.