Running (for a change)

Roman arch, Aosta

Ok, so I’ve been doing a lot of hiking recently but I have also done a bit of running. Not much, but just enough so I don’t feel I’m forgetting how to do it. Or how nice it feels. 

This morning I went for a run along the river in Aosta (Italy). Flat, lots of oxygen available, no chance to get lost. So it wasn’t the most exciting run but I got to shake my legs out a little and the distance was marked out on the path so I knew how much I was doing. The river was fast flowing with lots of ripples of white water and bushy along the banks. I was running on a bike path and on the opposite bank was the highway. Beyond my path we’re playing fields, a rather dismal looking caravan park and some industrial stuff. But beyond those not so special things were the mountains. It was a bit cloudy so the tops were hidden, but I could see lots of small villages, churches and even small castles. I think Mont Blanc is close but I couldn’t see it. All up I did just over ten kilometres.

In Innsbruck (Austria) I also went for a nice run along the river. I ran from the centre of town to the airport, around the edge of the airport and on to the end of the track. This mad for a fifteen kilometre round trip. I had done the exact same run in the winter at the beginning of 2016. Because of the snow on the ground and the general feeling that it wasn’t really running weather, the run seemed like a lot longer that time.

It’s a lovely run because it’s far from the roads, there are little parks and I got well beyond the built up area. The first time I went I didn’t know how far I was going to go so I would just decide to run as far as the next bridge, a certain church I could see, then the airport tower, then the main road in the next village. Coming back Innsbruck had woken up and the streets were busy. Every time I come to Innsbruck I try to work out where the marathon (Tirol Speed Marathon, now discontinued) that I ran here in 2006 finished, where we (the fam) all sat in the street and ate chicken and drank beer and Natasha had to help me get down the stairs to the toilets so I could change, but I never can get the place. 

I did a very short run in Garmisch Partenkirchen (Germany) up to a small lake and a historic Olympic bobsleigh run. The lake was tiny, the hotel beside it may have been bigger than the lake, and I was surprised how quickly the town became rural.

Moving backwards, I had a wet run in Fuessen (Germany) after Sophie and I finished the Lechweg. I was just intending to run around the town, but I went up the hill to the main part of the castle/palace and found some forest trails beyond there. I went along a trail that was heading to some viewpoint but I didn’t go the whole way as there would have been no view since everything was in cloud. I came down on another trail and ended up by the Lechfall where the Lechweg ends. It was some kind of tourist enclave with several hotels and restaurants. But better than that I found a couple of lakes and a ski jump.

In Albertville (France) I went for a couple of very enjoyable runs. The first time I went up the hill past the old Medieval area of Conflans and continued up until I could join another road and come down a different way. It was quite an uphill slog and a hot day, but lots of huts and meadows to look at and I think it was on this year's Tour de France route. As I plugged on with the uphill I wondered if there really was a junction where I could turn back, and I was most surprised to see a woman walking her dog emerge from the junction when I got there. The other time I did a shorter run through a couple of neighbouring villages. I had taken a sketch map with me but about half way the reality did not exactly match up; I saw a woman on her balcony and asked the way, then her husband appeared and told me where to go (what was a road on the map was only a makeshift trail over grass). It worked but I ended up with a short cut to my planned run.

I had several lovely but hot runs in Cologne (Germany) along the Rhine and found some trails passing small beaches and meadows, and even a bit of forest. Then I ran through parks in the green belt to the west of the city, aiming for the Aachener Weiher which is a square reservoir. On this last run I got quite lost  and it took me several attempts with my halting German to get someone to explain where I had to go.

Ditto with the heat in Geneva (Switzerland) where I ran twice. The first time I ran along Lac Leman as far as the Botanical Gardens, where it seemed like everyone else runs when in town. Nice lake to look at and gardens. But it was so hot that I felt faint when I got back to my hotel after nine kilometres. The second time I went to the same place but intended to go further. It was the Swiss national day (August 1) and lots of revellers were still out from the night before. I thought the Swiss were very neat and tidy and law abiding but there was litter and bottles everywhere. And the Botanical Gardens were still closed when I was there so I couldn’t get inside.

And going right back to the start of this trip I went for a run in Canterbury. I left my room at the Weatherspoons just as the pub was opening at 7am. Otherwise I would have been locked in it seemed. I ran out of the town and after an initial missed turn I followed the Pilgrims Way for a short while. I went through a village and then along rural lanes and it all felt very English.