Tuesday, November 18, 2014

My Long Run Turned DC Running Tour

On Sunday I had a 12 mile long run scheduled and when I came across running routes, I knew I would be seeing some awesome sites. I knew part of my route would hit the National Mall along with the Lincoln Memorial but I winged the rest of my run and added the Jefferson Memorial, the Tidal Basin, and the Martin Luther King Memorial. I figured why not add more sites and tour the city. What an awesome run! DC is very runner friendly. 

I started my run pretty early, I think I left the hotel around 6:35am. There weren't many runners out yet, but I did see more by the end of my run. I started right by Union Station and headed towards the National Mall. Here I am heading towards the Washington Monument.
Washington Monument

Running through the National World War II Memorial.

National World War II Memorial
 Washington Monument from the Reflecting Pool by the Lincoln Memorial.
Washington Monument with reflecting pool
 Someone was kind enough to take a picture of me at the Lincoln Memorial.
Lincoln Memorial
 Running along the Potomac River.
 At the Jefferson Memorial.
Jefferson Memorial
 View from running along the Tidal Basin looking at the Jefferson Memorial.
Jefferson Memorial from Tidal Basin trail
 Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Another view of the Jefferson Memorial from the trail along the Tidal Basin. At this point I was heading back.
Jefferson Memorial
 Running along the Potomac River again.
I ran along some of the reflecting pool and turned back. Here's the view looking at the Lincoln Memorial.
Lincoln Memorial
 And finally back towards the Capitol and up towards Union Station to the hotel.
Capitol
Here is the map of my route.
I really enjoyed the run and seeing all the sites! It was actually fun and I felt good! I did the run in 2 hours so a 10 min per mile pace which was not bad! Washington DC is a great place to run. Not only is the area runner friendly but there are many exciting spots to see. If you have the time and want to see many sites fairly quickly and get some good exercise I recommend a nice run! :)

Would you ever do a running tour?

12 comments:

  1. You're right, DC is a fun place to run as a tourist! When we visited DC, I went for a run there and joined my husband for a bike ride on rental bikes.

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  2. Biking sounds like fun too! Great idea! :)

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  3. That's awesome! Love your pics and reminded me of when we did the Cherry Blossom Run together! :)

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  4. Thanks for sharing your DC running tour! One of my favorite running routes from this past summer took me by the Capitol and the Tidal Basin. See you tomorrow! Yayy

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  5. Thanks Sherry! Yeah we did visit those places when we did the run. The tidal basin looks a lot different without the blossoms. :p

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  6. No problem Jenny! You live in a great city to run in! See you tomorrow! :)

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  7. I love this because I remember how cool it was running a half marathon there in March. You sure get to experience more of it when your on your own tour though and you got awesome pictures!!

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  8. This looks like so much fun! Way to turn a long run into a way to see all the sights! I did this once in Philly with a 3 mile run and it was a blast!

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  9. This is so cool! Running is such a fabulous way to explore a destination you're visiting. Thanks for sharing all those pics - I've never been to DC & it looks really nice!

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  10. Thanks Diane!! It was fun seeing so many sites during my run! :)

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  11. Thanks Kristen!! It was fun! So cool you got to do it when you were in Philly!

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  12. Thanks Ariana! It was a great way to explore DC and see so many cool sites! :)

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