Hi everyone,

Another great week of running! Keep up the good work! This week we return to some of our classic routes that offer lots of options in terms of mileage. Monday is Hyde Park, Wednesday is The Wall and Friday is the The Heath. I’m out of town early next week and won’t be running Monday and Wednesday – I’ll miss you. For all the veteran runners, remember to reach out to the new runners, introduce yourself and ask if they need help finding a general pace group.

A reminder to everyone, that the weekly email and route maps are posted on our website by Sunday night every week. On the website, you can zoom in on the maps which is the best way to learn the routes.

Aches and Pains

If you’re getting back into running and starting to notice a few aches and pains, please try to see an expert. Often with proper stretching or strengthening exercises you can address something that is bothering you and prevent an injury. You also may consider a sports massage, which can be an excellent way to deal with tight muscles. We have recommendations of who to see under the “Our Experts” tab on the website.

Why Should Long Runs Be Slower?

For a great answer to that question, read the following Runner’s World article that gives a clear, concise summary of the science behind training with a slower, long run. We’ll return to this concept a few times throughout the year. When you tackle a new distance, your mile pace should be 45 – 90 seconds slower than your race pace. “When we overload the body in gradual, incremental increases, it responds positively by becoming stronger. If we overload the body too rapidly or too heavily too soon, it doesn’t have time to adapt and we risk poor performance, injury, illness and/or mental burnout.” Long slow runs also help build Mitochondria. They are the “powerhouse” of the cell because they are responsible for producing the energy required for muscle contraction. All important stuff if you want to run an endurance race! Right now during the early fall, we’re not worrying too much about race pace and training pace. The most important thing is to run, build up your fitness, get to know the people in the group and have fun! In general, you should be running at a pace that enables you to comfortably chat and have a conversation. Next week we’ll be sharing more information about the pace groups. The pace groups will play an important role in our training schedule when we start to gradually tick up the mileage and when we’ll be doing our long slower runs.

Barclays Sidewalk

When we meet in front of Barclays in the morning, try to gather in the plaza and not the sidewalk. We’re such a large group and we want to be good citizens and not block the sidewalk for people walking by.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, 21 September – Hyde Park  – always versatile! (3 – 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.

3 Milers:  Continue south through Hyde Park, past the Serpentine and at the Carriage drive, make a left and head back toward Hyde Park Corner.  Take the Hyde ParkCorner tube home.

5 Milers:  Follow the 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.

 

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.

 

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.

Wednesday 23 September – 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.  Since the canal is blocked here, we call it “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.

Friday 25 September – 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.

Hello everyone,

Another great week of running! I’ve really enjoyed meeting the new runners – thanks for joining us! If you’re just getting back into running, and you’ve struggled a bit, don’t give up – Keep running! I promise with each run it will get easier and you will feel stronger.

We have some great routes this week with many distance options. Monday we head to Sloane Square/Westminster/Green Park and you can pick anything from 4-10 miles. (10 miles is for the women doing a fall half marathon.) You’ll see all the options listed below. Remember to bring your Oyster card. Wednesday we head west out the canal and return to St. John’s Wood through Kensal Rise. And as always, Friday we’re up the hill!

General Training and Pace Groups

In general, each week we run a long/slower run, a shorter/faster run and a hill run. We have pace groups that help make it easier for folks to find each other and will be especially important for our long runs. I’ll write more about the pace groups in the next few weeks. We follow the training principle that your long run should be at a pace slower than your race pace. If you’re new to the “race pace” concept, don’t worry! We can help you figure out where you should be.

Maps

Just a reminder that by Sunday evening, this email is posted on our website www.womenrunningtheworld.com. On the website, you can zoom in on the maps and see the street names. If you need to brush up on any of the routes or if you are new to running in London, please take a look at the maps before we set out.

Be Careful

I know we are all tempted to dash across the street to stay with the group. Please be careful! In the past, we had a runner hit by a motorcycle and we also had a runner hit by a car (on a weekend run). They were both OK, thank goodness, but I’m reminding you that in London you can’t depend on the traffic to stop for you. Also be mindful of pedestrians and bikes. We are a big group and we’re often running on narrow sidewalks.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES THIS WEEK

Monday 14 September  – Sloane Sq/Westminster/Green Park–3.75 to 7/10 miles  Your choice!

Today’s routes are fun because you can pick whichever distance suits you–in this case one size can fit all! 

Everybody starts out 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 right onto Sloane Street.

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

6.33’ers:  continue past Sloane Sq 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 head home!

 

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

Wednesday 16 September – 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 Blomfield.  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.)

Friday 18 September – The Heath (4-8 miles)

It’s Friday [again!], so everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  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.

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.

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

Facebook Group:  Women Running The World (request to join)

Email: [email protected]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for another great week of running! You’ve all been so friendly and welcoming – I really appreciate it! We have many new runners joining us this week, so make sure you take a minute to say Hi.

This week we return to some of our favourite runs. Monday we head off to the heart of London with a 4-mile run to Big Ben and then we take the tube home from Westminster. (If you prefer a 2-mile route you can take the tube home from Marble Arch or a 3-mile route is the tube home from Hyde Park corner or a 5-mile route is taking the tube at Green Park after you hit Westminster.) Remember your Oyster card! Runners who are training for a fall half-marathon can loop back home for an 8-mile route. As always, if you haven’t been training all summer, don’t be tempted to do the longer route. Gradually adding mileage is one of the best ways to avoid injury. For the new runners, don’t be tempted to run too fast especially as you add new mileage. You should be able to talk the entire time during the Monday run. If you are struggling, consider slowing down a bit. Just let me know if you need some help finding a group that is running your pace. I’m happy to help.

Wednesday we run west along the canal and loop back home through Notting Hill. The entire route is 6 miles, but you can easily shorten it by turning back at any point along the canal. If you want to run a total of 4 miles, the 2-mile turn-around point is when the Westway motorway is over your head. Friday we’re back up the Hill!

Borough Market- Save the Date

One of our favourite routes is to go to Borough Market on a Friday. Now that the market is open earlier in the day, we’re going to add a Borough Market run into our regular running schedule as an option on some Fridays. If you want to plan ahead, our first Borough Market run will be on Friday Oct. 9 (this gives some time for the people who are getting back into running to build up to the 5+ mile distance). We also have one scheduled for November 20 right before the Thanksgiving break. For anyone who doesn’t want to do a destination run, the Hill is always going to be an option on Fridays.

Looking ahead

For those of you who like to plan ahead we have the following Monday routes over the next month:

7 September – Big Ben

14 September – Sloane Square/Embankment/Westminster

21 September – Hyde Park

28 September – Whole Foods Piccadilly

Late-Start Group

We’re trying a new thing this year. We have a group of runners who can’t make it to our regular 8:15am start (mostly because their children attend schools that start later than 8am) who are going to meet later to run together. The group meets at Barclays at 9:30 on MWF and they do the same routes set for the 8:15 group. If you have a friend who would like to join this group, please have them email us.

Beginner Group starts this week

The beginner group starts this week on Thursday 10 September. If you know anyone who is interested, please email Amy Grace at [email protected]. Please remember that the beginner group is for women who have never run before. Even if someone can only do 1-2 miles, they should be in the MWF group.

London Weather

This week was a good example of London weather. We get clouds, showers, sun, heavy rain – sometimes all in the same day! Don’t let a bad forecast discourage you from running. If you wait for the perfect day, you’d never get out the door. We had many days last year where the forecast was for rain, but it didn’t actually start raining until we were finished with our run. In any case, it does make sense to invest in a good breathable running jacket for wet weather.

Love this picture from our run to Big Ben in June!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES THIS WEEK

Monday, 7 September – Big Ben (4-8 miles)

This is such a fun route!  We run right through the heart of London and stop at the famous Big Ben.  The 8 mile option is for runners planning to do a fall half-marathon.  

On Monday we head to Hyde Park via the usual route. Start heading west on Circus Road and turn left on Grove End and follow south as it becomes Lisson Grove.  Cross over Marylebone Road and continue on Seymour Place until the end.  Turn right and cross over Edgware Road and then left to enter Hyde Park at the intersection with Stanhope Place.   Run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill.  Run 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.  Those running four miles will take the tube back to SJW from here and those running eight will turn around and follow the same route back.  You can also make it about a five mile run by turning back at Big Ben and running to the Green Park Tube Station, then tubing it home.

 

Wednesday, 9 September – 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 [two out and two back].

Friday 11 September – The Heath (4-8 miles)

It’s Friday which means everyone up Fitzjohn’s.  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. 

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.

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.

______________________________________

Website:  https://womenrunningtheworld.commm

Facebook Group:  Women Running The World (request to join)

Email: [email protected]

Hi everyone,

We’ve had a great start to the running season! It was wonderful to see so many of you gathering in front of Barclays. Even on a cloudy/rainy Wednesday we had a record turn out. And nothing, even being soaking wet, can keep us from coffee afterwards!

To the new runners, we’re so glad you’ve joined us! To the returning runners, thanks for being so friendly and welcoming to our new runners- keep it up!  We have more new runners starting this week. To everyone, if the runs last week were too slow/fast or too short/long – Don’t give up!! It often takes a few sessions to find the smaller group of women that run the right distance/pace for you. (If you need some help/guidance linking up with someone, just let me know.) One runner said to me, “Wednesday was really difficult and I almost didn’t come back, but Friday was great. Now I’m hooked!” I know the first few runs after the summer can be challenging. Stick with it and I promise it will get better.

As a reminder to the new runners, we meet in front of Barclays Bank at the corner of Circus and Wellington Roads at 8:15am so we can start running at 8:20. If you are new to the group, I have a new orange and blue hat so you can find me in the crowd. Come say HI!

Monday is a Bank Holiday so we won’t have an official route. If you want to run, plan to meet at 8:30 at Barclays and we can decide a route on the day. Wednesday we’ll head to the Wall and Friday we’re back up the Hill. In each route, there are lots of options for mileage. As always, don’t be tempted to do too much, too soon.

Late-Start Group

We’re trying a new thing this year. We have a group of runners who can’t make it to our regular 8:15am start (mostly because their children attend schools that start later than 8am) who are going to meet later to run together. The first day for the late-start group is Wednesday 2 September. They will meet at Barclays at 9:30 and do the same routes set for the 8:15 group. If you have a friend who would like to join this group, please have them email us.

Sidewalk awareness

We are such a large group! Please remember not to block the sidewalk when we gather at Barclays or when we stop at Starbucks at the end. We want to be good citizens of St. John’s Wood.

T-Th Beginner Group

The first day for the new beginner group is Thursday 10 September. If you have any friends who are interested in joining, please have them email me. Remember that the beginner group is for women who have never run before.

Stay Tuned – Spring Half-Marathon Trip

We’re hard at work behind the scenes trying to find a great race for our spring half-marathon. As you know, we have to balance many factors in choosing a race including timing, travel and finding a race that is appropriate for our beginner runners. We have our eye on a few races that look great, but they haven’t announced their 2016 dates yet. Because of that, we probably won’t announce the race until the end of September or early October.

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES THIS WEEK

Monday 31 August – BANK HOLIDAY

If you would like to run, meet at Barclays at 8:30. We’ll decide the route on the day.

Wednesday 2 September – 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. Since the canal is blocked here, we call it “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.

Friday 4 September – 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.

Hi everyone,

I want to thank each of you for helping to make this year at WRW a success! I’m still floating on a happy cloud after our Sights of London run and Leavers Coffee. Thanks to everyone who came out to run on a warm, humid day and also to everyone who was able to join us at coffee afterwards. A huge THANK YOU to Nicole Jameson and Chris Roberts for organising the Leavers Coffee. What a great morning – except that we’re going to miss all our leavers so much!

We have our last two official runs this week, but we’ll still be running over the summer, see more on that below. The best way to keep your conditioning and avoid injury is to keep running. Monday we’re doing one of our favourite runs – Big Ben or you can choose to do one of the Hyde Park routes or a route of your choice. Wednesday is the last day of school so we have the 4-mile extended Regent Park loop. Come celebrate the start of summer with a short, local run!

Summer running in London

This is the last official WRW email of the year, but we’ll still be running over the summer! If you’re in town, plan to meet at Barclays at 8:30 on MWF and the group will decide on the route that day. We tend to have a small group that runs most weeks, especially in June and early July. It just depends on who is in town. Syma Qattan  and Kathy McMahon will be here for some of the summer so you can email them if you want to check and see if anyone is running.

Fall Half-Marathon training plans

We’ve posted a few training plans for popular half marathons on our website- follow the LINK. You’ll see plans for Windsor and Ealing both on Sept. 27, Royal Parks on Oct. 11 and Amsterdam on Oct. 18. Let me know if you’re planning to run a half marathon in the fall. It’s a great way to make sure that you keep running over the summer!

London Color Run – June 7

If you are planning to do the Color Run this weekend, Rekha is organising a group to meet up at the tube and travel to the race together. Email Rekha if you want to join the group. Good luck to everyone and HAVE FUN.

See you in August!

The first running day of the 2015-2016 year will be Wednesday Aug. 26. The first day for the beginner group will be Thursday Sept. 10. If you know anyone interested in the beginner group, please email Amy Grace and Vicky Timbers.  Spread the word about WRW!  We’re looking forward to meeting all our new members!

I’m already looking forward to next year!  Have a fantastic summer!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, June 8th  4-8 miles

Big Ben (and Back)

For this run we head to Hyde Park via the usual route and run along the eastern edge of the park to Hyde Park Corner, under Wellington Arch and down Constitution Hill.  Run pass 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.  You can take the tube from Westminster or turn around and run the same route back to Starbucks.

Wednesday, June 10th  4 miles

Regents Park

This is a busy last week, so we’ll ease out of our WRW running ‘year’ with this easy loop.  Head down Grove End Road as though going to Hyde Park BUT at Marylebone Road, turn left and follow Marylebone Road, past Madame Tussauds, then turn left at York Bridge and right at the Outer Circle.  Follow the Outer Circle counter clockwise, all the way to the crosswalk by the US Ambassador’s House. Cross out of the Park and head to Starbucks.

 

Hi Everyone,

We just ran our last official Heath route of the year and I can’t believe we have only a week and a half left before the 2014-2015 WRW year draws to a close! Monday we head to Hyde Park for a distance of your choice. The park is particularly beautiful these days, so come join us! Wednesday we’re going to the Happening Bagel in Finsbury Park via the Greenway. This is one of my favourite London runs – you tackle the hills in Highgate and then get the reward of an unexpected stretch of green woodland (along an old train line) in the middle of London. (Make sure that you look for the Green Man statue hidden along the way.) Friday is our Sights of London run and the Leavers Coffee. Please come! More details are below.

Triathlon!

Good luck to Yianna Xenakis who will be competing at the World Triathlon event in Hyde Park this weekend. She’s completing an Olympic distance triathlon of a 1.5km swim, a 40km bike and a 10km run. GO YIANNA!  We hope you have a great race!

Gauntlet Games

Good luck to our runners who are competing in the Gauntlet Games this weekend including Sunny Brenneman, Lesley Gallagher, Lee Ann Gossett, Karina Kalb, Tammie Perdue, Chris Roberts and Sherri Zimmerman (sorry if I forgot anyone). They are completing a 10K including obstacles that promises lots of mud. Have fun and make sure you take some photos!

Friday June 5 – Sights of London run and Leavers Coffee

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 4-5 miles and we stop often.

We’ll stop for group pictures at:

– Hyde Park Speaker’s Corner

– Buckingham Palace

– Big Ben

– Trafalgar Square (maybe)

Depending on the timing, we’ll either take the tube back to St. John’s Wood from Westminster or Trafalgar Square. We’ll walk to the Richoux cafe at 3 Circus Road, NW8 6NX.  (We’ll be in the upstairs room at Richoux.) If you can’t run for any reason, please still come for coffee. I expect we’ll be there around 10 am. Unfortunately we have 18 runners leaving London this year!  So take a minute to come and say good-bye. We’re going to miss them so much!

Collecting names for next year’s beginner group

If you have any friends that are interested in being part of the beginner group for next year, please tell them to email Vicky Timbers at [email protected] and Amy Grace at [email protected]. Thanks!

Finally, thanks to everyone who went on the run to see the Queen last Wednesday – what fun! A real London moment. I especially loved the dash across the park to try to see her carriage for a second time. We’ll make sure to add this run to our spring plan for next year!

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday June 1st—HAPPY JUNE!  Hyde Park—all routes—[3 to 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.

3 Milers:  Continue south through Hyde Park, past the Serpentine and at the Carriage drive, make a left and head back toward Hyde Park Corner.  Take the Hyde Park Corner tube home.

5 Milers:  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 St. John’s Wood. 

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 before exiting at the Upper Brook St/Animals in War exit.  Continue along Upper Brook Street to Park Street, turn left, take it to Park Road and into SJW.

 

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to everyone who has come out to run this week! I know the end of the year is so busy. Monday is a Bank Holiday so we’ll meet at Barclays for a bit later start at 8:30.  

Wednesday – Canary Wharf, The Wall or the Queen’s Procession?

We have three options for our Wednesday run. First, for the dedicated distance runners, we have our last run for the year to Canary Wharf. Second, if you’re not up for that long of a run, you can run to The Wall or choose another route of your choice. Third, Wednesday is the State Opening of Parliament, which begins with the Queen’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster escorted by the Household Cavalry. We have a group meeting at Barclays at 9:45am to run down to the Palace to watch the procession. We’ll follow our standard “Big Ben” route until we find a good place to watch. The procession begins around 11:00 but we should plan to be in place around 10:30., she arrives at the Houses of Parliament at 11:15 so there’ll be a bit of waiting around and dealing with the crowds, but the group that went last year were able to see the Queen and the royal family as well. A London adventure!  Here is a link to the route for the procession – http://changing-guard.com/ceremonial/state-opening-parliament.html

SAVE THE DATE 

Our last few runs of the year…

Monday 1 June – Hyde Park

Wed 3 June – Happening Bagel via the Greenway

Friday 5 June – “Sights of London” run and Leavers Coffee

Monday 8 June – Big Ben

Wed 10 June – Last official run of the year

Keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, May 25th—BANK HOLIDAY!

Our second Bank Holiday of May means another lie-in—anyone running today, show up at 8:30 [and enjoy that extra 15 minutes of snooze time].  This is a DIY run, so group up and pick your favorite route—Hyde Park, Notting Hill or one of your design.

Wednesday, May 27th—Long or Short[er] or the Queen?:  Canary Wharf [9mi] or The Wall [6mi] or Westminster [4mi]—you pick.

Canary Wharf: 9 miles

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.

 

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 (Jack Wills shop at the corner) 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.  

 

 

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.  Ideally after the park, you’ll run straight, under an arch and the water will be on your right.  But last year this way was closed.  If still closed, follow this detour.  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!

 

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-scrapper building in front of you.  Stop when you see the sign for the Canary Wharf DLR Station at the ‘mall’ entrance on the South Colonnade.  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!

The Wall 6 miles:

Run South on Finchley/Wellington Road to the SJW Church Roundabout, follow the sidewalk to the left and cross Prince Albert Road at the crosswalk just beyond the SJW Church.  Continue east and enter the canal at the Charlbert entrance.  Run east [left], cutting through the Camden Lock Market until you run out of canal path at Islington.  Touch the canal boat tunnel wall—this is The Wall!—then turn around and re-trace your steps back to SJW.  When you come off the canal at Regents Park, take Charlbert to Allitsen to SJW High Street to Starbucks.

Big Ben 4 miles:

Remember we’ll meet at 9:45 at Barclays to head down to Westminster to see the Queen’s procession.  We’ll follow the regular Big Ben route until we find a good place to watch.

 

Friday May 29th—That Hill!

It’s “Friday Fitzjohn’s”.  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:  Run up to the Hampstead tube station and back.

5 miles: The Betsy Route

6-7 miles:  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

Hi Everyone,

Following our theme of good runs that end with good coffee and good food, we have two excellent routes this week that meet that goal. On Monday we head to the Whole Foods on the Kensington High Street but we pass through the Brompton Cemetery on the way. The Brompton Cemetery is one of those unique London gems that is fun to discover. Friday we head to Borough Market, another London treasure. We keep things local on Wednesday with a route that crosses Regents Park and Belsize Park. I know it’s so busy at this time of year, but come join us!

Royal Parks Half Marathon or another Fall Half?

I think we have a growing group of runners who are planning to do the Royal Parks Half Marathon on October 11. Can you let me know if you are planning to do the race (or another half in the fall) so I can get a sense of our group? Next week we’ll post a summer training plan for those planning to do an autumn half marathon race.

Save the Date

Wednesday 27 May- Canary Wharf or The Wall

Wednesday 3 June- Happening Bagel via the Greenway

Friday 5 June- “Sights of London” run and Leavers Coffee at Richoux

Monday 8 June- Big Ben

Wednesday 10 June- Last official run of the year

That’ all for now – keep running,

Jane

ROUTES

Monday, May 18th – 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 at Sloane Street.  Cross the street, take a right.  Turn left at Brompton Road (just past the tube) and take Brompton  (admiring Harrods as you pass); Brompton will split before the V&A Museum but stay to the right (still Brompton Road) and stay on it as it becomes Fulham Road.  Continue on Fulham to Brompton Cemetery.  Turn right to enter the cemetery.  Run through the cemetery and turn right onto Old Brompton Road.  Turn left onto Earls Court Road. 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, May 20th – 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 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 the 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.

 

Friday, May 22nd – Borough Market – 6 miles

OK, it’s Friday, but we are NOT going up that hill! We are going to start at the regular time and run down to Borough Market, where we can have coffee and get some good eats for there or to take home.  Then will tube home from London Bridge Station.  We start out down Circus Road to Charlbert and into Regent’s Park, where we will take the Outer Loop around to the left and cross out of the park at Portland Place.  We’ll run down Portland Place, which becomes Regent Street, to Oxford Circus and make a left onto Oxford Street.  We’ll run down Oxford Street to Kingsway and make a right and take that to the end, which is Aldwych. Now turn right onto Aldwych and cross over The Strand and down to the Thames, where we’ll cross at the Waterloo Bridge.  Once across the river, we’ll make a left and run along the Thames (river will be on your left) to Bank End/Park Street, where we’ll leave the river and run to the Market.