Good morning! I’m still in muddle-mode, not really focused on training for anything at the moment, so I wasn’t too concerned about pace or distance today. However, the desire to run more streets is starting to rev up again. I am approaching the one-year anniversary of starting this project, and I feel like I’ve made good progress this year.
Low winter sun on a chilly, misty morning Running across Birmingham Bridge
Sand mountains piled under the bridge
Today’s run started in the South Side, under the Birmingham Bridge, with Pro-Bike and Run. I stayed with the 9:30 pace group for a few miles and then headed off on my own to catch a few small streets on the other side of the Monongahela.
After crossing the Mon on the Birmingham Bridge, I checked out a few of the small streets immediately across the bridge. Generally speaking, this an area hounded by heavy traffic and poor housing. The urban rejuvenation spurred by Pitt’s growth hasn’t made it all the way down the hill. I went up Beelen St, which has a few houses on the bottom and an isolated house at the dead-end. I believe there are old stairs at the end of Beelen, but I could be mistaken. The residents of the dead-end had parked their cars so that it looked like a private area once you got to that house, so I turned around. I took the opportunity at Mohawk St to run down and up the stairs. Most of it was solid, but in places the handrails weren’t really attached to anything. It’s unnerving to think the handrail is solid only to feel it bouncing in your hand. Those stairs went down to Fifth Ave. The upper side of Mohawk curved up into the hill, only to dead-end in front of a darkened house.
Up to a dead-end or down the stairs
Mohawk St Stairs
Going down to Kirkpatrick again, I came across a section of Allequippa St. There’s a busier section at the top of Pitt’s campus. This section, however, was still paved with blocks and went straight up the hill to a dead-end. A couple of houses on the left were in bad shape. One had the blue “Condemned” kiss of death on it. The other had stairs going up to it. I thought they just went to the front porch, but from maps, it seems that these stairs go all the way up to the Oak Hill neighborhood on the top of the hill. Nonetheless, this wasn’t too inviting, so I turned around again.
At this point, I had run a couple of miles, so I decided to just do a few close-by streets and head back across the bridge. I found myself in an area of better maintained row-houses. Circling the block, I came across a little free library and a couple of well-decorated areas nestled into the hillside. This was a pleasant surprise.
Central Park Library
Clock post
Candy cane sitting area
Orr Street
I made my way back across the bridge in time to have some cookies and coffee at the end of the run.
What an evening for a run! My original plan involved driving to the east corner of the city, doing a short run and then meeting up with my daughter. But as the winter sun started drooping in the sky, a band of snow showers blew across Pittsburgh, and Lawrenceville, in particular. The snow wasn’t much, maybe a half-inch or an inch. However, with temperatures in the mid 20’s and a brisk wind, any snow which melted soon re-froze. In no time at all, the streets were sheets of ice. I found myself on a small street in Upper Lawrencville, with nowhere to go, so I got out and went for a jog. At times, it was no more than a walk.
Icy hill
Stuck school bus
I went up the hill toward Stanton Ave, branching off on McCandless. At the top, where a three car fender-bender was still being sorted out, the street was so icy, a woman extended a helping hand so I didn’t fall. That was very nice, seeing as she was one of the drivers. Up top, on Carmelia St, Celadine St, and Alford Way, the roads were mainly snow covered and pretty much deserted. This is an interesting area. High above Lawrenceville, it is in Stanton Heights, but has a couple of streets and stairs connecting it to the neighborhood below. You can see the tops of downtown buildings and the cliffs above Route 28. It is almost like a rural community in a hidden corner of Pittsburgh.
At any rate, I jogged up and down the snowy and icy streets, eventually coming down the 54th Street Stairs. I was taking an awesome picture of the footsteps in the snow on the descending stairway when my phone literally froze. I was glad to get the run in. Eventually, salt trucks came by and the roads became passable enough to drive again. Whew!
Today’s run started in the heart of the Allentown business district. The section of East Warrington Avenue between Arlington Avenue and Beltzhoover Ave. I kept it simple today, just going back and forth in the alleys and streets on the lower side (south) of East Warrington. This area is like an open ended bowl, topographically speaking. Beltzhoover Ave is the open side and East Warrington, Arlington and Lillan St form the upper lips of the bowl. This area is busy, but a little on the rough side, at least as far as the housing stock goes. Moderately sized houses were stacked against each other. Impressive church spires rose above the bottom of the bowl.
Typical street
St John Vianney Church
Neat Murals!
I had actually mapped out this run beforehand, and kept to the plan. Coming back along Knox Avenue, I was a bit surprised that the UPMC building and BNY Mellon building looked so close. They are about a mile and a half away, as the crow flies. A pied, you would cross some pretty rough, steep terrain and swim a wide and cold river before you could get there!
Looks like those towers are just beyond those houses.
This is my first RATS run since the Indianapolis Marathon. It was through the streets of Upper Lawrenceville on a sunny, but chilly, Saturday morning. Here, there is a mismash of small, older, row houses and fabulously renovated houses. Even the alleys have houses opening up on them. Towards Butler Street, the area is flat, but rises quickly when you go up the numbered streets; 52nd, 53rd, 54th. At the top of 54th Street is a moderately long and winding stairway which leads to Stanton Heights. In the shadows, the light dusting of snow we had earlier in the week persisted.
Flats of Upper Lawrenceville from the 54th St Stairs
RATS #00147 – Just a few miles in Upper Lawrenceville
… Montooth got smaller and smaller, eventually becoming an alley between row houses on one side and a veritable cliff on the other. Then, as the asphalt turned right and became Nina Way, I noticed stairs. Sure enough, those Montooth Stairs DID intersect West Warrington Ave after all. A short flight later…
Glorious morning – Birmingham Bridge over the glittery Mon
Lions, beer kegs, a mermaid, skulls and bones! The runners this cool October morning put on their best running costumes as we gathered for PBR’s Costume Run. After a quick judgement by some Mickey Mouse character, the landed mermaid, with her sparkling green scale tights and bright red hair won the day. A couple of pets were in attendance, getting a run this morning instead of their regular walk.
The “9ish” group sped out at the usual sub-nine pace. The first eight miles were fairly non-descript, running down the South Side River Trail, crossing the Smithfield Street Bridge and circling downtown. We exited downtown via the Armstrong Tunnel. The sidewalk is narrow and the tiled walls have that public restroom effect, so I sped up going through there. I also kept hearing the pitter-patter of feet behind me and didn’t want to slow the whole group down.
Zipping through Armstrong Tunnel
View up the Monongahela from the Smithfield Street Bridge
From there, it was a quick sprint back to the start. At this point, we had covered 8 miles. Grabbing a swig of Nuun and a cookie, I headed back out with a smaller group, dedicated to doing four more miles. This was a smaller group and we did a quick 2 miles out and back to the Smithfield Street Bridge (again). I had a good conversation with a woman training for her first marathon. She’s going to do well, I believe, given her pace and amount of distance she’s put in.
Speaking of distance, I had eight more miles to do to complete the last twenty miler in this training cycle. So far, this run had been on roads I’ve covered dozens of times. I decided to hit the hills and cover some new ground via 18th Street. 18th Street is one of only a handful of streets which cross the great railroad barrier and allow you to progress from the South Side Flats to the South Side Slopes. From the railroad tracks to its name-shifting at Arlington Avenue, 18th Street ascends a mile, rising 500 feet. At Arlington Avenue, I took a new street, Orchard Place, which I thought ran parallel to Arlington. Hmm, a review of the map shows it actually cuts off at a cute 45 degree angle. I was too obtuse to notice, though, and proceeded to run down Orchard Place, confident that Arlington Ave, which I’m familiar with, was only a block away.
RATS #00145 – 20 miles
It was pleasant running here. The street was wide and relatively flat. While it was clear the neighborhood could use a few tank loads of paint, the streets were relatively clean and largely empty. The houses were mainly brick, four square styles with a few bungalows thrown in. As I kept running, my disquiet over exactly where I was grew. But then, as I crested a hill, I saw the Cathedral of Learning in the distance and knew the direction I should go. I should go to college! Whoops, been there, done that.
Cute house with great view
Eventually, I pulled out the phone, checked the map and saw that Montooth St would go straight to Warrington Ave. Yay! Montooth got smaller and smaller, eventually becoming an alley between row houses on one side and a veritable cliff on the other. Then, as the asphalt turned right and became Nina Way, I noticed stairs. Sure enough, those Montooth Stairs DID intersect West Warrington Ave after all. A short flight later and a steep downhill found me almost at the entrance to the Liberty Tubes. I don’t think there are sidewalks through THAT tunnel, so I made my way up the backside of Mount Washington. I wasn’t done exploring. As I made my way up Southern Avenue I took a few side trips. On the right, the streets just went to Boggs Ave. The left was much more adventurous. I found myself on Penelope Ave, passing a puzzled kid sitting on a brick wall, kicking his legs out into space. Penelope wound its way to Ottawa St and finally to more stairs, this longer flight rising to Southern Ave again. Whew! From here, it was just the hair-raising jaunt down the hairpin turns of East Sycamore until I made it to the South Side Flats again.
Twenty miles in the books! Time to reward myself with pancakes, raspberry syrup, eggs and bacon!
September was quite the month. I ran more miles (189) and second highest elevation (12,425) this month than any other. I covered many streets, but still did not get into the Big Southern neighborhoods. Nineteen September runs got the “RATS” Badge, covering new streets. Here’s the wrap up.
RATS #00117
RATS #00117 – covering the last bit of Nicholson St finally
RATS #00117 got the badge for finally crossing off Nicholson St off my list. Whoo!
RATS #00118
RATS #00118
This run originated in Shadyside and traversed into East Liberty. The Strava route is a bit misleading in that the first few miles actually went on South Graham St, crossing the East Busway on a pedestrian walkway. Little Brownwell St has some neat old houses on it. Unfortunately they now only look wistfully over at Bloomfield across the wide bus way.
RATS #00121 Pre-run, run, a pre-run run
RATS #00121
A couple of miles before my initiation into Sami’s runs, singing tunes!
RATS #00122 Sami’s Run!
RATS #00122 Sami’s Run
This is a run worth the explanation. Let’s go into the Wayback Machine. …whooowhooowhooo <flashing lights> …
…landing a few years ago on a random Tuesday. In those days, Steel City Road Runners had a track workout. Elijah would run it from the Schenley Park track. (A few more “whooos” of the Wayback Machine would have taken us to the CMU track…) A man of more medals than words, Elijah religiously taught us the “A-skip”, the “B-skip”, and brought “high-knees” and “strides” into my vocabulary.
Then there was “reorganization” within Steel City. (Oh, no!!) At some point, the remaining leadership decided to cut track. Like energetic saplings rising from the trunk of a felled trip, several small running groups have emerged. One of them, HPRC, I have mentioned often in this blog. Another one, which I like to call pTNT!, is Perry’s Tuesday Night Track group. Perry was one of the coaches in Steel City and carries on the track tradition. In addition to posting about track, pTNT! also posts about other runs going on. That’s how I found out about Sami’s Thursday runs. Sami is part of HPRC, but, like me, has some issues getting to those 5:30am runs.
So, we started, promisingly enough, at Silky’s on Liberty Ave. Nothing but wide open, nearly flat streets! But Sami had other ideas. We galloped into Oakland via Centre Ave. That was worrisome, as Centre keeps rising. But then we cut over to Bayard St. Ah, nice trees, slight uphill. But then, up DeSoto! Up Terrace! Up Allequippa!! Now on level with the top of the Cathedral, we caught a little break on “Champions Dr”, only to climb up the backside of Centre Ave again! Five miles, 460 feet of elevation, it wasn’t easy. Luckily, it also ended at Silky’s, and they were stocked with Runners Honey, aka beer.
RATS #00125 – Ascend Runner Party
Ascend Run Club RATS #00125
In addition to climbing, yoga and some fitness equipment, Ascend also has a small run club. Tonight’s run was inspired by the promise of beer and Chipotle after the run. That was quite the right promise, as they had nearly 50 runners show up. The routes were three, five and seven miles. Needing lots of miles, I went out with the seven mile group. What they didn’t mention was that they were moving at a 7:30 pace!! Like the last hippo in Jumanji, I struggled to keep up. After four miles of lightning speed (for me), I slowed down to a more comfy pace and caught a few new streets. It was a good run, with good food and friendly faces.
RATS #00126
PBR Run, RATS #00126
This run was with Pro-Bike’s Wednesday night group. A few new streets around Schenley Park earned this run a RATS badge.
RATS #00127 A Northside Pre-Run Run
Exploring the North Side before a group run. RATS #00127
Nothing too spectacular about this run. Eloise St was longer than I expected. Manchester streets are pretty desolate. Many houses must have been taken down, so there’s lots of open space.
RATS #00128
RATS #00128
This was a group run from Allegheny City Brewing. I believe the two blocks of Middle St, earned this run the RATS badge.
Steuben St Doughnut Run RATS #00130
Doughnut Surprise on Steuben St: RATS #00130
This was a recovery Sunday run after a long run on Saturday. I had gone to the the West End Overlook to take some pics and just wandered a little from there down Steuban St. This area is super hilly. Going down from the overlook, I took a long flight of stairs at the end of Fairview, which took me to Furley St. A couple of blocks of stairs…pretty impressive. A couple of turns later, I took the Amherst St stairs up from Chartiers Ave, which eventually took me to Steuben St. The neighborhood coming off the overlook was reminiscent of Morningside – small houses, close to each other. There were lots of people out, fixing cars, mowing lawns, walking dogs. Steuban St. was a bit different. It is an alternate route for drivers going to the Western suburbs, so it can be pretty busy. In this area, the houses are a bit farther apart, bigger yards, but not very cozy. Then, going up a large hill in the sun, I saw this sign:
Ahhh! A sign runners love to see!
Not the best sign, but a woman coming out of the store said “They’re open! I drove from Ohio to get these! You’d better get one!” I smiled and nodded and planned to come back. Another mile along this road and I returned. This time, people were parking randomly along the road and coming in and out the store. I went inside and searched for my cash while a young couple came in. The woman was impressed that I had run there and offered to buy my doughnut. I thanked her but declined, having come up with the dollar required. It was still warm!
The reward
RATS #00131
RATS #00131 Polish Hill
A short run in and around Polish Hill. Lots of narrow streets and stairs in this cliffhanging neighborhood.
RATS #00132
RATS #00132
A moderate distance through Shadyside and Friendship. Caught some new alleys in Shadyside.
RATS #00133
RATS #00133
Starting in Grandview Park, I ran some of small streets perched over the Liberty Tunnels.
Starting in the West Side of Pittsburgh for a change. RATS #00119
Today’s run was one of four possible group runs, all with their own attractions.
Steel City had a later run going at 8:30 from the garage.
Perry’s group had a 20 miler going from Market Square. The last time I ran with them, it was pretty fun.
HPRC, another fun group, was running from a Point Breeze coffee shop, nice and close.
What tipped the scales for the Pro Bike Run from Chartiers Avenue? Well, I’ve been running Pro Bike’s Saturday run somewhat consistently and enjoy that 8:30-9:00 min/mile pace group. Not too much chatter, but a couple of good leaders and some very quick feet! Next was the allure of running in an area which would contribute so much to covering new streets of Pittsburgh. My first “official” RATS run was from Esplen, but I hadn’t gotten back out here again. Even though it was a bit far, mileage-wise, it still only took me ten minutes to drive to the Chartiers Ave starting point, no longer than any other option. Finally, the run planner, Kelly, was collecting teacher’s supplies, a good cause.
There I was, at 7:29 and fifty-five seconds screeching into a on-street parking spot on Chartiers Ave, just up the street from The Education Partnership. I grabbed my phone, clicked on the Forerunner 220, hoping the satellite would lock in before the run started. Kelly was just finishing her pre-run pep talk when I got to the group. The faster folks bolted out and then my group.
The first mile was steep, with grades up to 12.7% grade before we got to the top.
I start slow. Not super duper slow, but usually I’m the last person in the pace group at first. It takes some time for me to warm up and get all the muscles, sinews and joints in gear. This time was no exception and steep start was no help. We immediately went up Chartiers Ave, on our way to the West End Overlook. Once we got to the West End Overlook, it was time for pictures and a little water break. The downtown skyline looked magical as the sun broke through the fog. We lingered for a little, got a group pic and plunged down the hill. The sun picked up strength as we crossed West Carson Street en route to the West End Bridge.
Downtown and long shadows waiting for the light to change
The route showed that we would have a water stop on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail after crossing the West End Bridge. So, we expected to see some tables with beverages after we trundled across the bridge and down the stairs on the far side. And we were not disappointed! There was table after table of beer and pop. There were people grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. We were temporarily stunned at this extravagance, until we realized these were Pitt fans gearing up for the 11 am football game! After a little exploring, we crossed a gravel lot, found the break in the chain link fence and found our own water stop – a five gallon jug of clear, crisp water. Ahh!
From here, the group broke up a little. The folks doing seven miles went one way, the folks doing ten or eleven went another. Eventually I ended up in a group of four. We cruised along, promising the joking football fans that we’d be back for a beer. Our route did take us into the heart of the football revelry, right past Heinz Field then over the Fort Duquense Bridge. As we circled the Point, we could see the band marching and hear the oompahs of the tubas, the blare of the trumpets and the boom of the bass drum.
Soon after, I split off from the group. I had an idea I might be able to meet up with a friend at a coffee shop across town and didn’t want to wait for a pit stop. Turns out, the coffee shop plan didn’t pan out, but by the time I got that message, I was already zooming up West Carson St.
I had twelve miles on my feet when I got back to the run headquarters. Busted coffee shop plans meant I had more time and I resolved to get in sixteen miles. Gobbling a Honey Stinger Waffle and sloshing down water, I took off for more hills. I went up the other direction on Chartiers; strangely enough, still uphill. This section of Chartiers Ave is a wide, busy, curving street. On the left was a steep green hillside going up. Across the street on my right were several large parking lots and various business warehouses. Further along is a Comcast antenna facility, with a dozen large satellite dishes pointed at the heavens. Chartiers Ave keeps turning to the right, but I stayed straight and went up Straka St, which becomes Berry St. This was my first time in the Crafton Heights neighborhood. Berry St was directly uphill, again, and none too picturesque. As I wandered in the streets off of Berry I discovered it was a cute neighborhood with lots of tree cover and medium sized houses. Finally calling it a day, I was lucky enough to find that the Litchfield Street Stairs went back to Chartiers Ave. I made my way back to the start. Sixteen miles done!
That was quite a run. It had hills. It had flats. It had photo ops and it had boring sections. There was camaraderie and there was solitude. It had lots of new streets. Thanks Kelly and Pro Bike for getting me out there!
RATS #00115 – Yard Way and Battle of Billy Buck Hill Part I
Like any good battle, this one started innocuously enough. Just run a few streets in the Flats, scurry up a street in the Slopes for the elevation then come back down. I didn’t realize then that I had picked a fight with one of the toughest hills in town, Billy Buck Hill. Perched above the Southside Flats, on the right as you go up S 18th St, Billy Buck is reclusive. I had actually come up a section of Josephine St and wasn’t even planning to visit Billy. But then short, straight, Pius St seemed so benign that I couldn’t resist. And the quaintness of “Yard Way”, with its street sign and cute stylized pedestrian climbing it sucked me in. How bad could it be? Well, Yard Way stairs start at Pius St and goes six rounds, crossing Gregory St, Magdalene St, Roscoe St, Baldauf St, Huron St and Shamokin St before the final bell. Luckily, each round I was able to take a break and run the little streets just mentioned. It was a modest neighborhood. The mostly well kept spectators, neat little houses, watched in silence. On Baldauf St, as I huffed along, a large brown deer with dark splotches on its coat, froze in silence just feet away.
The driver’s way up, on Oporto street, was nearly as steep as the stairs. Then Oporto St becomes a set of stairs! Ha! But I had had enough and found my way down to the flats again. I had missed a couple of streets, but I’d be back.
Yard Way – Proper Designation for Stair Street
One Section of Yard Way
Just in case you got lost, here it is again
Oporto St – the main street up Billy Buck Hill
Whoops! Oporto St becomes stairs, sorry car
Massive Staircase Under Mission St Bridge
RATS #00116 – Brosville St and Battle of Billy Buck Hill Part Deux
Billy Buck Hill, the rematch.
This time, I knew what I was in for. I wanted to avoid Billy’s left hook and make it past him to Arlington Ave. My route was up South 12th St which becomes Brosville St. That’s right, I was going straight up the gut. The tight curve which took me from South 12th St onto Brosville wasn’t too bad. Broad sidewalk stairs quickly put me above the rooftops on the Flats. A short bridge over active railroad tracks put me at Billy Buck’s foot. I feinted right, going up Welsh Rd. That proved exhausting. A dead end-street with a 15% grade. (Or something like that). No sign of life, except the light brown cat washing himself in the middle of that street. Pausing at the bottom of Welsh, I took a couple of pics of the church steeple towering on the hill above.
Now for the main round, up Brosville St to the end! I paused a moment at St. Michael’s street (another long set of stairs), but didn’t fall for the “oh come up the stairs trick”! No, I kept punching up Brosville St. This area was pretty deserted. A few houses sprawled out on the wooded hillside. To the right was an entrance to the Knoxville Incline Overlook Park. Only giving it a quick glance, I kept on. Finally I got to the Penguins of Allentown. Yay! I had made it past Billy Buck once and for all! Now I glided down Arlington Ave, back to the South Side Flats. Nice knowing you, Billy. Lots of respect.
Friendship Perk & Brew – start of run, thanks to HPRC
This was a cool run, both in temps and character. A cold front had pushed out the scorching August heat. The day was sunny, too! The Highland Park Running Club had met at Perk and Brew earlier in the morning and their runners were finishing up. Many were relaxing outside or lined up inside getting coffee and ice cream. I chatted a bit and then set off. My plan today was to do a few streets in Friendship and then take off to Morningside.
Running in Friendship was great! The flat, tree-lined streets were lined with large brick houses. There were many runners and walkers out. Children rode bikes and parents pushed strollers. I liked the street names, too; Harriet, Evaline, Winebiddle, South Pacific and South Atlantic, to mention a few. Even the alleys had cool names. Who can resist Asterisk Alley?
My overall goal was to run at least 13.1 miles, a half-marathon distance. I wasn’t exactly sure how many miles I’d get in Morningside, so getting two or three in Friendship would be a good start. Peeling off of Harriet, I went up Roup Street, then zig-zagged over to North Aiken Ave. North Aiken is one of the few of theses streets to go straight through Garfield. It also rises precipitously once you’ve crossed Penn Ave. Another zig and another zag found me on Chislett Street, which would take me into the heart of Morningside.
Morningside is a long narrow neighborhood nestled between Highland Park, the Pittsburgh Zoo and Stanton Heights. It is comprised of four parallel streets, Chislett, Jancey, Morningside and Duffield, and an equal number of alleys. At their northern end, are bluffs overlooking the Allegheny River. There are a number of cross streets, too. Also, at the end of Chislett and to the right is a section of short roads and alleys. While Friendship is tree-lined, Morningside is mostly open. Small lots with small houses line the streets. It is packed with people; few vacant houses, no open lots. As I ran on Chislett, I passed a coffee house and a few other small businesses. This was rather plain running. Then, at the end of Chislett was a nice view of the Allegheny River. Making a right onto Witherspoon St, I came to a flight of public stairs. Of course, I had to go down them, whereupon I realized I was very near the road entrance to the Pittsburgh Zoo! That was a little surprise!
I re-traced my steps back to Witherspoon and did the necessary ins and outs to run the warren of streets there. The edge street, Antietam, directly overlooks the zoo entrance. At the end of Antietam, a baseball game was in progress at Natoli Field. Also a working water fountain! (Yay!)
From there I went back and forth on Jancy Street, Morningside Avenue, and intervening alleys; stopping for a moment at a Rite Aid to get some OJ. I spied the Adelphia stairs (there’s a street sign on them), but resisted the urge to run up them. I was getting tired and wasn’t going to cover every street at once. I made my way back to Perk & Brew, via North Negley and Mellon Street, getting in a solid fifteen miles.
From Friendship to the end of Morningside: RATS #00111
