We're running a relay along the Link 1 Line. You're invited.
The relay will start at Angle Lake station and follow the entire operational line to Northgate, with exchanges and selfies at each station on the way. More than one runner will be assigned to each leg.
Download Route GPXLeg leaders are marked in bold. Underlined name indicates first leg. Times nominal. Follow the live schedule for up-to-date estimates.
On October 1st, 2022 18 runners carried the baton from Angle Lake to Northgate.
Navigation was smoother this year. A better route map meant more people could monitor where we were. As a result, unlike last year, we ran about 15 minutes ahead of schedule for most of the route. This would've been fine, but spreadsheet confusion meant that later runners were given the impression that we were as much as an hour ahead, causing stress as people rushed to make their exchanges.
But the story of this year is the first-ever Light Rail Ultra. Ellis ran the entire course. 6 hours and 28 minutes on foot to see every light rail station in the city (and a couple outside it, technically). If you were to take out waiting and selfie time, it's a feat that would easily fit between the last train leaving Angle Lake at night and the first train arriving at Northgate in the morning. It's impressive today, and it's going to sound impossible to future Seattlites as more stations open and the overnight window (hopefully) shrinks.
It looks likely now that we'll have one or two more goes on this route before East Link opens and changes everything. As disappointing as it's been to watch opening dates slip back, the future of light rail in Seattle, and the future of Light Rail Relay, looks bright.
Nick Walker