I’ve got to be in Seattle next weekend, and Sunday is also my last long run before the Portland Marathon. I need a place to run 22 miles. I’m thinking an 11 mile out and back that is easy to follow without getting lost. Anyone run on the Burke Gilman (?) trail? Is it paved? Hilly? Are the miles marked on it? Heavy traffic?
Are there any other trails to run in Seattle? I’d rather not run through neighborhoods, because I don’t want to get lost or have to worry about where I am going.
The BG is paved and flat. In the Shoreline area there are a few traffic lights that would hold you up, but its as good a place as any to do an 11 mile out and back. I would run north on the path (away from the city). However, another option would be to make your way up to Greenlake. With the obvious extension it is a 4 mile loop. PM me if you want as I can think of a number of options for you.
I agree with the Green Lake option. Last time I was in Seattle, I did a handful of laps around the lake (not the paved path but the outer dirt trail), and it was a decent run (although pretty flat). Best part of Seattle is that whereever you run, you can finish at a coffee shop.
I know of mile markers from UW to sandpoint (2.5mi-6mi) not sure if there are others further north. I don’t think there are markers from 0 to 2.0. One water spout I know of, across the street fro TiCycles U-village.
Here is the 15K loop I use for long runs sometimes (Greenlake, Burke, Gasworks, Stone way): g-map
Do 2 of these, add a loop of greenlake (inner) and you end up with a 35K run. Running without carrying water is quite doable.
Water spouts: 1x at gasworks (100 yeards off the trail, I skip that one), 1x at the Woodland park playfields, 3x at greenlake,.
I did this yesterday, nice varied course, good hill going up Stone, 1/4mi markers around the lake.
22 miles on the Burke-Gilman will make you want to kill yourself. You might as well run through the city streets. I run that posted 15k loop all the time. It’s nice because it has varied terrain, a bunch of parks and a pretty good climb, and there are lots of opportunities to adjust the total distance (like going on the east side of Green Lake to shorten it, or adding Green Lake laps or laps on the track right next to Green Lake to lengthen it). Since all the water stops are sorta close together, you should take advantage of them. Otherwise you have a long way to go before returning to them.