A Great Route to Try for the New Year

For the first day in many we can expect a little rain today. It has been several days of tolerably warm weather, ranging between 5 and 10 degrees centigrade over the holiday period and providing some fantastic running weather for this time of year. I couldn't ask for better.

BVATokyo/HachimanyamaStToNakameguroSt

The first route I want to introduce to you is one of the best I know around here (but be assured I will continue to find great runs in Tokyo as I continue to explore). The picture at the top of this blog is from this course.

I need to point out an important advantage for runners in Tokyo. You don't need to confine your running to the immediate vicinity of where you live. Certainly it is quicker to get your workout started as soon as you step out the door, but I believe you will really enjoy getting on the train or bus and make your workout part of learning more about the town. There is a huge advantage to exploring Tokyo on foot--there are still plenty of tiny roads unpassable by car, and running you will think you are travelling great distances (sometimes appearing to travel from the past to the future even) as your landscape transforms from a green park to a small neighborhood to a bustling market near a train station.

This route is great because it is for much of it a pedestrian-only path. It is built over a creek that eventually ends up as the Meguro River and is essentially flat the entire course. One section immediately upstream of Kannana Dori (Route 318) is now under construction until end of March 2009, so you will need to find a parellel road for about a half of a kilometer or so. If you are used to running distance the detour is definately worth reaching the other side no matter which direction you travel.

You can do this route in one direction or just simply retrace your steps to double the distance. For those that want to shorten it, the best section (top 5 places I would choose to run in all of Tokyo) is between Kannana Dori (Route 318) and Ikejiri Ohashi. You can run upstream (when the path splits, keep to the right for the best experience) from Ikejiri Ohashi station on the Tokyu Den en toshi line and then return.