I will be working in the Edina / Richfield area for at least the next few weeks. Looking for recommended running routes nearby that are suitable for early a.m. (still dark), as well as a good place to swim. I will have a car and plan to stay near Edinburgh Park – don’t mind a short drive if necessary to start my runs. Thanks
I would suggest Hyland Lake Park Reserve in Bloomington. It is quite close to where you will be staying - a short drive. The park is about 1000 acres. You can get info about it at www.3riversparkdistrict.org .
you might want to contact kris or dan at scsmultisports.com, they coach out of a building very close to you that has two pools where they coach a couple of masters swim groups, one early a.m. and the other 2x a week at noon.
I learned that you definately don’t want to run on Rice St. in Little Canada at 12:30 in the morning…there are some strange people out there at that time of the night…
Don’t know about running in Edina, but I have swam at the SCS building. It is functional. Chris will definately be able to help you.
If you just want to head out your door and run, your best bet is to run north on york (or France Ave…depending on exactly where you are) past the giant mall, take a left at 66th street. 66th street runs right through a lake (Lake Cornelia). continue on 66th until you get to the running/walking path (veers off to the right). the path will take you around lake Cornelia…and back to 66th street. Starting from edinburgh its probably about a 5 mile loop. Edina’s about as safe as you can get, so no need to worry about running through a ‘bad neighborhood.’
highland park is good too…might be hard to run in the dark. try lake harriet and/or lake calhoun if you don’t mind a longer drive to start your run.
edinburgh has a 5 lane 25Y indoor pool. I think it has decent open swim hours and that it is pretty cheap for a one time swim. However, the water also tends to be really warm. There is also a ymca with a pool right on York (right down the street from edinburgh).
Hope this helps!
I actually live in richfield, the lakes are always good to run around. You can also get on the parkway too.
I dont much run in edina because mainly i run the lakes or on the parkway. Highland park is good.
You could also go to woodlake nature center, its about a 2 mile loop, but its a gravel trail, idk how it is right now but its pretty cool in the summer and fall
Edinborough Park is at 76th and York (Just east of France Ave.)
If you go north on France to 50th, you’ll find an eclectic array of shops and eateries.
If you go East from there (about 1 mile?) on 50th to Penn Ave., you’ll find Marathon Sports. I’d check them out for running info, routes, group runs, etc.
http://www.marathonrunwalk.com/
Just 2 blocks north from Marathon Sports is Lake Harriet and the parkway. The Twin Cities Marathon runs through this area (Lake Harriet, Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles).
I learned that you definately don’t want to run on Rice St. in Little Canada at 12:30 in the morning…there are some strange people out there at that time of the night…
Don’t know about running in Edina, but I have swam at the SCS building. It is functional. Chris will definately be able to help you.
Dude, there are some strange people there at 12:30 in the afternoon.
Most of my running is done in the neighborhood area bordered between Excelsior & Hwy62, and France & Hwy100 – but I do run over to Harriet/Calhoun with some regularity.
My fav route, which would be the same drive for you as it is to Harriet, is running along Minnehaha parkway from Harriet over to 35W, and then running up Belmont all the way to the watertower. It’s one of the biggest hills in the city of Minneapolis.
as mentioned, the guys at SCS multisport could be a helpful resource too.
Check out the map at http://www.co.hennepin.mn.us/images/HCInternet/EPandT/Transportation/Bikeways%20and%20Trails/Bicycle%20Maps/bike_side_2007_map_only_web.pdf
Pretty much all of the green ‘Existing off-road bike trails’ (off-road meaning not on a street) have correlating running/walking paths. These are usually nicely kept clear of snow, etc. and are great for running in the winter (well, all year round). Lake Harriet, Calhoun, and Isles, as well as Minnehaha Creek are all quite popular and not far from you.
Enjoy.
Thanks Gumby10, the Cornelia run sounds perfect. The Park pool is ridiculously warm, but seems nice otherwise and is limited to lap swimmers early a.m.
I went away thinking that I could have gotten hooked up, or shot…I’m not really sure which. I was there on a work related adventure, and was waiting for some parts to get dropped off. Since I was early, I thought that I’d get a run in. Maybe I should have run to the East???