Jester Nother Run

Last year the "Austin Runner" magazine published a list of the top 10 toughest hills in Austin. I no longer have the magazine, but it's a useful list to have so here it is.

	Route	Difficulty Rating
1.	Beauford Dr	10
2.	Courtyard Dr	10
3.	Jester Blvd	9
4.	Ladera Norte	8
5.	Rain Creek Pkwy	6
6.	Mount Bonnell	5
7.	Lost Creek	5
8.	Wilke Dr	4
9.	Stratford Dr	2
10.	Exposition and Balcones	2

This morning I met up with Roger at 5am to do a 9 mile hilly run that incorporated the top 3 (Beauford, Courtyard and Jester). It was a really cold morning and we had a great run, averaging just under a 10 minute mile pace which was pretty good considering all the hills involved.

Roger was going on to run Ken's loop, but I headed off to the Hill of Life to meet another group of friends for a greenbelt run. It was still cold and my hands quickly got numb. I had some gloves in the car, but for some reason I left them there. My hands did warm up after a few miles, but my fingers swelled up with the cold and they still look like fat sausages. Despite that, it was a beautiful morning for a run and a good chance to catch up with some chat and banter.

And it all added up to a lovely 20 mile day, done and dusted by 9am which is always a bonus.

If anyone wants to try a really good hilly run, I mapped out the Jester loop here, but be careful on the portions that go along the shoulder of 2222 and 360.