Tag Archives: seattle

Alki Beach run

You don’t often see the space needle on the left, unless you venture to West Seattle. West Seattle’s Alki Beach has an excellent running trail. If you park at the East side of Alki when you first get over the bridge you can get in 15 miles all along the water by running out to Lincoln Park (where there is also one of the few salt water pools for those triathletes out there.)

We started halfway down the strip. (So we could finish near food!) From there we ran 3.5 miles to the east finishing with a 1.5 out and back once we returned to our start.

Being a gorgeous sunny day we of course had to stop for a photo opp.

Or two because the sun was in our eyes on the first shot!

Running in Alki, you not only get amazing views; but there is also a lot of entertainment along the way. Any sunny Saturday or Sunday you can expect to see divers; volleyball players; other runners, bikers, and rollerbladers; and some interesting monuments and houses. My favorite Alki site is this crazy garden house!

With any long run, the best part is the post run refuel. If you are out at Alki I highly suggest the Celtic Swell! It is much less crowded than the Alki Cafe next door. Plus, the Manmosas and soda bread can’t be beat!

Great 10 miles Mindy, Norman, Camille, and Emily! 🙂

Saturday Run

Saturday morning a small group of us met at the Mercer Island Park and Ride. The debate is always whether we will meet on the west side or the east side of Seattle so this Saturday we compromised and met in the middle. We started on Mercer Island and followed the bike path towards seward park, running just over 7 miles. The best part of the

run was the 3 miles on the bridge. The combination of narrow path, water to one side and traffic to the other made a really cool running environment. It made it really easy to focus on your stride. I found myself running faster than I probably should have for a long run, but it was a blast!

The path after the bridge was a nice change as well. Seattle does a great job keeping their paths landscaped so it was a very scenic run! The one good/bad news about this run though are the hills!

We definitely hit some hills! But that just allowed us to enjoy our refuel even more at Bennett’s on Mercer Island!

Perfect Refuel! 🙂 Thank you for a great run, runners! 🙂

A west side Saturday run

One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning is to escape to the west side to get a run in. Despite some obstacles;….ok just one but the 520 bridge being closed is a MAJOR headache of an obstacle, we made it to the designated meeting spot Blue Star Pub and Cafe.

On the eastside I was surrounded by men. The westside brings out my ladies

I always like to meet at a restuarant.

1. It is easier to find a business with a smart phone then it is to find a location

2. You can eat there after! So pick a good one. Some of my favorite on the west side near runs are:

Blue Star Pub and Cafe – Greenlake one outer lap is 3.1 if you park at Blue star and do 1 inner 1 outer loop you get 7.1 miles
Portage Bay – Lake Union Lake union is a good 7ish mile run
Celtic Swell – West Seattle gorgeous run on the water! 3-15 miles down and back runs!
5 Spot – Upper Queen Anne (Kerry Park run) the Queen anne loop can be a 3-5 miles run if you do a loop

Camille running through some Cherry Blossoms

We ran the greenlake route doing an outer loop first then jumped into the inner usually more crowded loop. The inner loop was our better option though because of the mud and puddles that tend to occupy Seattle pathways.

Getting back we were all Starvin Marvins! Look at all the food we ordered!:

Many of us even reached the clean plate club! Awesome run ladies! Thank you for joining me 🙂