Washington running

Western Washington

• Olympia: Check in with the Olympia Running (meetup) Group or South Sound Running for the lowdown on local running, and RunOly.com for upcoming race details.
• Tacoma: South Sound Running has a Tacoma location and is a hub of local running information, or contact the Tacoma City Running Club for group runs.



Seattle skyline, with Mount Rainier just visible in the background (view from Kerry Park).
Photo credit: Hubby

• Seattle: If you're going to be in the Seattle area, the Seattle Runner's Meetup Group and Seattle Run for Life will welcome you to their group runs. Through these two groups, I found dozens of trails and running routes.
• Also, Alma (from The Average Woman's Running Blog) is a Seattle native, and was kind enough to send us a runner's postcard from the Emerald City detailing her three favorite Seattle-area runs.
• Some of my personal favorites are:



Fremont Troll

• The 3-mile loop around Green Lake
• Any out-and-back run along the Burke-Gilman Trail (especially starting from Gas Works Park) and if you're running in that neighborhood, be sure to swing by the Aurora Bridge to see the larger-than-life Fremont Troll.
• The Washington Park Arboretum makes for a pretty, shaded trail run on not-technical trails.
• Another beautiful trail, for running or biking, is the Sammamish River Trail (northeast of Bellevue), it's an added bonus that the Red Hook Brewery and Chateau Ste. Michelle vineyard are within a stone's throw of the trail. Both are excellent for post-run libations.
• Olympic National Park: Olympic National Park offers dozens of trail options for running or hiking, just be warned that higher elevations have snow year-round, and you may find large animals blocking the trails. (To me, both are selling points of the park!)



July in Olympic National Park



Mountain goat on trail at Olympic National Park

Eastern Washington

• Spokane: The Flying Irish Running Club organizes weekly group runs, and provides a wealth of local running information on their website.

Other Washington Running Resources:

• List of Washington state running clubs from RunningInTheUSA
• Running trails in Washington from TrailLink.com

Are you involved in a Washington running group, or do you have a favorite running route that is not listed here? Send me the info and I'll consider adding it to the list.