Oviedo – Pista Finlandesa

When we lived in Barcelona I found a running track, the Carretera de les Aigües, that lead you along a side of a mountain and offered great views about the city. There is something very similar in Oviedo, too, it´s called the Finnish Track, or Pista Finlandesa, that runs along the side of Mount Naranco. Not sure where did the name come from.

The whole area is given to recreational sport. There’s a running track, a walking track and a huge area for BMX bikes.

On the side of the running track there is exercise equipment with little signs that give you training suggestions.

The flat running track runs for 2.4km then it stops! I found that very frustrating as it’s almost a perfect 5k run but no, you still have to run an extra 200m after finishing the track that you don’t have any way to measure.

At the beginning there are distances drawn on the side of the path in every 500m, then after a random distance of 1.2km there’s a sign on the road after every 100.

The real challenge however starts after the 2.4km sign as if you’re up for it there’s a steep path that goes all the way up to the top of the mountain, to the ‘Chequered Jesus’. (You can read about the mountain itself here.)

There are many people who come here for a walk, run or to walk their dogs. There are benches on the side to have a rest on, two shelters (although you really don’t want a storm to catch you up here) and three fountains, on km 1, 2.5 and 4.4.

And the views…magnificent all the way. Take your camera!

You can reach it via Paso de los Monumentos near town, or via Av. de Pando in the Milán-Pumarin area. Walk to the water tank then keep going until you reach the forest.