a run on the coastal trail

Seriously, I think the best thing about Anchorage is the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.  It runs from downtown, past the airport, and all the way to Kincaid Park, along the edge of Cook Inlet, for a good 12 miles or more. The views of the inlet are fantastic, and the scenery is just beautiful any time of year.

So on Saturday, when I went in to Anchorage to pick up the bib for the Resolution Run 5k on New Year's Eve, I had to take the opportunity to go for a run on the coastal trail.

Of course, I took Daisy with me, and we started at Westchester Lagoon.

At first, I was only going to run 3 miles, but when I got to the planned turnaround point at mile 1.5, I just was not ready to turn around, so we went another half mile. When we got back to Westchester Lagoon (mile 4), I wasn't really ready to stop running yet, and I hadn't run over the new bridge yet, so we ran another half mile towards downtown, before heading back to Westchester Lagoon, for a just over 5 mile run.

As usual, it was absolutely beautiful:

There were huge blocks of ice along the shore, and although we don't have a lot of snow, we have enough to turn everything white:

Seriously, if you are visiting Anchorage and need someplace to run, walk, or bike (or cross-country ski most winters,  but not this one, not enough snow), you just can't go wrong with the coastal trail. Plus, it's easy to access from several points downtown.

When we were done running, we got back in the car to head home, and Daisy immediately laid down in the front passenger seat and fell asleep. I guess it was a good run for her too :)