Afternoon Run

4 x 8 @ z3

Villa Hills

New FKT route!
https://fastestknowntime.com/route/seattle-olmsted-50k
https://fastestknowntime.com/fkt/seattle-olmsted-50k-2024-07-08

I had originally planned to take this a bit quicker and avoid restocking on water. However, temperatures rose to highs for this year in the preceding week and I was dissuaded from that about 10 miles in. Fortunately, this route takes you through many of Seattle's great parks and these parks are generally flush (if you will) with bathrooms. I was able to refill my water three times: in the Arboretum, Leschi Park, and Seward Park. I'm very thankful for that or I would have had to call this off  early on.

The route is gorgeous, and I had brilliant views of Mt. Rainier as you run along Lake Washington. The elevation in the second half is somewhat deceptive. It a the portion of the route I had not run at all and was rather boring, but in better temps I think it would not be so bad. It's a great way to explore our beautiful city, especially some of the lesser-seen parks on the south end.

There's definitely plenty of time to knock off here, especially because of the weather. I had hoped to go sub-5, but there was no way I had that in this heat.

There is great documentation for this route; you can easily break it up into walkable sections. See these links (the first of which contains maps and guides for all parts of the route).
1. https://www.mountaineers.org/activities/routes-places/seattle-olmsted-50-ballard-locks-to-rainier-beach
2. https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/visit-dozens-of-seattles-best-parks-on-this-olmsted-walking-route/
3. https://www.mindthemoss.com/p/the-olmsted-50-trail
4. https://seattleolmsted.org/seattle-olmsted-50-ballard-locks-to-rainier-beach/

Also attached: bonus Reddit post about how nobody's out running marathons in this heat. Oops. I guess *technically* this wasn't a marathon...

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Sam S

Seattle Olmsted 50k

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Afternoon Run

Afternoon Run

4 x 8 @ z3

Villa Hills

Afternoon Run

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