Whenever I am traveling for business, I try to map my runs in such a way that I see at least some of the sights. And when I traveled to Barcelona, I was set on running around the Olympic venue.
I had seen that my hotel was not too far from there, but it was much closer than expected. I stayed at the Catalonia Barcelona Plaza, which is at Plaza Espana, right across from the Montjuic fountains. I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but we were in town for a large conference and they booked all the women into suites on the 7th floor of the hotel, which was very thoughtful! The suite was spacious with good beds, and the bathroom was even larger.
As soon as I was settled, I put on my running gear and went exploring. I went straight up to the fountains, then up the hill. My warming up was running up and down the stairs next to the Museo Nacional (there are escalators but that’s not me) and then on to the Olympic Park. You enter the Park through the gates next to the Stadium. The picture below gives a view from the top of the Stadium all the way down to the circle at the end of the Park.
Once you are in the Park, you can run around the Stadium. It’s a bit of a slope but not too much. Three quarters around, there is an open area, where you can look inside. My run took me along the Palau Sant Jordi and then to the beautiful Communications Tower that looks like an athlete holding a flame. After you run around the circle at the end and turn, you’ll pass the swimming pools that are positioned higher up so you can’t actually see them.
It felt very, very special to run the Olympic Park. There were a few other runners but not too many visitors so I went 2 rounds (1 full round = appr. 2km). And because it was so special I took time 2 days later to do it all over again!
To make sure you realize just how much there is to see, I’m adding a satellite view that captures all the monuments so you can see how special run this is:
Happy Running!
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