In Madison, Wisconsin for the weekend so looked for a run to do while here and came across the Park Run held each Saturday morning at Howard Temin Lakeshore Path. Park Run is a fun run that is free to run and is put on by a dedicated group of volunteers each week. There are runs held all over the world so it’s a great way to meet-up with some runners if you find yourself away from home and are looking for a run to do.

Today’s run was about 2 miles from my hotel so I walked to the race which was held on a nice path alongside Lake Mendota and adjacent to the grounds of the University of Wisconsin. The organizers were friendly and inviting and welcomed first time runners and a couple of out-of-towners like me.

Because the race is held on a trail for part of the run, the volunteers did a great job warning runners to not go out for a PR pace as part of the course was going to be quite icy and difficult to traverse. The route was an out-and-back run so you knew what to expect along the way and the stretch of run that was on a dirt trail was pretty difficult in some spots, more so on the way back as there was a bit more of a downhill slope coming back toward the finish line. Overall, it wasn’t awful running out there; you just had to run smart and the crew of other runners along the way did well to pace each other through the icier stretches of the run.

The race was a gorgeous run alongside Lake Mendota and the cool air was met with sunny morning skies so it was a really nice morning for a run. Finished the run with a time of 28:47, good for 9:18/miles. Not too shabby given the ice that was out there. Definitely will be looking for more Park Runs to complete when on the road again!