Posted by Michael Hughes July 26, 2010
People are drawn to Boulder for its blue skies, 300+ days of sunshine, cultural activities, lifestyle, thought provoking people, dining and of course the running trails of every description. The Boulder area offers hundreds of trail running opportunities. If you’ve always been a cement or pavement pounder, it might be time to mix it up with a trail run. This run is about 6 miles.
The morning was crisp and clear with high clouds and intensely blue skies. The mountains reflected in the water as I ran and sweated and picked up the pace. This is part of my cross training for my Muay Thai Kickboxing program. Like P90X, I believe muscle confusion (so you never plateau) is important to the sustainability of any physical regime.
Boulder Reservoir Loop. Easy, mostly flat dirt and accessible: Popular among hikers, cyclists and runners, the Boulder Reservoir is a great standby for an easy run with a convenient location. There are also numerous variations to add anything from .5 miles to 20 miles to the existing loop, actually 26.2 as this is the starting area for the Boulder Marathon (formerly The Boulder Backroads Marathon and Half Marathon
The most popular place to start this run is Coot Lake north of Hwy 119 and 63rd. There is also additional paring at Tom Watson park across the street. You can easily run clockwise or counter-
clockwise. I’ll give directions for a counter clockwise circuit.
Start by running north on 63rd Street. It will turn to a dirt/gravel road when you turn left on Monarch Road. Go all the way west (toward the mountains) until the road T’s take a left on the continuing dirt road, wind all the way around unless you want to add some more distance (about 3.5miles) the Eagle Trailhead is a good place to do it, Otherwise, continue running south until you come to the entrance to Boulder Reservoir. The road will have turned to pavement by this time and you can run on the shoulders for a softer ride. Then follow the east side of the lake around back to Coot Lake there will be some minor bouldering and crossing a dry arroyo to get to the Coot lake side. Run toward the Coot Lake parking lot and your done (except stretching).
For a list of trail runs around and near Boulder, visit www.trails.com.
If you have questions regarding this article or have thought about selling, renting, investing or would like to Buy A House In Boulder check out my website. You may also call, text 303-359-6627 or e-mail Michael Hughes at Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty in Boulder, CO. Featured Listings
I like bodybuilding and developing the muscles. Thanks for the great post !