• By running •
[2 MIN READ]
Long running has allowed me to do some serious exploration of various localities, including Philadelphia. Most of that running has been of the out-and-back and loop varieties. After all, you generally have to get back to where you started.
However, point-to-point can also be an extremely practical type of long run. Sometimes the best way of fitting a long run into the day is to get to a destination with an alternate plan for getting back. Since I’m regularly going to Chinatown for faith-related purposes (at the church where I’ve worshiped and otherwise participated in activities for all the decades that I’ve called the greater area “home”), I’ve been able to make Jenkintown-to-Chinatown work a few different ways.
One common way is to start from my Jenkintown address and go right down Old York Road to Broad Street. With slight jogs to get over to the top of the route and from the the bottom to get to 11th Street, the whole effort makes for a tidy 11 miler. People have challenged the sanity of doing this route (which threads North Philadelphia whose reputation can seem unsavory), but I’ve never had any trouble nor experienced reason to be concerned.
Not infrequently, I’ve also been able to do tidy, convenient half-marathon distances by hitching a ride to the top of Forbidden Drive on a Saturday morning for an SRC run. That run goes from northwest Philly along the Wissahickon Creek to Kelly Drive and Ben Franklin Parkway (instead of finishing back through Manayunk and Roxborough, per the usual).
A different benefit of long runs of these sorts is the ability to see in slower motion what I’d otherwise only see at motor-vehicle speeds. You can miss a lot going that fast. Another bonus is the ease of a train ride back home to Jenkintown station or the blessing of social engagement while hitching rides down to Forbidden Drive or back home from Chinatown with Wife or accommodating friends. Once in a great while, the effort of doing the reverse run has made for an outstanding total marathon-training effort of 22 miles, split in half by a practical, intermediate rest period. There’s much to appreciate from unusual efforts.
-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative split or positive splat” #dothedue
FINE PRINT ¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ¶Cross-posted: (1) Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run (2024’09’18’W Run Message), (2) GGR email list, (3) Cerebruns by CtCloser. ¶This website posting: Cerebrun only with added caption.
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