Run review: Lamar Blvd.

So, on this blog you can find reviews of places to run around Austin. This is the very first one!! Aren't you lucky!

This morning we ran on Lamar Blvd- not really North or South, but from 24th to 38th.

We parked by the tennis courts on 24th, directly in front of the frat house. I'm really not sure what the parking situation is there, but it was easy to park right there- I guess it's technically for the tennis courts. But no meters or anything, and I felt like my car was reasonably safe.

There are water fountains at the tennis courts, which would make this a good location for a really long training run. Also, Lamar is really long. We simply traveled North from 24th. We passed a few traffic lights. The west side of Lamar was all park and then greenbelt, which was really nice. We even passed the trail to Shoal Creek park, which I might check out sometime when I have a companion other than Sunshine.

At a little over a mile, it turned into a more urban run. There were plenty of restaurants that you could possibly stop at for a drink of water or an emergency restroom break. There were trash cans (mostly at bus stops) to put dog poop bags in. The whole way is cement sidewalk- the cement is in pretty good condition too, except for one intersection that was currently under construction.

This was also a bit of a hill run- going North is uphill. Not a huge steep hill, but more like going over a long bridge. Naturally, South is downhill.

I don't think I would want to do this run without my dog, or by myself- it was very isolated, except for a few runners and an occasional bicyclist. It does go along a busy street though... I guess as long as there were cars you'd be ok? I don't know- I don't think I'd go alone. Maybe just because it was not my normal running route.

I would give this run an 8.5 out of 10, for it's access to restrooms and water, and abundance of shade and green space.