Head to the West Coast for the Eastside 10K

Vancouver needed a race that explored this running mecca beyond Stanley Park and the Seawall. The Eastside 10K gives you a chance to run through the city’s most colourful neighbourhoods for a truly compelling city race.

In its short, three-year history, the Eastside 10k has become one of the most popular races in Vancouver. Now heading into its fourth year, the chance to run through the city’s oldest neighbourhood has made this race a highlight of the Vancouver fall racing calendar. Race directors Clifton Cunningham and Tom Skinner say the lack of a fall 10k that avoids the now overdone setting of Stanley Park led them to develop a neighbourhood race on Vancouver’s eastside. “Vancouver isn’t a very old city, but we wanted to highlight our most historic and vibrant areas,” says Cunningham. “It’s a unique neighbourhood, it’s the heart of the city.” In fact, organizers made the popular decision last year to emblazon the city and mountain skyline onto comfy cotton blend T-shirts for runners instead of the usual technical shirt.

The course has rolling hills and a lollipop route, starting and ending downtown by the Beatty Street Armoury. The first kilometre is fast – runners f ly down the Georgia Viaduct to Strathcona, Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood, and into a short climb past its picturesque homes. A sharp left at Strathcona Park takes runners into a winding route across East Hastings into old Japantown, an area heavily inf luenced by CP Rail, the B.C. Sugar Refinery and the Hastings Mill. There’s an aid station here at the 3k mark – also the 7k mark on the return – before the course turns left onto Alexander Street, which, at the turn of the last century, was Vancouver’s Red Light District.

From here it’s a fun downhill into trendy, touristy Gastown, an entertainment district known for its nightlife and loft living. “My favourite thing about the Eastside 10k is running through Gastown with its cobblestone streets and historic buildings,” said 2015 participant Greg Faber. “On race day last year it was pouring rain, but it actually made the experience extra-special.” The halfway point is here and runners make two sharp left turns that take them past the statue to Gastown’s namesake, “Gassy Jack.”