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Oct 2007
I like to run but usually need to take along a jogging stroller. I'd like
to find trails or nice places in the Oakland Hills (I live near Redwood
Road) that are flat enough and safe enough to take one on. Does anyone
have any favorite places to go running? Thanks.
ruth
Ohlone Path is a nice paved flat surface, but you do have to keep an eye
out for cars (though you have the right-of-way CLEARLY marked with yield
signs) when crossing the streets. From her jogging stroller, my daughter
used to love the sound of the BART (which at times felt to loud for me)
and the driver would sometimes wave at her.
San Francisco Bay Trail that runs along I-80 is a great flat place to run.
You can park on Buchanan (Albany) or at the Richmond Dog park and run all
the way past the Richmond Marina. It is all paved, and there are at least
two places you can stop for refreshments.
Keep running! :)
Carrie
I'm interested to see what people post as well. I love trails and
sometimes flat is so nice. I go to two places. Sequoia Bayview Trail is
right off Skyline past the intersection with Joaguin Miller but before
Roberts. There are always cars parked there on the side of the road. You
can go about 3 or 4 miles (out and back) without any hills to speak of. I
also like Redwood (the main entrance off of Redwood Rd.). The mist trail
(pretty sure that's what it's called) goes pretty far without hitting any
hills.
Happy Running!
Melissa
Jan 2007
I like to run and would like to train for a marathon next year.
My problem is that I get creeped out when running in remote
places by myself - like up in the Oakland hills, which I love.
Does anyone have recommendations for places that are usually
pretty populated, where a woman can feel secure running alone,
and also get enough miles in? Alternately, are there any small
running clubs to join? I already know about Team in Training,
but I can't really adhere to their training schedule because of
the irregularities associated with kids/work/husband's shift
schedule (I've tried). Thank you!
Itching to go
The San Francisco Bay Trail in Alameda is not only very safe and
popular for running, it is breathtakingly beautiful, especially
at sunset. The run is quite long, trails along the water of the
bay with a view of San Francisco, and has ample parking for
runners at the foot of the Bay Farm Island side of the Bay Farm
Bridge right where the trail begins. The trail is by no means
isolated - homes line one side of the trail. There is a dirt
section alongside a paved section, so you won't be competing with
cyclists or strollers, which are as popular on the trail as runners.
I believe there is some information about the San Francisco Bay
Trail on the Alameda-Oakland Ferry website - the trail is
accessible by ferry. The more the merrier (and safer).
Meg
I would recommend Redwood Park, Skyline Gate. There are tons of
people and dogs and many miles of trails to run. There's also a
running club called Pacific Striders, that runs often from there.
They run every Sunday morning.
Oakland Hills Runner
You can run where TNT does, which is along the Bay Trail starting in Emeryville.
Park by the Emeryville Marina or Chevy's and the trail runs right along the bay
and the freeway all the way to Point Richmond. You can veer off and go
throught the Berkeley Marina/Cesar Chavez park/Albany bulb too. I wouldn't go
incredibly early in the morning but it seems like there are always lots of people
there running, biking, roller-blading, whatever. It's nicest on the weekends
when traffic is less but I think people use it every day.
anon
Like you, I don't feel comfortable going by myself on paved
trails in Oakland/Berkeley. For this reason, when I'm by myself,
I always go east of the Caldecott Tunnel. I'll either go to the
Iron Horse Trail in Danville (www.ebparks.org/parks/irontr.htm)
or the Lafayette Moraga Regional Trail
(www.ebparks.org/parks/lafmotr.htm). The Lunardi's Market in
Danville (formerly Andronico's) has a huge parking lot. I'll park
there and go 5 miles to South Main Street in Walnut Creek. It's
paved, flat, very suburban, and most important, safe. I'll then
turn around and go back. For the Lafayette Moraga Regional Trail
there are two parking lots off of Olympic Blvd. and Pleasant Hill
Road in Lafayette. If they fill up (which they usually do), I'll
park on Moraga Blvd. off of Moraga Rd. It's a 15 mile round trip,
also paved, and uphill. The only drawback is that you have to
cross over St. Mary's Road, Moraga Road, and Moraga Way which can
be difficult because of the traffic. However, if you stop at
Moraga Commons, you only have to cross over St. Mary's Road and
you'll still be getting a 12 mile round trip. I always feel safe
there when I'm by myself. It gets hot in both places during the
summer, so it's best to go in the early morning or evening hours.
For a running group, try Transports on College Avenue in Oakland.
I think they have a running group (www.transportsrunswim.com).
Also you can try Pacific Striders (www.pacificstriders.org), Lake
Merritt Joggers & Striders (www.lmjs.org), and Golden Bay Runners
(www.goldenbayrunners.org). Good luck!
Anon
Have you contacted the sports store, See Jane Run? It's on
College in Oakland, but they had running groups and tons of
resources for women runners and athletes.
Good luck on the marathon!
Lupine
1. Fire Trail behind the Lawrence Berkeley Lab - pretty
populated on weekends, not as much during the day mid-week
2. Berkeley Marina - you can do laps at Cesar Chavez Park
and/or run to the other side of the Marina, down to Emeryville
along the water. If you need to extend the run as your mileage
increases you can include a jaunt to the Emeryville Marina down
where Trader Vic's and Hong Kong East Ocean are located.
3. Lafayette Reservoir - I've always felt safe there running
alone mid-week and weekends. Mid-week there are so many new
parents strolling their babies.
4. Tilden Park - One of my favorite spots is Inspiration Point
as they've got the mileage markers posted for you. As it's an
out and return you just increase how far you go out as you're
increasing your mileage with your training runs. This is a
pretty populated walking/jogging area too.
I have to say that the only time I felt un-safe while training
for my marathon was a run I did in Tilden Park near the nature
center/little farm. My friend and I did an out and back run (10
miles so it was 5 miles out and we were way past Jewel Lake or
any area where kids are with their families) and there was an
individual on a bike that just didn't ''feel right''. I've
learned to trust my gut instincts so we turned around, picked
up the pace, and headed back to the nature center. So, I
wouldn't recommend running in this location alone.
If you're interested in a running partner please contact me.
I'm training for a 1/2 marathon later this year.
Kristy
I trained myself to run marathons and have been training in
through Tilden Park for the past 4 years without any problems
(animals or humans). I start in Alvarado Park (off McBride in
El Sobrante) and run the Wildcat Canyon Trail to Berkeley, loop
around Botanical Gardens up to Inspiration Point trail, along
the Nimitz and then back to El Sobrante. The rolling hills are
an excellent workout (especially for neglected hamstrings), as
well as quite beautiful. At first, I was a little nervous about
being up there by myself and carried my cell phone (uneven
coverage) and pepper spray, but 4 years later I don't bother
with the pepper spray (which is iffy anyway, because the breeze
can blow it back into your own face).
As extra insurance, you can take a self defense class for
women. I've taken cardio kick boxing and have confidence that I
can use my powerful running legs for a few well placed kicks
(right in the groin) as needed. But again, I've never had any
cause for alarm running in the park. Never run with headphones
on and tell someone your route for the day and time you plan on
returning home.
Frankly, I think one is in more danger running on the punishing
hard surfaces of city streets, where you are more likely being
hit by a car.
When Tilden is too muddy, I park at Costco in Richmond and run
the Bay Trail through Albany, behind GG Fields, along HWY 80,
loop around Berkeley Marina, along 80 again to loop around the
Emeryville Marina and then reverse the course back to Costco.
Several water fountains along the way eliminates the need to
carry water. There are a few miles of dirt trails along the
pavement, but mostly you'll be pounding your joints on
pavement. But even with all the cars and people along that
urban route, I don't feel as safe as I do alone up in the hills
in Tilden.
Good luck with your training. The marathon is an awesome
challenge/acheivement...welcome to the club!
vicki
April 2006
Hi,
I am getting back into running after some knee troubles. I prefer
to run on rubber/plastic tracks. Does anyone know which East Bay
tracks (Berkeley High/Laney College, etc) are open to the public
and when? I tried various Googlings, but the info was not all in
one place. Is there a Bay Area Runner's Guide or something that
might have this info?
thanks!
I used to run at the Merritt College track for similar reasons. I just
parked in their lot and walked onto the track and ran. The track was
almost always nearly empty. I don't know if this
was officially OK, but it was friendly and open and no one seemed
to care if I was a student or not.
- liked Merritt
Piedmont High has a nice rubber track. It's open to the public on
weekends and after school whenever the track team's not using it - about
4pm to dark, I think. The exact hours are posted on the fence. I think
Edwards Stadium at Cal may also have a rubber track, and it's open to the
public when the track team's not using it. I couldn't find a single
resource for this info, either - maybe you should start one! Gonna run
again if it ever stops raining
The best running track around is at King Middle School on Hopkins / Cross
Street Colusa (approx).
Lots of good trail running in Strawberry Canyon above the campus in the
hills. Head up from Memorial Stadium & park in the dirt lots to your
right. runner for 30 yrs
You can get on the track at Piedmont High and Berkeley High in the
evenings. We use Cal often. The hours are posted on the gate outside
the track. We use it in the evenings between 5:30-
7 although it supposedly closes at 6 or 6:30, rarely do they actually get
around to locking it until 7. There's also a dirt track on the Clark
Kerr campus behind that's open almost any time.
jane.run@gmail.com
Piedmont High has a great track.
anon
Whitter Field, Piedmont High School, has a beautiful track and
field that's open to the public during non-school hours and when
there are no track and field competitions. The track/field is in
a sheltered bowl, great for winter and foggy mornings, but can
get hot during the summer mid-day and afternoons. When your knees/thighs
are ready, there's also a dirt track
around Shepard Canyon Park in Monclair that can be used at
anytime. Lots of folks like to run Bay View Trail, in Joaquin
Miller Park, off of Skyline Blvd. Beautiful woods, wide trail in
good condition, gentle slopes.
recreational runner
Piedmont High School has an all weather rubber track that is open to the
public.
Sept 2005
My husband and I are new to the East Bay but we've lived in the
Bay Area for almost 10 years. We love trail running- especially
on Mt Tam. We bought the ''Trails of the East Bay'' map and have
tried a few but they've been all up hill or all down hill. Can
someone recommend a few awesome trail runs around the Berkeley
area with great views and a variety of terrain? (some hills and
some flats) We've done the Nimitz trail and it's great although
it's paved.
Also, what about 5-10 mile runs around Berkeley? Any
suggestions or favorites out there? (obviously not trail runs)
Thanks!
Julie
Wildcat Creek trail starts in Tilden, near the Little Farm, and
then rolls along, relatively flat, into Wildcat Canyon Regional
Park for a total of about 4.5 miles. It gets very muddy when it
rains, so run it now.
If you want to make a loop of it, and you can stand some hills,
you can start at Lone Oak Rd. in Tilden, take either Gorge (to
Curran) trail or Meadows Canyon trail up to Nimitz, do 2 or 2.5
miles on the Nimitz, then take one of the trails (Laurel Canyon?
Conlon?) down to Wildcat Creek trail and back to where you
started. Meadows Canyon is a steady 1.5-mile uphill, with no
shade, but it is stunning.
Selby Trail, which parallels Wildcat Canyon Rd., is relatively
flat, at least from Park Hills Rd. to the north end.
robin
The fire trail behind Strawberry Canyon rec center has access
both at the top and bottom. The bottom is about 2 miles
uphill, the top is about 2 miles flat. You can access the top
above Lawrence Hall of Science and run 4 miles flat (2 out, 2
back), or you can start at the bottom and go 2 up, 2 down. If
you are really ambitious, you can run the whole thing, 8
total. The turn around point is obvious going either way --
from the bottom going up, it gets flat where you turn around,
from the top going flat, it starts to go down. Nice views of
the bay from the top part...Happy trails!
D. M.
I'm sure you will get lots of posts about this - but there is a
fire trail above UC Berkeley. It is about 4 miles long total (as
someone told me) with the upper half being mostly flat (and great
views) and the lower half being hilly. The lower half starts in
Strawberry Canyon above the pools in UC Berkeley (I think it is
Centennial Dr.) and the upper half starts near the Lawrence
Berkeley Labs on Grizzly Peak. Lots of runners and dog walkers
and it is very peaceful.
There are also tons of trails in Tilden Park that I have not
explored yet that you can look into.
I'm sure you will get lots of posts about this - but there is a
fire trail above UC Berkeley. It is about 4 miles long total (as
someone told me) with the upper half being mostly flat (and great
views) and the lower half being hilly. The lower half starts in
Strawberry Canyon above the pools in UC Berkeley (I think it is
Centennial Dr.) and the upper half starts near the Lawrence
Berkeley Labs on Grizzly Peak. Lots of runners and dog walkers
and it is very peaceful.
There are also tons of trails in Tilden Park that I have not
explored yet that you can look into (you will probably get lots
of responses about this, too).
Happy running!
running mom
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