[whatwillannd]

hi everyone! ive signed up for a 5k in march and i'd like to get off the treadmill to train. silly question, i know, but can anyone tell me how to access the outdoor track? as well, are there any 5k-ish routes near campus that would be safe to run in winter near campus?

thanks!

[olive2]

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/?

Search here for 5k routes, lots of ideas!

[katrinabell]

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ is good for making your own routes, its what I use. There's the rail trail that runs behind the metro plaza that isn't too bad as long as there isn't much snow, it just gets kinda muddy. Also, you can run down the longwood hill in westdale and do a bit on the paved trails there.
Every thing gets kinda slippery and sucky but running on packed snow isn't bad. Today was bad for a run! Yuck, very slippery.

[katrinabell]

PS what 5k are you running?

[kldv]

SPARTAN SPRINT!!!!! Rawr!

[whatwillannd]

Originally Posted by katrinabell

PS what 5k are you running?

the around the bay 5k. my first race! i'm very excited, but nervous as well.

[Maegs]

Make sure you do some runs with hills in them, there are some small ones along the Bay & Back 5k route

[katrinabell]

Originally Posted by Maegs

Make sure you do some runs with hills in them, there are some small ones along the Bay & Back 5k route

I second this
If you live near the university, the Osler hill is pretty good and the Cootes hill is long and shallow. It might be good to start on Cootes and work your way up to running the Osler hill

[whatwillannd]

thanks everyone - this is super helpful.

i work & study at the university, but don't live near here. can anyone let me know how you get to both of the hills mentioned? i'm not familiar.

[katrinabell]

Cootes drive is just beside McMaster and goes down into dundas. If you follow main street towards University plaza (west) the road turns into Osler drive. Heading down into Dundas again is the Osler hill, which is the steeper one.