Okay this is one that I’ve been wanting to do for awhile because its nearby and I’ve been there before. Chainline Brewing has a main location in the new park place downtown Kirkland area, but they also have a “Chainline Station” along the old train tracks, which have been converted into a running trail through Kirkland.
The Run
I did the run with a friend of mine along that running trail, I think officially called the Cross Kirkland Corridor or something like that. We parked at the Bar and did just a straight up and back 2 miles each way, an exact 4 miles round trip. It was easy as can be. We ran it real casually in 36:41, so a 9:09 pace. My average heart rate stayed down at 162, which is a bit better than usual. I would probably attribute that to the 6 feet of TOTAL elevation gain, which is essentially nothing. It was almost 80 degrees though which should count for something difficulty-wise. This trail also extends and connects to trails quite far along Lake Washington, so I think in the future I’d like to do a longer run on it.
Okay since we’ve been acknowledging other workouts as contributing to the “run” portion, I will also add that we met 2 more friends immediately following the run and played pickleball for about 45 minutes after having a beer at the station. The pickleball court is technically I think built by the massive Google offices that are right there, but I am including this because the proximity of the court will no doubt affect the total score of the run and the bar.
The Pub
The bar, as stated before was Chainline Station, and I’m calling it just the bar because their brewery is technically a little down the road, but I feel like this essentially counts as just an extension of their brewery and not realllly that separate. Anyway, this place is great. It is built in an old train car, keeping up with the theme of the trail, and all seating is fully outside. Which makes it great when its nice and sunny out. I can’t really speak for what they do with it when the weather is miserable because I have never thought to come then. There is also a really neat garden connected with all sorts of plants and produce, which I think is ran by google employees? But cool to stroll around there. Not sure if it’s the bar itself or the Google amenities around it that are really going to be carrying this place to a high score. Anyway, moving on. As for the beer itself, we shared a pitcher of the North Cascade Light Lager, which was quite refreshing an easygoing on the hot day. Nothing exactly special about it and no complaints. After further review of their website later, (aka while writing this) they have a couple of other beers I would like to try next time or at their main location. The Trail Gnome west coast Ipa sounds pretty good, but the big one that I want to give a try is the Dark Olympus BBA Stout, which is on their limited release list. As a fiend for a good stout, my eyes are always peeled for one, and would be interesting to compare it to the Fremont one.
Okay so as stated before, it’s the whole outing, so pickleball, garden, weather is all a factor on top of the basic just run and the pub. Were about the enjoyment here.
RATING: 7.7