Med School Stairs

Portland is a great city for running; a lot of urban parks, a lot of trails and a lot of ways to work in both pavement and trail running in the same outing. The city also has a variety of great urban features that can add immensley to a good workout.

For a more intense leg builder I rank Terwilliger Boulevard and the Medical School Stairs (as I call them) at the top of my list. Terwilliger winds from downtown all the way to Tryon State Park, and along the way passes some great scenery. A paved path parallels most of the road, which is itself rather hilly. About 2 miles from downtown (starting at SW Washington and Broadway to 6th Ave to Terwilliger), or about 4 miles (starting from Tryon Creek and Boones Ferry Rd) lay the Med School Stairs. They start on Terwilliger and descend up to what I thinki is the Veteran's Hospital. I am not sure how many stairs there are, but its enough to get legs burning. It is the closest I've come to a stadium run in Portland.