Keeping Fit in Seattle

Thomas M. Gaskin

If you are an OAH conference participant who wants more exercise than pushing yourself from the table at the Sheraton Hotel’s $19.50 breakfast buffet, Seattle has much to offer both indoors and out. For fresh air activities, the weather should not be a major concern during the convention—the average high is 55 degrees, the low 40 degrees, and average daily rainfall is one-tenth of an inch. Even if the weather turns nasty, the saying in Seattle is, “there is no bad weather, only bad rain gear.”

To make sure you have the right clothing for outdoor exercise, take a trip to the flagship store of the Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI) (222 Yale Avenue N., 206-233-1944), just one mile from the Sheraton. Established in 1944, REI ranks among the Emerald City’s top sightseeing attractions. Here you will find sports clothing and equipment of all types. The store houses a sixty-five-foot climbing wall (reservations advised), a mountain bike test trail, gear-testing stations, and all the Gortex clothing you might need for your visit to Seattle.

For those conference participants who want to enjoy the scenic sights of Seattle while on a run, the concierge has a map for a three- and five-mile excursions from the hotel to and along the waterfront. Another popular running area, although 5.34 miles from the hotel, is Green Lake, one of Seattle’s favorite parks. The centerpiece of the park is a 323.7 acre lake that has a 13.5- foot asphalt path around its 2.8-mile perimeter, used by joggers, walkers, bicyclists, and roller skaters. In 1986, terror spread among regulars at the park when it was reported that an alligator was in the lake. After an exhaustive search, two caimans, a relative to the alligator, were found in the lake, evidently deposited there by their owner. The largest of the animals was two and a half feet long. Today, visitors to the park will see a multitude of birds and waterfowl in an idyllic natural setting.

At Green Lake you can also rent canoes, paddle boats, and rowboats from Green Lake Boat Center (206-527-0171). Another area to rent a canoe or rowboat is at the Waterfront Activities Center (206-543-9433) located directly behind University of Washington Husky Stadium on Union Bay and the Montlake Cut (4.05 miles from the Sheraton). For kayak enthusiasts, the Aqua Verde Paddle Club (1303 NE Boat St., 206-545-8570) near the University of Washington (4.02 miles) rents kayaks for $15 per hour. Possibilities for kayak rental closer to the hotel (1.89 miles) is Moss Bay Rowing and Kayak (1001 Fairview Avenue N. 206-682-2031) and (2.04 miles) the NW Outdoor Center (2100 Westlake Avenue N., 206-281-9694), both situated on Lake Union.

For those individuals less interested in paddling than pedaling, bikes can be rented for $25 for twenty-four hours at Play It Again Sam (1304 Stewart, 206-264-9255), 1.13 miles from the Sheraton. Near the University area, Montlake Bicycle Shop (2223 24th Avenue E., 206-393-7333) also rents bikes. One of the most popular areas to ride is on a former railroad right-of-way, the scenic fourteen-mile Burke-Gilman Trail that serves hundreds of bike commuters and recreational cyclists each week. For a longer ride, the Burke-Gilman Trail also connects to the 10.7 mile Sammamish River Trail that goes to Marymoor Park in Redmond.

If you want to hit a ball across the net, the concierge can make a reservation to play tennis at Seattle University. The concierge can also provide assistance to individuals who want “a good walk spoiled” by playing golf. “A game,” according to Winston Churchill, “whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose.”

For indoor activities, the Sheraton Seattle Hotel’s newly remodeled fitness center, located on the thirty-fifth floor, contains a comprehensive exercise room with state-of-the-art Life Fitness Signature Series equipment. The two-level gym has an indoor pool and Jacuzzi, a nice view of the city, and is free to overnight guests of the hotel. At forty feet the lap pool is too short for serious lap swimming, but the Downtown YMCA (909 4th Avenue, 206-382-5010), only slightly more than a half mile from the hotel, has a twenty-five meter pool that nonmembers can use as part of a day pass for $10. Bring a lock to keep your valuables secure. The Seattle Athletic Club (2020 Western Avenue, 206-443-111), three-quarters of a of a mile from the hotel, has basketball and racquetball courts, as does the YMCA. The fee for using the Athletic Club is $15 per day.

A half-mile stroll to the Columbia Center (701 5th Avenue), the Pacific Northwest’s tallest building and its seventy-six story staircase will provide a strenuous workout for the most athletic OAH members. Last year the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society had 2,667 participants in the “Big Climb” fundraiser. The top male finisher completed the 1,311 stairs in 7:39.55 minutes. The top female finisher was done in 10:15.45 minutes.

If the stairs seem a bit much, a tour of Safeco Field, the home of the Mariners Major League Baseball team (1250 First Avenue S., 206-346-4001), 1.46 miles south of the hotel, will be less strenuous. The Mariners season starts April 5, so the one-hour tour at $8 a ticket will be your best chance to see the field. Tickets can be purchased at the Team Store at the stadium, and tours are at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. Nearby Quest Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks National Football team (899 Occidental Avenue S. #100, 206-381-7582), also has tours Fridays and Saturdays, at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m., that last ninety minutes with a $7 ticket from the Pro Shop.

The list of activities above is not meant to be a complete examination of the possibilities for exercise in Seattle, but rather some suggestions. If the thought of exercise seems too time consuming and exhaustive, perhaps rooting for your favorite men’s basketball team in the NCAA regional tournament games on television will be a diversion until you can return home and restart your exercise regimen.

Thomas M. Gaskin is a profession in the department of history at Everett Community College and is a member of the 2009 OAH Convention Local Resource Committee.