30 Nov – 4 Dec Running Info

Hi everyone,
Is it possible that we’ve reached December?! Monday we run to Battersea Park which is a route with many distance options. If you’re looking for a shorter run, you can take the tube from Sloane Square for about 4 miles. If you want a long run, the full loop is about 10 miles. A good midway option is to run to Battersea Park and then loop back to Sloane Square for about 6.5 miles. Wednesday is Notting Hill and Friday we’re back up the Hill. The sidewalk on Ftizjohns Avenue is currently under construction. As of last Monday, it was still open, but very narrow in parts. I think we should try running on the other side of the street. I would suggest that after Swiss Cottage we cross at the zebra crossing just past Belsize Lane. At the top we could cross back at the light near Tesco. Let’s try it and see if it’s an improvement.

Save the Date – Runs Next Week
On Monday 7 December we’ll run to Wembley. There are options for a 7, 8 or 9-mile route. This is a great destination run and a good opportunity to tackle a new distance. On Wednesday 9 December we’ll do our second annual Christmas Lights run. We’ll meet early, at 6am, so we can see the lights in the dark and without the crowds. If you’re not up for an early start, there will be a group that also meets at the regular time.

WRW Hat Order Due Wednesday 2 December
We have had several requests for a WRW running hat similar to the black hat for the race in Germany a couple of years ago – a good, neutral, everyday running hat. We are now pleased to offer a WRW hat as additional WRW kit (thank you, Chris!). The hat will be a Nike Dri-Fit featherlight hat in a graphite gray color. The expectation is the WRW logo will be on the front of the hat similar to how it is on the yellow hats from last year’s race (we have not yet received final confirmation from the stitching place, however). In place of the year, it will say London and the flag color will be the regular Union Jack red/white/blue. The price will be between £25 and £30 depending on the number we order. Please note that this is NOT the race hat for Nice. If you are interested in ordering a hat, please email wrwlondon@gmail.com with the subject “WRW Kit – Running Hat” by Wednesday, 2 December. The hats should arrive early in the new year.

Reminder – Race Hotel Booking Deadline Monday 30 November
Our block of rooms at the hotel in Nice, France expires on 30 November. Please book your room now if you are considering attending the half-marathon race. All the details are on our website at https://womenrunningtheworld.commm/Women_Running_the_World/Spring_Half-Marathon.html

Windsor Half Marathon
Registration is now open for the Windsor Half Marathon on 25 September 2016. This is a great autumn London race. The course is supposedly a bit hilly, but also beautiful. Our runners who have done this race in prior years give it good reviews. http://www.runwindsor.com

For those who celebrate, I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. I am thankful for all of you!
Keep running,
Jane

ROUTES

Monday 30 November –  Battersea Loop  7.5-10.3 miles
 
Today we do an up and back and you can pick your turnaround point to meet the distance in your training schedule. 
 
We head out to Hyde Park, along the eastern edge of the park, and down Sloane Street to Sloane Square the usual way.  We continue through Sloane Square, down Chelsea Bridge Road, and over the Chelsea Bridge to the south bank of the Thames.  We will then turn right into Battersea Park and run along the south side of the Thames to the Albert Bridge, where we cross back over the Thames and then turn right again and run along the north side of the river back to Chelsea Bridge Road, where we will turn left and run back up through Sloane Square to Knightsbridge, turning right then left to retrace our way back into Hyde Park by the French Embassy.  Run to the paved path, turning right towards Hyde Park Corner, then left long the eastern edge of the park to the exit at Upper Brook Street [by the Animal war memorial] and back to Starbucks the usual way.

Wednesday 2 December – Notting Hill 4-6+miles
 
Keep your eyes open as this is often a celebrity spotting route!  
 
Start out by heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield.  Enter the canal and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit then run down Ladbroke Grove to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square [across from Paddington Station].  Go back along the canal and out where you entered, then run back to Starbucks. 
 
You also have the option of a shorter run by not getting off the canal. Run half the distance you want, turn around and head home. As a rule of thumb, the two mile mark is the Westway overpass.

Friday 4 December – The Heath 4-8 miles

It’s Friday so it’s back up the hill. Not always easy but oh so worth it!

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill. Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!
5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route
8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

23 – 27 Nov 2015 Running Info

Hi Everyone,
Due to the American Thanksgiving holiday, many of our runners are out of town or unavailable to run on Wednesday and Friday so we’ll do one route for Monday this week. We’re running to the Happening Bagel Bakery (LOVE that name!) in Finsbury Park via Highgate and the Greenway. This is a WRW favourite and we don’t do it often because the first part takes us up the hill in Hampstead, which we usually do on Friday. The first part is the hill, but the second part is beautiful as we run through Highgate and then a stretch of woodland known as the Parkland Walk. Parkland Walk is a stretch of forest that follows an old train line. (History lesson – the train line first opened in 1872 but was eventually replaced by the extension of the London Underground. Passenger service ended in 1954 and freight service in 1970.) If you’ve never done this route before I strongly encourage you to give it a try. (If I can’t twist your arm to try it, you could always do one of our other Heath routes.)

We’re not setting routes for Wednesday and Friday. If you want to run, show up for an 8:30 start and as a group you can decide where you would like to go.

Managing our Many Runners!
Wow, what a turnout we’ve had recently! I just love seeing so many runners regularly coming out to run. After all the work that the route masters (Kathy McMahon, Darcy Fautz and Stacey Towfighi) do to set the route plan and make the maps, it is very rewarding to see so many people participating and enjoying the routes. Because of our large numbers, I think we may need to spend a bit more time managing our pace groups and our starting groups so that we don’t overwhelm the sidewalks. I noticed a few petrified pedestrians on Monday on Grove End Road! Plus we start to be too big of a group to make it across the road at a traffic light all at once. The 10s pace group is particularly large right now so we’re going to work over the next few weeks to try to break 10s into two groups. Our current 11s are more like a 10.5s group, led by Julie Adams, Melissa Kay and Stefhanie Howe. For our big destination runs, we’ll try to have part of the 10s with Jane, Darcy and Maureen and part of the 10s with Julie, Melissa and Stefhanie. We may also try to stagger when all the groups start. Maybe we’ll send the a few pace groups first and then have the rest of the runners wait for another traffic light cycle. Anyway, thanks for your patience and understanding as we try a few things over the next couple of weeks. We want to be good citizens and we want to be in a small enough pace group and that we can all look out for each other while still embracing the awesomeness of our huge turnouts.

Three final reminders on the pace groups. First, they are most important for our long runs on Mondays, especially when we’re going to a destination because we don’t want anyone to get lost along the way. They are less important for Wednesdays and Fridays, when some people may want to run faster or slower and everyone is beginning to become familiar with the routes. Second, even for the long Monday runs, we encourage everyone to look at the maps and try to learn the routes. Third, the pace groups can be a very rewarding part of our training because you become very close with the women with whom you train to tackle the challenge of the half marathon.

Keep running,
Jane

ROUTES

Monday 23 November
Happening Bagel via Highgate and Finsbury Greenbelt – 7 miles

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

Wednesday 25 November and Friday 27 November

No organised routes. Meet at 8:30 and pick your own route.

21 23 27 Nov Running Info

Hi Everyone,

Due to the American Thanksgiving holiday, many of our runners are out of town or unavailable to run on Wednesday and Friday so we’ll do one route for Monday this week. We’re running to the Happening Bagel Bakery (LOVE that name!) in Finsbury Park via Highgate and the Greenway. This is a WRW favourite and we don’t do it often because the first part takes us up the hill in Hampstead, which we usually do on Friday. The first part is the hill, but the second part is beautiful as we run through Highgate and then a stretch of woodland known as the Parkland Walk. Parkland Walk is a stretch of forest that follows an old train line. (History lesson – the train line first opened in 1872 but was eventually replaced by the extension of the London Underground. Passenger service ended in 1954 and freight service in 1970.) If you’ve never done this route before I strongly encourage you to give it a try. (If I can’t twist your arm to try it, you could always do one of our other Heath routes.)

We’re not setting routes for Wednesday and Friday. If you want to run, show up for an 8:30 start and as a group you can decide where you would like to go.

Managing our Many Runners!

Wow, what a turnout we’ve had recently! I just love seeing so many runners regularly coming out to run. After all the work that the route masters (Kathy McMahon, Darcy Fautz and Stacey Towfighi) do to set the route plan and make the maps, it is very rewarding to see so many people participating and enjoying the routes. Because of our large numbers, I think we may need to spend a bit more time managing our pace groups and our starting groups so that we don’t overwhelm the sidewalks. I noticed a few petrified pedestrians on Monday on Grove End Road! Plus we start to be too big of a group to make it across the road at a traffic light all at once. The 10s pace group is particularly large right now so we’re going to work over the next few weeks to try to break 10s into two groups. Our current 11s are more like a 10.5s group, led by Julie Adams, Melissa Kay and Stefhanie Howe. For our big destination runs, we’ll try to have part of the 10s with Jane, Darcy and Maureen and part of the 10s with Julie, Melissa and Stefhanie. We may also try to stagger when all the groups start. Maybe we’ll send the a few pace groups first and then have the rest of the runners wait for another traffic light cycle. Anyway, thanks for your patience and understanding as we try a few things over the next couple of weeks. We want to be good citizens and we want to be in a small enough pace group and that we can all look out for each other while still embracing the awesomeness of our huge turnouts.

Three final reminders on the pace groups. First, they are most important for our long runs on Mondays, especially when we’re going to a destination because we don’t want anyone to get lost along the way. They are less important for Wednesdays and Fridays, when some people may want to run faster or slower and everyone is beginning to become familiar with the routes. Second, even for the long Monday runs, we encourage everyone to look at the maps and try to learn the routes. Third, the pace groups can be a very rewarding part of our training because you become very close with the women with whom you train to tackle the challenge of the half marathon.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 23 November

Happening Bagel via Highgate and Finsbury Greenbelt – 7 miles

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

happeningbagelrun7mi

 

Wednesday 25 November and Friday 27 November

No organised routes. Meet at 8:30 and pick your own route.

Get excited for great bagels on Monday!

23 – 27 Nov Running Info

Saturday, November 21, 2015

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15 16 20 Nov Running Info

Hi everyone,

We have some great routes planned for the week. Monday we head to Putney for a 7.75 mile run. If you’ve been running 6 – 6.5 miles this fall, this might be a good run to try to extend your distance. If you’re not up for that long of a run, you can join the group until we get to the Embankment and then turn East to take the tube from Westminster (which is around 6 miles.) Wednesday we’re running the Kensal Rise loop. Friday we’re running to Borough Market for all those who are interested or you can also do the Hill.

As a reminder, next Monday November 23 we’re doing one of our favourite runs to the Finsbury Park Happening Bagel through Highgate and the Greenway.

Welcome back Gudny!

Gudny will be visiting London this week and running with the group on Friday November 20. Feel free to join her for coffee at Pret after the run.

Reminder T-Shirt Orders Due Monday

It’s time for the new WRW t-shirts! The cost is £25 per shirt. It will be the same Nike Dri Fit shirt we’ve had the last two years, but in a new fun colour. We’ll have our WRW logo on the front and a new saying on the back. If you want to see a sample, there will surely be someone wearing one from last year on any given running day. You should also ask your fellow runners about their sizes because the shirts run a bit big. We’re going to collect money when the shirts arrive, probably not until January. Orders are due before Monday 16 November at 5pm. 

If you want a shirt please:

1.  EMAIL Kelli Montanaro (kellimontanaro@gmail.com) with the subject “T-Shirt Order” and say you want a shirt

2.  Include your SIZE in the email

Half-Marathon Race Updates

Registration for the Nice, France race is now open! Please take a minute to register now. We sent out an email last week on Tuesday Nov. 10 with directions about how to register for the race and also encouragement to book your hotel rooms. If you didn’t receive the email please check your SPAM first and then let us know.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 16 November – Putney (7.5 miles)

We’ll start out by running our usual route to Hyde Park, turning right along the southern path until we get to the One Hyde Park complex where we’ll turn left, passing through to Sloane Street and running south all the way to the Thames [keep an eye out for some great window shopping!].  Turn right and run along the north side of the river on Embankment/Cheyne Walk.  Just before Lots Road, turn right onto Cremorne Road which becomes Ashburnham Road.  Turn left onto Kings Road and run through Chelsea, Parsons Green, all the way to its end at Fulham High Street.  Turn left, crossing the Putney Bridge and run to the Starbucks on the left hand side of the street [past Fulham Bridge Road].  Stop, stretch and stay for a coffee!  We’ll take the train home from the Putney Station to Waterloo, then transfer to the Jubilee Line to SJW.

 

Wednesday 18 November – Kensal Rise (5+ miles)

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

Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, working your way to the canal entrance on Blomfield Road.  Enter the canal heading west and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit.  Here we turn right and run over the bridge along Chamberlayne Road to Harvist Road. Turn right on Harvist, which turns into Brondesbury Road, and take that to Kilburn High Road/Maida Vale.  Turn right and follow Maida Vale to Hall Road where you turn left and run back to Starbucks. If you want to shorten this route, run west on the canal and turn back at your desired half-way point.

 KensalRise6mi

Friday 20 November – Borough Market or The Heath

Option 1 – Borough Market via Hungerford Bridge – 5 miles

Head to Regents Park the usual way taking Circus Road to Charlbert. Cross Regents Park until you hit the Broad Walk, turning right and following the Broad Walk until you exit at Park Crescent. Follow Portland Place south, it turns into Langham Place and then Regent Street until you get to Riccadilly Circus. At Piccadilly Circus, take Haymarket South to Cockspur Street into Trafalgar Square. At Trafalgar Square, continue south toward the Thames on Northumberland Ave. At the river, cross on the Hungerford Bridge right in front of you. At the end of the bridge, turn left to follow the The Queen’s Walk along the Thames until the path ends after the Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station. The official address is 8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL.

 

Option 2 – Borough Market via Westminster Bridge – 6 miles

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

 

Option 3- The Hill

If you would prefer to stay closer to home, Fitzjohns and the Heath are calling you. Pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7miles:  The partial Heath route

7.5 miles: The Highgate route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

16 – 20 Nov Running Info

Sunday, November 15, 2015

9 – 13 November 2015 Running Info

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the great feedback about our Monday run through the Brompton Cemetery.  We had a large group run to Whole Foods and many women stayed for coffee. Great fun!  I’m ready for a new weather pattern after another week of rain on Wednesday and Friday mornings. It’s not supposed to rain until after we finish running! I know how difficult it is to come out and run on a miserable, wet day. Well done to all of you who have been braving the bad weather.

Building distance in our training
This week we have our first long destination run on the schedule – Canary Wharf at 9 miles. Please note that the standard training program has a base of 7-8 mile long runs in November-December with a suggestion that you try a 9-10 mile run if you’re feeling strong. The gradual training program has a base of 5-6 mile long runs. I would suggest that if you haven’t run 7-8 miles a few times this year, then don’t be tempted to jump to the 9 mile run. We’ve provided an option for a shorter Camden-Regents Park route as well.

2015-2016 T-Shirt Order
I sent an email on Friday afternoon announcing that we’re collecting orders for the 2015-2106 Women Running the World T-Shirt. The cost is £25 per shirt. It will be the same Nike Dri Fit shirt we’ve had the last two years, but in a new fun colour. We’ll have our WRW logo on the front and a new saying on the back. If you want to see a sample, there will surely be someone wearing one from last year on any given running day. You should also ask your fellow runners about their sizes because the shirts run a bit big.

If you want a shirt please:
1.  EMAIL Kelli Montanaro  with the subject “T-Shirt Order” and say you want a shirt
2.  Include your SIZE in the email
Orders are due before Monday 16 November at 5pm.

Hotel Rooms
Thanks for the overwhelming response to our half-marathon trip to Nice, France! We’re looking at record numbers yet again! Now is the time to book your hotel room if you are planning to attend. We have already increased our room block twice and if we need more rooms they may be at a higher price. All the details and the links to the hotel booking site are on our website at this LINK. Remember that after you book to email Kathy Anderson  with your room type and flight information.

A group of friends
A small reminder to everyone that WRW is really just a group of friends who like to run together. We have a lot of knowledge in the group from the experience of running, but none of us (especially me!) are professional experts. We tend to offer general wisdom about training such as it’s important to gradually add mileage and it’s important to properly stretch. It’s crucial that if something is bothering you, little or big, that you seek out professional advice from an expert. Or if you are new to running or new to running longer distances, you may want to see an expert to make sure that you are healthy and OK to tackle this challenge. We have the names of some experts listed on our website.

That’s all for now!
Keep running,
Jane

ROUTES

Monday 9 November  
Canary Wharf [~9 miles] –OR—Camden “Left” to Regents Park [6 miles] 

Okay, ready for one of our iconic destination runs?  Today, we have a choice of long run [Canary Wharf] or a shorter run [Camden to Regents Park].  Either way, we’ll all start out and do the first few miles together.

Option 1:  Canary Wharf

Section One – Canal to the Wall
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.”  

Section Two – Angel Roads
We need to run through the Angel neighbourhood until we can re-enter the canal path.   At the Wall follow the ramp up to Muriel Street.  (This is a good place to wait for your pace group.)  Take a right and then an almost immediate left up a path that winds between the apartment buildings.  See the picture below for the entrance to the path.  

CanaryPic1

 

 

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.  (NB:  There is a public Ladies Room at the end of White Conduit Street, which intersects with Chapel Market at the Euphorium Bakery.)  Turn right at Liverpool Street to the major road Upper Street.  Cross Upper Street and turn left.  (NB:  Angel Tube Station is to your right if you are going home from here.)  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 (NOT a sharp right turn.)

Section Three – Canal to Limehouse Basin

We run for about 4 miles following the canal path to the Limehouse Basin.  We exit the canal path at the wire looking bridge – see picture below – and take the brown brick steps up to the left.  

CanaryPic2

 

 

CanaryPic3

 

 

Section Four – Limehouse Basin to Canary Wharf

At the top of the brick steps, go straight.  At the Limehouse Gallery and Bronze Age shop turn right.  Run along the water until you reach the second metal foot-bridge leading to a park.  Cross the bridge and run through the park.  When you reach the road (Narrow St.), turn left and run past the Dunbar Wharf and make your first right on Three Colt Street.  Run until you hit the water again and turn left.  Run with the water on your right until you see the long flight of steps next to Royal China – see picture below.  You’re almost there!  Only a third of a mile remaining!

CanaryPic4

 

 

Run up the steps and straight ahead, through the small park to India Drive and then veer slightly right along Cabot Square.  You’re heading for the big sky-scraper building in front of you.  Stop when you see the sign for the Canary Wharf DLR Station at the ‘mall’ entrance on the South Collanade.  We’ll meet at the Starbucks inside the building on the right, next to the DLR station.  After a much earned coffee, we’ll head to the Canary Wharf Tube station [Jubilee Line] and tube it home to SJW.  Congratulations!

Option 2:  Camden Left to Regents Park – 6 miles

Head out the Canal east again, but exit RIGHT at Camden Market, taking the bridge to cross over the Canal and make a LEFT onto Chalk Farm Hill Road.  Take this road north, past Adelaide, past England’s Lane to Belsize Grove [before the Belsize Tube Stn] and make a left.  Left again on Belsize Park Gardens.  Take this all the way to Primrose Hill Park.  Enter PH Park and follow the north side path until it ends; make a left and continue to the Ormonde Terrace entrance, make a left and zig zag to the other side of the park and back to the main entrance on Prince Albert Road.  Exit PH Park, cross Prince Albert and go across the bridge and across the Ring Road into Regents Park.  Follow the interior path alongside the Zoo and as it curls onto the Broadwalk.  Go right and follow the Broadwalk to just beyond The Smokehouse.  Make a right onto the main path and take it across the park, exiting at the Charlbert entrance.  Head up to St Johns Wood Terrace, make a left and head to Starbucks.

camdenleftregentspark6mi

Wednesday 11 November
Notting Hill 4-6+miles

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

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

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

NottingHill

 

 

 

Friday 13 November  Yes, it is “Friday the 13th!”

The Heath 4-8 miles

We run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition! It is hard, but you’ll feel great when you are finished. 

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

5 miles: The Betsy Route
6-7miles:  The partial Heath route
7.5 miles: The Highgate route8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

31 2 6 Nov Running Info

Hi Everyone,

After a beautiful day on Monday, we had a bit of bad luck with rain on Wednesday and Friday. Well done to everyone who braved the weather and made it out to run. (When we’re faced with major rain, we may adjust the course to run a shorter distance, loop back to St. John’s Wood and/or avoid the slippery leaves on the canal path.) I loved the Halloween running outfits especially Yianna’s flapper costume complete with dress, hat and jewellery!

This week we’re continuing with the Halloween theme as we run on Monday through the Brompton Cemetery and end at the Whole Foods in South Kensington. The Brompton Cemetery is one of those hidden London jewels! It was opened in 1840 and designed to be a garden for recreation as well as providing burial space. The cemetery covers 39 acres and 205,000 people are buried there including the famous suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. To top it off, the South Ken Whole Foods has a large seating area for sharing a post-run coffee. I hope you can join the run! Wednesday is The Wall and Friday we’re back up the hill.

Half Marathon travel update

If you’re planning on going on the trip but just haven’t booked your hotel room yet please try to book soon. It looks like we may need to add rooms to our block and we want to do that before the race registration opens and the hotel has an influx of other runners looking for rooms.

After you book please send an email to Kathy Anderson (katherinemakosa@yahoo.com) with the following information: room type, roommate name (if applicable), and flight details. We want to make sure that our list matches the hotel list (and we’ve already caught a few inconsistencies so it’s important that you do this).

For example:

Hotel: Classic Double, roommate is Paula Radcliffe

Outbound flight: Friday BA 0346 departs 8:55

Inbound flight: Monday BA 0343 departs 11:50

A big thank you to Kathy for taking on this job!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 2 November – Whole Foods via Brompton Cemetery (6.5+ miles)

Today we’ll earn our post-run treat by ending at Whole Foods on the Kensington High Street!  Bring your shopping list if you want.

 

We start out the normal way to Hyde Park.  Once you enter the park, turn left and run along the east side of the park.  At Hyde Park Corner turn right and run along the south side exiting at the gate we normally use at William Street [next to the French Embassy].  Cross the street, take a right.  Turn left at Brompton Road (just past the tube) and take Brompton all the way (admiring Harrods as you pass) until Fulham Road.  Veer left on Fulham Road and continue to Brompton Cemetery.  Turn right to enter the Cemetery.  Run through the Cemetery then exit and turn right onto Old Brompton Road, then turn left onto Earls Court Road. Cross Cromwell Road, then turn right onto Cromwell Road and then turn left onto Marloes Road. Continue north on Marloes making your way through the streets to Kensington High Street.  Whole Foods will be to your right.  

 

 

Wednesday 4 November – The Wall (3 to 6 miles)

 

We head down towards Regents Park, then enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance and run east [left] cutting through Camden Lock Market until we run out of canal path at Islington and hit “The Wall”.  At The Wall, we turn around and head back to St. John’s Wood.  This is a great route to do a tempo run because there are no traffic lights.  But please be careful and aware of the bikes on the path.

If you run all the way to The Wall and back it is 6 miles.  But it is very easy to run half the distance if you want and turn around and head home.  As a marker, if you run to the Camden market (where we have to exit the canal path and run past the food stalls for a minute) and return home it is a 3 mile round trip.

 TheWall

Friday 6 November – The Heath (4-8 miles)

We run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition! It is hard, but you’ll feel great when you are finished.

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

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7miles:  The partial Heath route

7.5 miles: The Highgate route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

A rainy Halloween run

2 – 6 Nov Running Info

Saturday, October 31, 2015

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24 26 30 Oct Running Info

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your great feedback on the new route to Brick Lane. We had a fantastic turnout for the run and I’m so happy that all the pace groups tried the route.  We’ll add Brick Lane into the mix more often now!

This week, we’re sticking closer to home with the Hyde Park routes on Monday. There are many distance options so it’s a good way to get back into running if you’ve had some time off. Or try to add some mileage if you’ve been regularly running. Wednesday we’re doing the Kensal Rise loop and Friday is our Second Annual Halloween Costume run! Let’s dress up for Halloween – nothing too elaborate because you still have to run – but be creative! A crazy hat? A Halloween top? Last year we had some great running “costumes” and I can’t wait to see what you come up with for this year!

Good Luck Kathy!

Kathy McMahon is running the Los Angeles Half Marathon this weekend with her son. We hope you both have a great race!

WRW Shirts

We’re starting the planning for the 2016 WRW shirt. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for a fun/witty/inspirational saying for the back of the shirt. For our new runners, here’s a reminder of the shirt back from previous years:

2013 – “Run Like A Girl”

2014 – “We Run London”

2015 – “Sorry, Gotta Run!”

Stay tuned for information about how to order the shirt. We’ll be back to you with more details soon.

Save the Date

It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached the end of October already. Looking ahead we have the following runs on the schedule:

Monday 2 Nov – Whole Foods via Brompton Cemetery

Monday 9 Nov – Canal/Euston/Regents Park OR Canary Wharf

Monday 16 Nov – Putney High Street

Friday 20 Nov – Borough Market

Monday 23 Nov – Finsbury Happening Bagel via the Greenway

Monday 30 Nov – Battersea Park

Monday 7 December – Wembley

Wednesday 9 December – Christmas Lights run (early start)

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 26 October – Hyde Park  – always versatile! (5 – 8 miles)

Click here for all of the Hyde Park interactive route maps

Start:  Everybody starts the same way… head west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End Road and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove.  Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end.  Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then take the first left on Stanhope Place to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place. Cross into the Park—you’ll see a silver orb just inside the Park.  After entering the Park, turn right and run towards Speaker’s Corner.

5 Milers:  follow 3 mile run. At Hyde Park Corner continue back up/north on the carriage drive.  Exit the park at the Animals in War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street, which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to SJW.

HydePark5miles

6 Milers: upon entering the park, turn right at the silver sphere and run until you meet N Carriage Road where you turn left.  Run down to the Serpentine, crossing over the bridge then left to run along the Serpentine. At the end of the Serpentine, turn left again and make your way to the eastern edge of the park.  Exit the park at the Animals in War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street, which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to SJW.

HydePark6mi

8 Milers: follow the 6-mile run but do not turn left at No Carriage Rd, instead cross over [this is tricky, be careful of the traffic] and follow until you reach the large broad walk where you turn left.  Run past Kensington Palace (on your right) and take a left to run along the southern edge of the park towards Hyde Park Corner, then turn left on the eastern edge of the park.  Exit the park at the Animals in War memorial and follow Upper Brook Street.  Turn left on Park Street, which becomes Gloucester Place and then Park Road back to SJW.

HydePark8mi

 

Wednesday 28 October –  Kensal Rise (4-5+ miles)

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

 

Start out heading west on Circus Road, turn left on Grove End to St John’s Wood Road and go west, turning left on Cunningham then right on Aberdeen to work your way to the canal entrance on Bloomfield.  Enter the canal heading west and run to the Ladbroke Grove exit.  Here we turn right and run over the bridge along Chamberlayne Road to Harvist Road. Turn right on Harvist, which turns into Brondesbury Road, and take that to Kilburn High Road/Maida Vale.  Turn right and follow Maida Vale to Hall Road where you turn left and run back to Starbucks. If you want to shorten this route, run west on the canal and turn back at your desired half-way point. 

(The two mile mark is at the point on the canal when the Westway highway is over our heads.)  

KensalRise6mi

Friday 30 October – Boo!  The “Haunted” Heath (4-8 miles)

Nothing to be scared of here as we do our traditional run up the hill on Friday.  It may feel hard but your reward is the extra Halloween candy you can eat all weekend!  Dress up if you dare!

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7miles:  The partial Heath route

7.5 miles: The Highgate route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

A successful new route to Brick Lane

26 – 30 Oct Running Info

Saturday, October 24, 2015

19 – 23 Oct 2015 Running Info

Hi all,

I’m looking forward to another good week of running! Monday we head to one of our favourite destinations, Brick Lane, for famous east-end bagels from Beigel Bake and coffee from Brick Lane Coffee. We’re going to try a different route to get to Brick Lane – make sure you look at the map and the photos below. We’re planning to stay on the canal longer so we can hopefully avoid the congestion (and our tendency to get lost) in Angel. Wednesday is Notting Hill and Friday is the Hill. Friday will be a later start at 8:30 because ASL is off for parent-teacher conferences. 

Good Luck Runners!
Good luck to Emily Turner and her friend Maria Cassidy who are running the Amsterdam Half Marathon this weekend. We hope you have a great race!

Travel Details for the Half Marathon in Nice
We emailed information this week about making your travel plans for Nice, France. All you need to know is on our website on the Spring Half Marathon page. You can follow this LINK to reach the page. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 19 October – Brick Lane via Canal, Kingsland Road exit, 6.25 miles

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

CanaryPic1

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

kingslandbridge

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

kingslandsteps

At the top of the stairs turn left and at the main road, Kingsland Road, turn left.  (You’ll be running back over the canal.) Follow Kingsland Road, you’ll see the Gherkin building in the distance in front of you. (Kingsland Road will become Shoreditch High Street.) Turn left at Bethnal Green Road. There will be a white medal railroad bridge in front of you and the BOXPARK market will be on your right once you turn. You’ll also pass the Shoreditch High Street Overground Station on your right. Follow Bethnal Green Road until you hit Brick Lane, less than a quarter of a mile. There is a Casa Blue cafe at the corner, turn right into Brick Lane and you’ll see Beigel Bake and Brick Lane Coffee on the right. They are FUNKY so bring your cool attitudes! For the journey home, you can take the Shoreditch High Street Overground to Canada Water and then take the Jubilee Line home. Or you can walk through Spitalfields Market to get to the Liverpool Street tube station.

 

 

Wednesday 21 October – Notting Hill (4 – 6 miles)

Run out the canal to the west and exit at Ladbroke Grove.  Run to Elgin Crescent and make a left.  Continue to Ledbury and go right and then left at Westbourne Grove.  Run down Westbourne Grove over Bishop’s Bridge and down the steps into Sheldon Square.  Go back along the canal and out where you entered and back to Starbucks.

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

NottingHill

 

 

Friday 23 October – The Heath (4-8 miles)

The Heath 4-8 miles

We run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition! It is hard, but you’ll feel great when you are finished. 

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

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

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

12 – 16 Oct 2015 Running Info

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to a normal week of running. We’ve been a bit off schedule with ASL school trips and fall break. If you’ve been busy and missed a run or two, please come join us again! If you can run consistently, it’s best for your fitness/training and will help you avoid injury. Besides it’s fun! (Well, at least the coffee part is fun…)

Sorry I missed the Borough Market run on Friday. I’m running the Royal Parks half marathon on Sunday so I was resting my legs. We have a large group of runners doing the race and we have a group going to cheer us on as well, more details are below.

Monday we return to the Sloane Square, Embankment, Westminster route which gives us lots of options for distance. If you haven’t run in awhile it’s a good route to build some mileage. Remember to bring your Oyster card because we’ll take the tube home. Wednesday we head to The Wall and Friday we’re back up the hill.

Good Luck Royal Parks Half Marathon Runners!
We have 15 WRW runners in the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday 11 October. Good luck to Jenni Barnett, Erin Collins, Mary Duffy, Maureen Fossum, Stephanie Gladis, Kathy Groom, Poornima Guruprasad, Alysia Hoyt, Leslie Kohler, Rekha Kumar, Leah Neenan, Jane Novak, Jen Skor, Holly Bell Stevens and Nesrin Tisdale. We hope you have a great race!

Cheering on the runners
If you would like to go support the runners, Vicky Timbers is organizing a group to meet at the St. John’s Wood tube stop at 8:15am on Sunday morning. Email Vicky (vtimbers@yahoo.com) if you would like to join the group so she knows to look out for you. Wear your yellow hat from Padua (if you have one) so the runners can easily spot you. Thanks so much! We really appreciate the support!

Facebook Group
If you haven’t yet, please join our Facebook group, Women Running The World. (You will need to request to join.) It’s a great way to share fun running and non-running photos, updates and information.

Goals
Over these next few weeks, think about your goals for the year. Would you like to participate in the half-marathon in the spring? If so, would you like to target a certain finish time or just plan to run a strong race regardless of time? We’ll have training tips to help you reach your goals.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 12 October – Sloane Sq/Westminster/Green Park–3.75 to 7/10 miles
We start out by running to Hyde Park, taking the usual route: west on Circus Road, left on Grove End, all the way down to Seymour Place where the road ends.  Right on Seymour, across Edgware, left on Stanhope and enter the park. At the silver orb, turn left and run down to the southern edge, following the path to the right before it leaves the Park.  Run to big gated exit before the tall ‘One Hyde Park’ complex, cross over Knightsbridge at William Street, quick right on Knightsbridge then a left onto Sloane Street.

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

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

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

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

SloaneSq_Westm_GreenPk201509

 

Wednesday 14 October – The Wall (3 to 6 miles)
We head down towards Regents Park, then enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance and run east [left] cutting through Camden Lock Market until we run out of canal path at Islington.  At The Wall, we turn around and head back to St. John’s Wood.  This is a great route to do a tempo run because there are no traffic lights.  Please be aware of the bikes on the path and move into single file on the inside (away from the water) when they are approaching.

If you run all the way to The Wall and back it is 6 miles.  But it is very easy to run half the distance if you want and turn around and head home.  As a marker, if you run to the Camden market (where we have to exit the canal path and run past the food stalls for a minute) and return home it is a 3 mile round trip.
TheWall
Friday 16 October – The Heath (4-8 miles)

We run up the hill on Fridays–it’s tradition! It is hard, but you’ll feel great when you are finished.

Every week there is usually a group of women who prefer to do a flat run.  We can help make sure that you find each other if you are not running the hills this week.
4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

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

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

2 5 9 Oct Running Info

 
 

Hi all,

We had such beautiful weather this week – I loved running in the London sunshine! 

Looking ahead, Monday and Wednesday are the ASL fall holiday so we’ll start at 8:30am. We aren’t setting official routes for those days. If you want to run, just meet at Barclays and we’ll decide on the route on the day. 

Friday we have two options. The first is to run to Borough Market either by the 5-mile Hungerford Bridge route or the 6-mile Westminster Bridge route. Remember your Oyster card and some money for shopping. The second option is to stick closer to home and tackle the Hill like we usually do on Fridays.

Good Luck Sonia!

Sonia Takkar is running the Bucharest Half Marathon this weekend. Good luck Sonia! We hope you have a fantastic race!

That’s all for now – keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday 5 October

Since there is no school at ASL on Monday, we’ll be on “holiday schedule”.  We’ll still be running but it may be a smaller group.  Plan to meet at Barclays for a slightly later start at 8:30.  The Monday runners get to pick the route!

Wednesday 7 October

This is also a DIY day because there is no school at ASL. Meet at Barclays at 8:30 and we’ll pick a fun route together.

Friday 9 October – Borough Market or The Hill

Option 1 – Borough Market via Hungerford Bridge – 5 miles

Head to Regents Park the usual way taking Circus Road to Charlbert. Cross Regents Park until you hit the Broad Walk turning right and following the Broad Walk until you exit at Park Crescent. Follow Portland Place south, it turns into Langham Place and then Regent Street until you get to Riccadilly Circus. At Piccadilly Circus, take Haymarket South to Cockspur Street into Trafalgar Square. At Trafalgar Square, continue south toward the Thames on Northumberland Ave. At the river, cross on the Hungerford Bridge right in front of you. At the end of the bridge, turn left to follow the The Queen’s Walk along the Thames until the path ends after the Southwark Bridge. Borough Market is under the railway bridge near the London Bridge station. The official address is 8 Southwark Street SE1 1TL.

Option 2 – Borough Market via Westminster Bridge – 6 miles

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

Option 3- The Hill

It’s Friday and school’s in session so if you would prefer to stay closer to home you can head up Fitzjohns. You can pick your distance and whatever you choose, there will certainly be someone else interested in running that distance.  All of these routes are on the website.

4 miles:  A great way to ease into running the hill.   Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back. If you have trouble running up, think about how easy it will be running down!

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7miles:  The partial Heath route

7.5 miles: The Highgate route

8 miles:  The full Heath route

Click here for maps of all of the Heath routes.

______________________________________

 

5 – 9 Oct Running Info

Friday, October 2, 2015