Finding Places to Run While Traveling

Finding places to run while traveling has always been an adventure, and our recent trip to Bellevue Washington was no exception. Four days of running led to somewhat lackluster routes, but not for a lack of trying!

Day 1: Headed south from the condo in Bellevue, on a search for Mercer Slough Nature Park, the only large "green spot" on the local map. Found the park, but quickly ran out of real estate there, as a one mile loop pretty much covered it, as far as I could tell. It was a well maintained trail, with either wooden planks or soft mulch for most of the footing. A lot of tall vegetation on both sides was a bit claustrophobic at times. I came across this sign, which pointed out that my one mile loop was actually called the Heritage trail, and that the farm land I saw was a blueberry farm. At any rate, so much for that--back to the condo I went.

Day 2: After studying the park map more closely, it looked like there was an exit to the park if one kept to the right after several intersections. Once out of the park, one could run several miles in either direction. Toby drove us to the park to start the run and off we all went to find the exit. I thought I was making progress until I recognized a sign I had passed earlier--I was traveling in a circle! After 2 1/2 miles of this madness my calves were screaming from the soft mulch so I became desperate to find this "exit". I ran to what I originally brushed off as a dead end the first time around and there it was! The glorious exit with asphalt, precious asphalt, heading in two directions. I headed south and found the I-90 trail, and from there I ran to Entai beach where I took these photos:

Upon returning I learned that Brett never found his way out and continued to run in circles. His calves were killing him the next day!

Day 3: I had Toby drop me off near the entrance to the I-90 trail so I could run and out and back along it, towards Seattle, and get some distance in. No adventures to be had here--the route pretty much ran parallel to the I-90 freeway as expected, but luckily most of the path was separated by a giant wall. There were a lot of commuters on bicycles. The only rough part was the part that crossed the water over to Mercer Island, as there was no giant wall separation from the freeway... During rush hour traffic. Ugh...I made it as far as the Mercer Island Park and Ride before I had to turn back. It would have been fun to have ran all the way to Seattle--I was only shy about 4 miles!

Day 4: Last day in Bellevue--a rainy morning and only time for a quick run. I decided to head north this time to take this photo of the place we had great sushi--just to prove that you can't judge a book by its cover!

From there I continued north to attempt to run in Kirkland, which is a really cool suburb, but the pedestrian path ended due to major construction. I didn't have time to be adventurous with a detour, so I turned back, thus ending my running adventures in Bellevue, Washington.

August Marathon of the Month: Reykjavik Marathon, Reykjavik Iceland

Reykjavik Marathon

Drastic temperatures cause for drastic measures. If you want to be guaranteed  a "cool" August marathon you may want to consider traveling north, as in WAY north, to Reykjavik Iceland. Reykjavik is the capital and largest city on Iceland, "a Nordic European island country" situated between Greenland and Europe. The highest recorded temperature sits at 79 degrees, bam!

Why run the Reykjavik marathon? I extracted the answer to this question directly from the race web-site:

There are several obvious reasons for foreign marathon runners to pick Reykjavik, not least the fact that the running conditions are usually extremely comfortable – the route is smoothly paved and very flat, while the weather tends to be breezy and in the mid-teens centigrade.

The atmosphere surrounding a race is also a hugely important factor for most runners, and the atmosphere at the Reykjavík race is electric. While the Icelanders would enthusiastically support the race anyway, it is actually planned to coincide with 'Culture Night' (Menningarnótt), a national event that brings up to a third of the entire population of Iceland onto the streets of the capital.

Another obvious reason to run is the city itself: the Viking name, Reykjavík, may literally translate as 'smoky bay', but the name in fact refers to the steam rising from Iceland's many geothermal springs. Reykjavík actually has some of the cleanest air of any city. Situated on a peninsula, water features heavily in the self-proclaimed 'Party Capital of the North', with the old-town even nestled around a large pond called Tjörnin. Teeming with birdlife, Tjörnin is like an oasis in the maze of old wooden houses covered in colourful corrugated iron that comprise downtown. Reykjavík has the very unusual feel of a modern international city trying to fit into a nineteenth century fishing village.

The race offers an atmosphere which is both relaxed and welcoming. Around 1,000 runners participate in the marathon and 2,000 in the half marathon, making both races less crowded than is generally the case in larger events. Since the Reykjavik Marathon also includes 10k, 3k fun run and children's run distances, it's also a family event.

Although only around 200,000 people live in the larger Reykjavik area, large crowds gather in the streets to support the runners. However, parts of the course pass through uninhabited areas where there are few spectators, instead giving the runners a chance to enjoy Iceland's natural environment and the spectacular scenery. The marathon passes through downtown Reykjavik, a residential area, near a salmon river, and along the beach.

So let's take a closer look at the stats for this marathon:

Course: As advertised, the course is pretty flat and scenic. It appears to be diverse, with city street portions, residential areas, bike paths, and scenic water views. It's a looped course, so logistically easy to navigate. 

Weather: The average high temperature is 58 degrees! The only issue that may arise could possibly be wind, but with the many turns on the course not too bad to deal with.

Expo: It appears to be a really small event with few vendors, as I would expect for a marathon of its size, and it appears to be far away from the city center, requiring bus or car travel.

So what would some of the negatives be? The biggest negative would be the cost. Not that the marathon itself is expensive, but apparently it's expensive in Iceland, and the air fare could be pricey as well.  Another negative is that the course is measured in kilometers, which isn't a huge issue if one isn't particularly concerned with pace, but I can imagine the brain work involved in conversions late into the run--could be maddening. There are some complaints on marathonguide.com that there are too few aid stations. I counted 9 water stops on the map, so yes, that would be fewer than I'd like, so this is something to consider. Others complained that there are areas of desolation, where there are no spectators and you don't feel like you are in a marathon. I get this sensation when I run on bike trails, which is probably the case here. Luckily, the course is varied enough to keep my interest--with scenery if nothing else.  Still, if you are into race hoopla this may not be a good choice for you. 

The best thing this race has going for it is the epic post race party! The "Culture night" involves fireworks, events in the arts and theaters, with festivities all along the city streets running well into the next day. 

This year marks the 30th anniversary, so this race has been around for quite some time. Interested?
Here is the link to the race web-site:
http://www.marathon.is/reykjavik-marathon