Hong Kong running - Kowloon waterfront promenade

31C and 86% humidity, a perfect day for running!  I'm staying in Kowloon in Hong Kong and thought I would try to do some more running sightseeing.  It's hot, but I was hoping that if I took it slow then it might be OK.

I had seen people describe Hong Kong Kowloon waterfront as a good place to run so I thought I would head there, have a look and hope to find something interesting.  I left my hotel and walked down Nathan Road towards the Kowloon waterfront.  I was going to run this bit, but there were Hong Kong shoppers everywhere and my Nike GPS watch wasn't connecting to a satellite.  So I walked to the Kowloon waterfront by the Space museum.

My beginning was the Avenue of Stars.  It's the Hong Kong equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  The Avenue of Stars gives an amazing view of the Hong Kong Island skyline, but it was absolutely packed with people taking photos and selfies of the impressive sites on the other side of Hong Kong harbour.

AView of Hong Kong skyline from Avenue of Stars

The Kowloon promenade extends all along the harbour and as crowds thin out it becomes a great place to run with more great views of the Hong Kong island skyline:

More Hong Kong skyline

Kowloon promenade looking back towards Avenue of Stars

The Kowloon promenade is officially known as Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade as it winds it's way alongside the harbour.

Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade

Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade bridge

Ramp down from Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade to Hung Hom Promenade

The Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade continues by going up onto a bridge then comes down again and becomes the Hung Hom Promenade - remaining a great place to run along the water. 

Hung Hom Promenade

Hung Hom Promenade + Hong Kong Harbour running

Promenade map

So the Kowloon side of Hong Kong is a great place for running (if you can out up with the humidity and the heat.)  The harbour side running path goes from Nathan Road and the Hong Kong Space Center along the (busy) Avenue Of Stars and then all the way round onto Hung Hom Promenade, past all the ferry terminals, past the fisherman and finishing up at a brick wall by a luxury apartment block.

Good fun and recommended!

Running in Warsaw, Poland - city centre, riverside and stadium running route

Today I'm in Poland.  I have meetings starting early tomorrow so I arrived late this afternoon and have the chance for an evening, sightseeing run around Warsaw.  I don't really know much about Warsaw as I've never been before, but on check-in the front desk of my hotel provided me with a Westin Running map (sponsored by New Balance.)  So whilst others are watching Switzerland v Argentina, I am out running the streets and bridges of Warsaw in Poland!

Westin Hotel Warsaw running map

The New Balance Warsaw running map gave me a good start, sending me off towards the park and around the Warsaw old town.  I then extended my Warsaw run by running alongside the river, over the Swietokrzyski bridge to the national stadium, coming back over the Poniatowskiego Bridge and then retracing my early steps to finish back at my hotel.

My Warsaw running route

It was a really nice run.  Running in Warsaw has a lot to look at and good, flat paths.  It was especially nice to get to see the Warsaw stadium (Poland's national stadium) as there is a wide path around it, marked out every 100m - it was great feeling to run around the stadium with other runners and roller bladers!

I took some photos on my Warsaw run, these are the Warsaw sights I saw:

Fountain in Ogrod Saski park

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Warsaw)

Teatr Wielki in Warsaw

Old Town Square, Warsaw

Warsaw Old Town entrance

Świętokrzyski bridge (Warsaw)

Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw

Track around the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland

View of the Stadion Narodowy

Warsaw sunset

I enjoyed running in Warsaw and recommend it!

Göteborgsvarvet 2014 - great day again!

I decided to double up and run Göteborgsvarvet (the Gothenburg Half Marathon in Sweden) for the second year running.  Göteborgsvarvet is the world's largest half marathon and this year set another new record - something like 64,000 runners registered with 47,000 finishing the 2014 race!

Göteborgsvarvet 2014 start

Last year the weather was crazy, 28C with sun, hail, thunder and wind across the course of the race.  This year it was still hot, but more like 20C and it was a bit easier to complete the course.

One of the best things about running in Sweden is that the races tend to be on a Saturday afternoon rather than early Sunday morning as they tend to be in the UK.  This means that the whole town stops and in good weather everyone is on the streets cheering and encouraging the runners.  There were bands all along the route and crowds all the way round.  In Majorna there were speakers hanging out of windows, by the TV station in Lindholmen it was lots of fun and there were so many people watching on Avenyn it was great!

Göteborgsvarvet map

After finishing on the athletics track in Slottskogen we were given a Kex chocolate bar, a banana and a quality medal quickly followed by the speedy publication of results on the göteborgsvarvet website.

 A great day, by far my favourite of the half marathons I have done and I think I'll be back next year... (just maybe add a few more toilets for the ladies!)

Registration for next year opens on June 1st 2014.

Review: Asics Gel-Arctic 4 WR shoes - winter running on snow and ice!

I have just been running in the North of Sweden and to make it possible I bought myself a pair of Asics Gel-Arctic Winter Running shoes.  [Asics Arctics are not easy to find if you live in the UK, but I managed to buy a pair from a German site called lauf-bar - http://www.lauf-bar.de.]

At this time of year there are about 4 hours of daylight each day in the area of Sweden that I was in.  It's possible to run outside of these hours as the town roads have street lights but it's obviously harder to go off the beaten track in the dark and you also miss out on some spectacular scenery if you do!  Luckily it wasn't too cold this year and I was running in temperatures between 2C and -8C - nothing that running coat, winter tights and hat & gloves couldn't handle!

The Swedish roads I was running on were like this:

Beautiful, ice covered roads (not much snow this year), stretching through the Swedish forest or around the odd lake!  It took a little while to get used to the Gel-Arctic shoes but after 15 minutes I was well into my stride and had a number of amazing runs over the Christmas period.

So the Asics Gel-Arctics look like this.  Good looking shoes in black, yellow and grey with leather toe cover and Asics logo right on the front.

Asics Gel-Arctic 4

So what makes these Asics shoes so good for Winter Running then?  Well, the key thing with the Asics Gel-Arctics is on the sole - metal spikes amongst the standard plastic / rubber traditional grip.  The spikes aren't sharp like track spikes though, they are more like small metal posts that dig into / grip the ice.  They can also be screwed in and out like football boot studs.

Asics Gel-Arctic 4 spikes

These shoes have been great and I can't wait to wear them in the snow and on the ice again.  They kept feet dry and warm - the only thing I have learnt (the hard way) is that whilst Asics Gel-Arctic winter running shoes do exactly what you want them to do when you are running, you need to dry them off when you get home - if you don't the metal posts can go a bit rusty (as mine have!)

Anyway, Asics Gel-Arctic shoes are well worth the investment if you can find them and you want to run around in cold places!

Related posts

Review: Asics Gel Kayano 18 - blue with pimped laces!

Chicago running - the amazing Lakefront trail (LFT)

I was in Chicago this week and went for a run on the Lakefront Trail parallel to North Lake Shore Drive.  A beautiful and memorable place to run!

The Chicago Lakefront trail is a wide concrete path which runners, cyclists and pedestrians share with lanes marked accordingly.  The Lakefront Trail runs alongside Chicago's North Lake Shore Drive and South Lake Shore Drive covering a full 18 miles / 29km with mile markers adorning the route.  The Chicago LFT is open 24 hours, though the parks and beaches it passes close at 11pm.

The part of the trail I covered started at my downtown hotel, then headed to Navy Pier and then up the Lakefront Trail past Ohio Street Beach and Oak Beach up to North Avenue Beach.

This amazing Chicago running route therefore went past parkland and sandy beach with waves and Lake Michigan on one side and the Chicago skyline on the other. Next time I'll do the whole 18 miles!

Chicago Lakefront trail at Lincoln Park

Chicago Lakefront Trail alongside North Lake Shore Drive

Chicago Lakefront Trail towards North Beach

Chicago Lakefront trail at Oak Street Beach

Chicago Lakefront Trail mile marker

Chicago Skyline from the LFT

Chicago Lakefront trail at North Beach

Chicago Lakefront Trail running towards Navy Pier

Nike Flash Pack winter running - 3D promo video

Love the look of the new Nike Flash range - particularly the all over reflective Nike Flash jacket.  Think the new Nike Flash running clothing would be great for night running (especially on dark winter evenings), but it's not cheap...

There is a slick promo video on YouTube advertising the new Nike Flash range.  See what you think of the new Nike Flash products in the promo video here - it's even available in 3D!


I'm tempted...!

Nike We Run San Francisco

Saw this in San Francisco - Nike illuminated sign that simply says 'We Run.'  Think it was for the San Francisco women's marathon, thought I should photograph and post it here - cool, huh?

Nike We Run San Francisco sign

San Francisco running - Embarcadero to Fort Mason and the Golden Gate Bridge

Very excited, I've ended up in San Francisco with work!  I was last here in the year 2000, but this time I decided to bring my running shoes with me.  The only challenge is timing.  Each day we will be leaving the hotel at around 7am, so if I want to run I'm going to have to be up early...(though with my jetlag I'm not sure that will be too hard!)

Staying in a beautiful hotel (the Clift) near Union Square, so I plotted a route that would take me to the water.  I wanted to run to the Golden Gate Bridge, but it looked too far so instead I worked out a route along the Embarcadero, past Fishermans Wharf for a view of Alcatraz and then onto Fort Mason for a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, before returning up and over the enormous Russian Hill.

My San Francisco running route came to around 9km.  NikePlus recorded my San Francisco running like this:

my San Francisco running route

I took a camera with me and stopped to record various San Francisco sights as I went along:

Part one - through the downtown office district

View of the Bay Bridge from the Embarcadero

San Francisco Ferry Building

San Francisco - Transamerica Pyramid (seen from Embarcadero)

Aquatic Cove

Aquatic Cove and Alcatraz

Alcatraz Island

Golden Gate Bridge directions

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Mason

The way back - Hyde St, up and over Russian Hill

Perfect temperature and great fun.  I particularly enjoyed running along the Embarcadero as there were so many other runners on the beautiful, flat, wide path alongside the water enjoying the amazing views.  Hill back was a bit extreme but what a great way to start a day!

NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013 [photos, route map and my report]

I ran another half marathon today, this time heading to Milton Keynes to run the NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013.

The first thing to say is that it was obviously hot hot hot today!  Temperatures were up to 28C which made running difficult at times, but fortunately there was a fair bit of shade in the end and some water stations on the course too.  There were also supporters all the way round (many with water pistols / sprays - thank you) and there was a nice, friendly atmosphere. Official timekeepers Race Timing Systems recorded 1129 finishers and temperatures ranging from 22.8C to 28C!

Here is the NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon route 2013:

NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon route 2013

The Half Marathon started at The Webber Independent School who allowed their grounds and facilities to be used for this event.  As a result, there were changing rooms, proper toilets (as well as portable toilets in the grounds), massages in the gym and I believe the cafeteria was being used too.  From here the Half Marathon course then followed paths and roads around the lakes, wooded areas and canal of this area of Milton Keynes, before returning to the school field for the finish.

The route provided pleasant running (though some of the bumpy paths didn't help my legs at times) and almost the entire run was on tarmac (the exception being the finish on the school field.)  At the finish there was a medal, a banana, water and a cereal bar (+ a flyer for the Maidenhead half marathon on September 6th.)  There was then a great service where you could enter your race number into a computer and get an instant receipt showing your gun time, chip time and finishing position.  (The chips were really good too - just a paper loop on your shoe laces, no return needed.)

Other notable parts of the day were the high energy warm up, enthusiastic commentator on the PA and jazz band on stage at the finish.  What should have been a difficult run in the end became an enjoyable morning - thank you!

Some of my photos from the NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013:

NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013 - waiting to start

NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013 - start

NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013 - finish line

NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013 - jazz band at the finish

and finally, here is the NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013 medal - maybe not my favourite half marathon medal to look at, but I feel like I earnt it today...

NSPCC Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013 medal

Good job, see you next year!