Running Newton Hills on a Saturday morning?

Yes, it's feasible. No it will not be crowded.

Totally doable. As an MA resident I run along the course most weekends. Once you get into newton there’s even the carriage roads off-street to run on. Only thing is you’ll have to get back to wellesley and there isnt a ton of transit to out there. Uber would be best

malmo--Good to hear it's feasible. Thank you.

yepppp--I just plan to run back.

mjk63 wrote:

I've been training for the Boston Marathon and got the idea to drive up to Massachusetts this Saturday morning from Connecticut and run the hills through Wellesley and Newton for my weekend long run. I was thinking I could maybe park the car with impunity at the Wellesley Hills branch library on route 16 about a mile before the I-95 overpass and run that stretch of route 16, then turn right on route 30 for 5 miles or so past Heartbreak Hill to the BC campus and turn around and run back to the library. Does this seem feasible to anyone who knows the area? Are there sidewalks to run on? Should I expect a lot of other runners on a Saturday morning?

Thanks for any suggestions.

I personally like starting at BC going out in reverse and finishing as the course would go. But Newtown has the carriage road which there will be plenty of people running on it. Heart Break Running Company usually has a water cooler set up outside. As it gets closer to the marathon, the charity groups set up tables basically from Wellesley college to the top of Heart Break.

If you are a little more creative, park in Natick, take your phone with you and run the distance you want, finish at the top of Heart Break and then order an Uber/Lyft to your car. Best case scenario is to have a friend to drop off/pick up as well.

Long story short, enjoy the course, Saturday is supposed to be beautiful.

Pay attention to the downhills -- where they are and how steep they are -- especially at 15.5 miles and the one at St Ignatius right after Heartbreak.

Another nice parking spot is near Reilly Memorial Rink on the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Brighton, people meet there for runs all the time (usually head west on the course or Beacon St, and then come back on the course)

yokell wrote:

Another nice parking spot is near Reilly Memorial Rink on the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Brighton, people meet there for runs all the time (usually head west on the course or Beacon St, and then come back on the course)

I always part there and do out and back long runs out to Wellesley and back unless I am doing a LR from Ashland commuter rail (~ mile 1-2) to the finish then I park in back bay and take the commuter rail out to ashland (or you could do a closer town) and run into the finish.

Park by the Chestnut Hill Reservoir - there is tons of free parking on weekends - Just google map/street view look at the area.

Park, Lock things up in your car. Walk to the Reservoir T-Station.

Take the Green Line D-Train Outbound to the Woodlands Station.

This drops you off at this condo complex parking lot. That parking lot is on Washington Street, roughly mile 17 of the marathon.

I like to go backwards along the course for 3 miles as a warm-up, which takes to a Whole Foods with a nice bathroom. Quick bathroom break, and then run miles 14 - 21 (hitting the 4 Newton Hills - 1 on Washington Street; 3 after the fire station turn onto Comm Ave. You can finish out your run with some tempo laps around the Reservoir, or you can loop back and head west on Beacon for a mile or two, cut back onto Comm Ave at Centre Street and then hit Heartbreak a second time.

I do a variation of this almost every weekend from January to April. It's a good routine

mjk63 wrote:

I've been training for the Boston Marathon and got the idea to drive up to Massachusetts this Saturday morning from Connecticut and run the hills through Wellesley and Newton for my weekend long run. I was thinking I could maybe park the car with impunity at the Wellesley Hills branch library on route 16 about a mile before the I-95 overpass and run that stretch of route 16, then turn right on route 30 for 5 miles or so past Heartbreak Hill to the BC campus and turn around and run back to the library. Does this seem feasible to anyone who knows the area? Are there sidewalks to run on? Should I expect a lot of other runners on a Saturday morning?

Thanks for any suggestions.

I think your plan is fine. You might get a lot of runners on Saturday, since that's when most of the charity groups do long runs. It'll probably be pretty quiet until you get past the firehouse, though.

Chestnut hill reservoir is a nice starting point, but most of the parking is 2 hours except Sundays. Although you can easily park in Oak square (Brighton) instead and be on the course in a mile.

Isn't that 2 hour limit only during Mon - Fri?

I thought it was free all day on Saturdays as well as Sundays

Mass Resident wrote:

BrightonB wrote:

I think your plan is fine. You might get a lot of runners on Saturday, since that's when most of the charity groups do long runs. It'll probably be pretty quiet until you get past the firehouse, though.

Chestnut hill reservoir is a nice starting point, but most of the parking is 2 hours except Sundays. Although you can easily park in Oak square (Brighton) instead and be on the course in a mile.

Isn't that 2 hour limit only during Mon - Fri?

I thought it was free all day on Saturdays as well as Sundays

Oh damn, you're right. Good to know!

You can also park for free on weekends at the Wellesley FarmsT-Stop parking lot. About a half mile from 16/Washington, and then another mile to the I-95 overpass.

I believe the running store in Newton, Heartbreak Hill RC has group runs on Saturday mornings??? I was visiting the area and met for a group run but it was in the summer.

The Heartbreak Hill Running Company hosts runs on Saturdays beginning at Centre Street and Comm Ave (mile 20 on the course).

It will most likely tackle all of the hills you are looking for.

If you are going to run the hills - take the advice of those here who said to get some miles in before them. You don't just want to see these hills - but you want to see them with some fatigue in your legs. Each of the 4 uphills has about a one mile break in between, Until you get to the last one. Heartbreak only gives you about a 1/2 mile break between climbs.

i have done that many times when i used to run boston every year (now 74 so not possible). can run from wellesley right to the finish line and turn around and head back. once you get past BC and head in a along the tracks it gets more crowded. you can take a parallel street from coolidge corner on your left going in and get some extra hills. be careful, if it rainy/slushy spray from the car tires can really make it miserable as your lower legs and shoes get saturated and it becomes a hard run back to wellesley. an alternative is to go to the firestation at the base of the hill and run it twice from the station to BC. that way there is a carriage road with no traffic at all next to the course and you get to do the hill twice.

Framingham/Worcester commuter rail line almost exactly parallels the course from Ashland to Wellesley Farms, then picks it up again in the last mile at Lansdowne and Back Bay stations. So if you want to run more of the course but one way, just pick a mile marker and park at that station. Outbound trains every two hours on Saturday. Parking at the stations varies from free to a few bucks, then just bring a credit card to buy your return ticket at a machine.

spokane xc--Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll park there instead of at the library.

To everyone else--All your advice has been helpful. Thank you. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

mjk63 wrote:

spokane xc--Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll park there instead of at the library.

To everyone else--All your advice has been helpful. Thank you. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

I ended up parking across the street from the Wellesley Hills branch library, at the Congregational church, because there were so few spots at the library, I felt bad about taking one up. The church parking lot was nearly empty.

What a great place to run. The weather was fantastic, incredible to run in shorts and short sleeves near Boston in January. The wind was gusty and always shifting directions but even the wind wasn't cold. Bizarre. The carriage road along Comm. Ave. really makes it easy. There were plenty of other runners but no crowding at all. It's really a pleasure to run that stretch of the course.

I started at the little library and ran to the river, and back and out again, then into Newton for the four hills until the Brighton line at BC, and then back to the library, to the river again, and back once more for a little over 17 miles. The Newton hills, both up and down, were less steep than I expected. The toughest hill for me wasn't in Newton but running back from Wellesley center to the library, maybe because it was into the teeth of the wind yesterday. I ran it four times total but it won't be part of the race, since we'll going east and not west.

Thanks to everyone for your help.