I've been running from QV down through south philly at lunch and am getting to know the area pretty well but I get the impression this isn't done much. Where do people who live on the east side run? My inclination was to just head south and then east but eventually that puts you in neighborhoods where a white guy running around isn't all that popular or probably recommended esp late evening. Any further north and I'm getting into pretty congested areas where I have to stop for every light. I'll probaby try deleware ave this weekend but it looks pretty boring and noisy and ugly.

Is it possible to run over the gwb bridge and are there parks to run in over there. I only go over there to buy booze so I don't have a clue what's over yonder.

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Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

Skroah,

Funny you should ask this as I run from QV all the time. I have a set little loop whereby I run down Bainbridge to Broad and then down Broad to Chestnut. I usually go down Chestnut to 3rd street and back up to QV. Pretty flat but that is the way I like it these days as my competitive running days (HS and college) are far behind me now...

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"If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." -- David Viscott

My old route was from 5th to Front to the South Street Ped bridge, across and over to the Columbus plaza then out on to the penisula/landings and back. When I was a slow and fat POS - it was approx 30 min.

It's got the least lights and interruptions I could find.

That being said, I no longer run outside unless I'm on the road. Concrete is just awful for me. Running on a treadmill has done wonders to save my knees. Is it boring? Sure. But CNBC keeps me preoccupied and my 991s keep me out of pain.

The recent weather has made me yearn to do the route again...

-G

Yes, but how exactly are you getting to the George Washington Bridge
and who'd want to jog to Brooklyn?

The Ben Franklin Bridge has sidewalks/walkways along it-
it's a great view as you go up, especially on a sunny day, I've only bicycled across it, it's a little hard to compare distances.


Jersey?

I know the local park system mainly from a bicyclist point of view
(too darn impatient to jog, I wanna see quick changes in scenery)

There's actually a fairly extensive park system in Camden County,
out between Pennsaucon and Haddonfield, with a runner and bicycle loop
around Cooper River Parkway.


Somewhere there's a list of the jogging route from Rocky - may have
been on the Philly film & tv locations.

Fairmount park just put back the boxer's trail above West River Drive, replaced the asphalt sidewalks with a softer grit/gravel surface.

Another neat area for running - easy on the knees- would be FDR Park,
or Bartram's Garden, even better is John Heinz preserve.

Hal

Yes yes ben franklin. I always keep insulting him by calling it the gwb. I'll try the bainbridge to broad route and then i'll try running across the bridge. I pretty much hate running and mostly ride but a little variety is nice. Running around south philly offered plenty of variety heh. I hadn't ventured that far down 2nd street since the mummer parade and that was a faded hallucination. It really is a trip down there during the day.

I'm not a serious or long term runner so I just want interesting loops around here to get in shape. I'm working on fixing up the mtn bike right now and then I can retire the smelly sneaks till next year.

__________________
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken

Hal sez:
Hal, you may be an ace on Philadelphia geography, history, etc . . . but you better leave the NYC stuff to Brooke and me. GWB doesn't go near Brooklyn - but you'd better run fast through the Heights (Washington Heights). Once you get to Riverdale, you'll be okay.

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“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

Yeah, was thinking Bronx, but since it dealt with a bridge the fingers wrote Brooklyn.

Hal

Er, last time I checked, the GWB connected northwest Manhattan with Ft. Lee, New Jersey. Hal, was it YOU that labeled the Gray's Ferry Bridge as the University Ave. Bridge! You just lost my vote for mayor. You've been holed up in Telford and the Clemen's grocery store for too long.

Has anyone ever walked over the Ben Franklin? The one time I did it there were some decidedly shifty-looking characters hanging out about mid-span, and after it occurred to me how isolated you are out there - no way out but to continue in either direction - I picked up the pace considerably.

Never walked across - never had the need, but I've bicycled across it a bunch of times.

The center is a natural place to stop and enjoy the view, although I've seen a fair number of people jogging, some who look like they're walking to work, and some who look like they bored and just hanging around.

There are PATCO police who drive back and forth just before they close the gates to the walkway, they go up and down every now and then.

Hal