Sightseeing While Running

One of the things I love best about running all over this city, is that you get to check out neighbourhoods and pathways that you would have never noticed normally. I love the seawall, but I try to mix it up a bit, because I also love running down streets I've never been on before. And I'm pretty sure that at least half of the marathon I'm running in Greece this November will be me gawking at the scenery - yes, I'm taking my camera with me on the run...but even in Vancouver there are excellent opportunities for sightseeing while running. This weekend I'm torn between the Shaughnessy 8K Road Race or the Rotary 10km Seawalk Run in West Vancouver. Both are neighbourhoods I don't normally wander through, and both are on Sunday morning.

The Shaughnessy run meanders through "undulating historic residential streets of Shaughnessy and Kerrisdale" (map) while the West Van one "takes the runner on a beautiful return journey along the West Vancouver waterfront of English Bay. An out and back course starts at The Village of Park Royal South, and continues down a trail along the Capilano River through Ambleside Park and along the length of the scenic Centennial Seawalk to the turnaround at Dundarave pier."

Normally the clincher would be that the Shaughnessy run starts at 8:30 AM as opposed to the 7:30 start in West Van, but my training schedule says 12.8 K for this weekend, so I think I'd better go the extra mile, so to speak. Has anyone been on either of these runs?

Image courtesy of mikebaird on flickr.