Sunday, May 15, 2011

Running Stockholm: combining taper and tourism

I had never heard of this marathon but, of course, every large city and at least capital has to have a marathon. As I was looking for some course ideas to visit Stockholm this Sunday, I checked on their marathon which will actually be held in two weeks, May 28 2011.
I would have loved to run the full distance but, between the uncertain weather and other obligations and work duties, I only ran 16 miles of the official double loop around the city, also taking a few pictures on the way so I can share this visit with all of you and especially the ones who did not come to Stockholm yet. From what I've seen since I arrived last night, between the signs, the architecture, the orderly traffic and all the water, it reminds me of Geneva and its banks along the Rhone. A large number of museums (which I didn't visit) and many bridges to link the pieces of the archipelago puzzle.
Overall, despite the drizzly weather at the start of my run which do not give all the credit to the colorful buildings, this is an amazing place, with so much maritime legacy, and everything is very runnable thanks to large pathways, numerous bike paths, careful drivers and nearby parks. And, for me a nice recovery run after last week's 100K and 9 miles in Madrid on Friday evening.
If you want trails only, the best is to go directly to Skansberget, at the East of Ostermalm and North, and Djurgarden.
Ok, a short post for once, enjoy the visit by browsing through my Picasa photo album! And talk you next week after Ohlone 50K and my short stops in Helsinki, Turku, Copenhagen, Oslo, Kiel and Frankfurt, not to mention Madrid last week...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merci pour cet aperçu et toutes les photos (...ici, nous manquons d'eau!)
Bonne continuation européenne
Maman

lovesmath1 said...

Thank you, the pictures are lovely. I now have a "feel" for that marvelous city. Stay healthy through all of this.
Ann

Agnès Pommier said...

Et nous ici, la pluie menace et il fait si froid... Merci pour ces photos qui me remettent... 25 ans en arriere !
Agnès

Greg said...

Jean, you live the life... running all over the world. Good luck at Ohlone this weekend. Greg

Yan de Maroussem said...

Jean, bonjour de l'ile Maurice cette fois!!
Je suis aussi trailer passionné.
J'organise le Dodo Trail: www.dodo-trail .com le 30 juillet prochain ( 1ère Edition ) et je viens te demander un petit coup de main si tu pouvais m'aider à faire connaitre ce trail, en le communiquant à travers tes contacts et blog.
Je pourrai t'envoyer la présentation de la course si possible.
En attendant de te lire
Take care and keep it up
Best regards
Yan
Mauritius