Squirrel Hill North, Squirrel Hill South, South Point Breeze
3 miles or 5 miles, but it is actually 4.56 miles
We’ve run this a million times, but I’ve never gone THIS way.
Turn left onto Homewood. We’re parallel to Homewood, we’ll never intersect!
Go straight on Linden to Beechwood. No! To get to Beechwood, we need to take a right here!
At least we’re the slowest group, so we can follow all those fast runners. Hey, why are they running toward us now?!?
Is there another running group doing this route? Wow, lots of fast folks passing us now! What? They are ALL PBR?!
March 6, 2019 will live in infamy as that strange twilight on which 98% of runners reported running the wrong way, pace and/or distance. Apparently the Bermuda Triangle has moved northwest. Why wasn’t it warmer?
“Why Darling? It’s only 1.32 miles from start to finish. You can do that, I’m sure.”, she says, tossing her lush black tresses over her bare shoulders. “But it’s dark, and chilly and hilly, and I don’t know where I’ll end up!” I whine.
Movie scripts going on inside my head, sparked by the street’s name, “Darlington Avenue”. It isn’t far, but I’m not too motivated and this street is, indeed, hilly. I’m not exactly sure where I’ll end up, but I think it will be around the Schenley Golf course. There’s also the added benefit of being able to actually traverse a street COMPLETELY in one run.
So, I mosey on. Darlington Avenue is a hidden gem, with large houses and nice lawns. It is one way in several spots and is just one block south of Forbes. Where it intersects Beechwood Avenue, Darlington climbs up a steep hill and provides an amazing short-cut to drivers going to Beechwood. From the top of that hill, Darlington crosses all the major Squirrel Hill arteries, Shady, Murray, Wightman. It passes the old Silky’s (now “The Warehouse Pub & Grub”) right next to the Manor Theater. It passes behind the JCC and St. Edmund’s Academy on it’s way to the Schenley Park Golf Course.
Running it is pretty nice. Only have to dodge a car once in awhile and I could always run on the sidewalk. After Wightman, the street becomes almost park-like. There are a few other runners out. Getting to the Schenley Park end, I have a choice – take the easy route and go up to Forbes, or dive down on Serpentine Drive to Bartlett. Being lazy that night, darling, I take the easy way out.
It has been a few weeks or so since I last blogged. Sorry about that! As it is mid-way through March, I’ll just post all the February runs I’ve missed.
Run all the streets 0023
Run All The Streets 0023
This was a run with Pro Bike from Church Brews Works, which was unfortunately closed that Monday. Nice run with fun folks.
Run all the streets 0024
Run All The Streets 0024
Wednesday Night Run with Pro Bike
Run All The Streets 0029: Praying Mantis run
Run All The Streets 0029: Praying Mantis Run
This was a short run in time and distance. I slugged up and down the broad hills of Beechwood Blvd, coming across a 25ft spruce snapped off a few feet from the ground by recent winds. It was still windy and on the cooler side. The itch to explore got the better of me and I finished off Phillips Avenue as it plunges toward Frick park, ending in a cul-de-sac. Then it was up to Beechwood and down into Forest Glen Road, another little hide-away making inroads into Frick Park. Both of these housing spurs had fairly nice houses, almost suburban, mid-70’s styles nestled down into the Park. As the trees and hills rise above you, it’s easy to believe you’re in the mountains somewhere.
Run All The streets 0030
Run All The Streets 0030
This was another Wednesday run with Pro-Bike. I was very slow at first, but eventually gathered steam and picked up speed.
That’s all for February, folks! Thankfully, temperatures will start to warm up and it will be light later.
Perry Hilltop, aka Perry South neighborhood of Pittsburgh
Highland Park Running Club (HPRC) is a new group on the Pittsburgh running scene. It is mainly publicized through Strava and word-of-mouth. While the ‘club’ might be new, the runners are familiar faces to me, having run with most of them. Today’s run was part of their coffee passport series, where they run from different coffee shops each Sunday. This week, they were running from Colony Cafe. Colony Cafe is in the Strip District, but almost downtown. I drove by on time, but with no immediate parking, I had to circle around, eventually parking a few blocks away. As I got out of my car, the group had started running in my direction. As they passed, I started running with them. This was my second run since my fall, and I just couldn’t keep up. Going across the 16th Street Bridge, I gradually fell back. It wasn’t that they were going tremendously fast that day, I was just very slow. I saw glimpses of them, as they ran along East Street and made the turn onto Federal Street.
I continued up Federal Street. It was a sunny and a bit chilly. Ahead of me an older man started running up the hill. I thought, “there’s a local runner, I’ll follow him”. Federal Street goes from the Northside flats to the top of the hill overlooking it. It was quite a climb and I almost caught the other runner as we approached Lafayette Street. Going uphill felt good on the knee and I decided to run up Seabright Street. I hoped it would go through, but alas, it dead-ended at a house, in spite of how the Strava map looks. Those houses were cute and well kept with great views of the downtown.
At the top of the hill, I looped down toward the left, traveling down West Burgess Street. At one empty corner lot, there was a memorial to baseball players, I think primarily Negro League players. It was at an empty lot along Burgess Street. There were about 10 “billboards”, each one painted to look like an enlarged baseball card, a two foot by three foot wooden display. They were planted upright in a semi-circle. I wish I had taken a picture, because I can’t find any reference to it on the maps.
Burgess Street continued it’s rolling journey, dead-ending in a little subdivision at the side of a cliff. The subdivision looked like it had been built years ago, with some recent updates. The cliff overlooks the California-Kirkbride neighborhood, with the Ohio River in the distance. And so, I bounced around dead-end streets looking for an outlet back to the Northside Flats. Holyoke, Ridgeway, all looked promising but led to dead-ends. Again, the Strava map insists on a connector street that just isn’t real. Yale Street, at the end of Ridgeway, is a tangled greenway, blocked off at the end by Jersey barriers, not a through street. The houses were a jumble of styles and upkeep, clinging to the steep hillsides.
I finally made my way down to the Mexican War Streets again and found my way back to the Colony Cafe. I got there in time to enjoy coffee and renew acquaintances. Oh yeah, one of the ‘features’ of Colony Cafe is that they have an area in which you can meet and greet homeless cats up for adoption. That area requires a reservation! But I did see a gray cat with white underbelly peering down at us.
Turtle Way in the East Allegheny Neighborhood of Pittsburgh
This was a run from Threadbare Cider with Steel City Road Runners Club. Threadbare Cider brews their excellent ciders there and often have tours attached to a yoga class, or another activity. But tonight, this was a scheduled run organized by one of the Steel City leaders. No explanations of making cider this time! This was also my first run in a week. I had fallen on an earlier run, bruising a knee and hand. In the grand scheme of things, it was nothing. In my running, it was a set-back.
Setting out just slightly after everyone else, I just couldn’t close the gap it seemed. Then I came across Turtle Way and thought “how appropriate”! I took a pic and trundled down the dark alley. (BTW, I don’t think there are ACTUALLY Godzilla-sized turtles in East Allegheny, as shown on the map. Didn’t see one, at least.)
But, to my surprise, one of the last groups was stopped at a light. It turns out a runner had become light headed, and everyone was waiting for him to feel better, with phones out for a quick 911 call if needed. He recovered, the group started running again, me with them. I had the pleasure of talking with Neil, a runner friend who has just recovered from a brain tumor. It was great to see him out running. We talked about falling, recovering and moving on.
Moving on, we did. The group spread out, some faster, some slower. As we looped around Allegheny Center, I passed a few women who had started walking, but was far behind those who had kept running. The group was now spread out. Some doing five miles, some doing three miles. As it was my first time back, I chose three and slowly made my way back to Threadbare.
From one goofy intersection to another, that’s South Dallas/North Dallas Avenue. The southern end of South Dallas Avenue springs from Beechwood Boulevard, going a mere 100 feet before it hits a red light (mostly) at the intersection of Forbes Avenue. Quiet as a cemetery, this is an attractive neighborhood with impressive, large houses in the $660,000+ price range. From a runner’s perspective, it is also roughly the start of the Great Race, a popular 10K in September. Tall oaks spread their branches and rain down acorns on the houses. Driveways curve up behind the houses.
Running here was a bit hilly, and South Dallas goes up briefly again as it runs past cemeteries and forms a boundary between Point Breeze and Squirrel Hill. You pass between Homewood Cemetery on the right and Smithfield East End Cemetery on the left. Just now looking up Smithfield Cemetery, I am duly impressed with its heritage.
“It began as a church grave yard to the oldest organized church in the City of Pittsburgh—the first German Evangelical Protestant Church—which was founded in Pittsburgh in 1782 ”
Once you get past the cemeteries, South Dallas becomes nicely straight and slightly downhill. A breeze to run! Continuing on South Dallas Avenue, you’ll notice the houses perhaps getting marginally smaller, but the neighborhood is still pricey, and you’d pay at least $250k for houses all the way to Penn Avenue. The area is still aesthetically pleasing with rather large yards and mature trees.
Continuing past Penn Avenue, South Dallas becomes North Dallas. The houses are still impressive, but the area is not as well maintained. A couple of blocks past Penn Avenue, North Dallas takes a plunge, dropping 100′ in a few blocks. The neighborhood takes a similar plunge as North Dallas passes under railroad tracks and eventually peters out at the weird intersection where Bennett Street peels off from Frankstown Road. Houses in this neck of the woods are much smaller and go for around $50k.
So, I’ve done Dallas, South and North, and wind my way back through Homewood. This area has a bad reputation in my mind and I am pretty cautious. A week after running this route, a rather spectacular crime was committed in suburban Monroeville area and the perpetrators used Homewood as staging area. Vigilant police ended up breaking into a home of an 80 year-old grandmother in their search for a victim. That is still in the courts, I believe.
So, there’s reason to be cautious, but looking around, while I do see run-down row houses, I also see typical three-story Pittsburgh brick foursquare houses neatly maintained with a decent yards. What would those folks in Southside Slopes give for a flat driveway? Not much, I suppose. Alleys straight as an arrow, disappear into the distance. Again, it’s amazing what a mile will do. My trek back to the start was just a long climb out of the valley. Long gradual hills that my warped Pittsburgh vision calls “flat”.
Ah, Hazel, that bewitching color between brown and green, subtly shifting with the light. There was lots to think about on this run. I started running through South Squirrel Hill and into the Summerset subdivision. It’s relatively new and was built on the mountains of slag dumped there during between 1922 and 1972. (NYT article: Houses Are to Replace A Pittsburgh Slag Heap) . That development spurred some other interesting things, including the Nine Mile Run Organization which has done a lot of work to clean and take care of the Nine Mile Run watershed. This has directly impacted Frick Park, with improved natural areas and the removal of some old playgrounds. For those not familiar with local usage, a “Run” is a creek. Many have “mile” designations which approximate how far upriver (from the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny) the creek empties into the river. Thus Nine Mile Run empties into the Mon approximately nine miles from the Point.
Summerset Archway
View of the Mon
Slag Heaps on Other Side of Nine Mile Run
Running out of Summerset, I carefully crossed Browns Hill Road and made my way up Imogene Road. Taking a quick detour down Desdemona Avenue, I skipped the stairs which would have taken me back to Browns Hill Road and went up Johnston Avenue. Summerset was a dense subdivision. Desdemona was lined with modest houses. Johnston Avenue was deserted. A long trek up a big hill with not much around. A high slope to the right and a sharp drop to the left. But after the crest was one of the Kane Centers, Kane Center, Glen Hazel. After that, just a number of small cul-de-sac’s with modest homes which look like they were built with great expectations but have been neglected a little. With just this one run, I ran most of the street mileage in Glen Hazel.
Happy to be out of that somewhat eerie area, I descended to Second Avenue and made the brave decision to climb Hazelwood Avenue. Late in most of my runs, I stop worrying about streets to see and start worrying about how to get back to my car. It was the same here, I knew Hazelwood Avenue would eventually take me back to a familiar area. One mile and nearly 400 feet of elevation later, I was back on Browns Hill Road. Whew!
Running through the area, and looking at the map afterwards, I was thinking about why some areas are expensive, why some are cheap. I reflected on the location of the Kane Center in a hidden, deserted part of Pittsburgh. I thought about how big the Calvary Cemetery is and how much space in Hazelwood is “greenway”, while right down the road, houses are pressed together. No answers here, but invitations to think about how the city has evolved.
If yesterday’s run was LSD, this was speed. The sidewalks were finally dry of snow and ice. It was warmer. I had a plan and only a limited time to do it. Zoom! Zoom!
I sped down Beacon Street’s wide windings, only momentarily detouring into little drive to apartments, as shown with a little red hook on the map. Beacon arcs onto Hobart, just inside Schenley Park. I caught the lights and blitzed down Panther Hollow Road as it schimmied and twisted through the park. In the summer, Vintage Grand Prix speedsters tear up the track. In the winter, only runners do. I hit the bridge over Panther Hollow, pushing hard on the accelerator. It felt good.
Now into South Oakland, I made the hard right onto Parkview Avenue; shoes squealing just a little. My plan was to hit a little alley; Collinson Place and take the next street, Edgehill. Well, they were both small alleys. Edgehill was really a driveway along the back of the houses on Parkview. The occasional barking dog and sounds of toenails scraping the high fence only made me put the gas on more. I blew down Edgehill Street, rocketing over Swineburne all the way to Childs Street. Childs is no-outlet, ending in a cliff above Swineburne. I reversed gears, backtracking till I could take the next turn onto Orpwood, a car mecca. One lean scruffy dude in jeans checking the engine on his 1972 Chryler New Yorker with the hood up. A portly middle aged man waxing his 1988 red Ford F-150. An official Ferrari repair shop with a Maserati parked in the back.
It all made sense now. I don’t think it would have been proper to come here slowly. At the end of the road, in the setting sun, I put it in park for a moment, taking in the views. Then, I slowly backed out and cruised home.
It was cold, even on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Starting in Squirrel Hill, as I often do, I ran toward Schenley Park. It’s a beautiful, heavily wooded park with winding roads, hills, playgrounds, a golf-course and a lake.
Up Serpentine Drive
Stone Bridge in Ravine
After a couple of miles, I emerged into Central Oakland. This part of Oakland is dominated by student housing of all sorts. There are upscale condo/townhouses and street after street of apartment buildings and houses re-muddled into apartments. The area is pretty flat and the streets are relatively long, straight and in a grid. The area was busy with students. I remembered that as a student, I was always worried about money, classes, jobs, homework, girls and family (not necessarily in that order). As a father with college age children, I want to say to them “Don’t worry too much, do your best and you’ll be fine”. However, I do know that their lives are opaque to me, I don’t know their struggles and that they will have to find their own way. So, I just run past, nodding a silent greeting. Who knows if they gave any thought to the old guy lumbering past them?
Typical Residential Oakland Street
And lumber past I did, cutting down Neville Street as it plunged into Panther Hollow. I ran under Schenley Drive and Forbes, eventually emerging in North Oakland, with its large institutional buildings, museums, churches. I found my way back along Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside before turning up Negley Avenue back home.
Hey there, we’re half-way through February, Valentine’s Day is over and the weather is flirting with Spring. So, it’s about time to show you the other runs I did in January. All of my posts to this point have been directly related to ONE run. Sometimes long, sometimes short. This will be different. I’ll show you the Strava maps I’ve taken for a number of runs, with just a short sentence or two about each one. I have made pretty good progress in January, with nearly 110 miles and over 7,300 feet of elevation gain. I’m still working on listing which streets I’ve run, which is quite the endeavor in and of itself. February is feverishly waiting in the wings.
Run All The Streets 0014
Clearly a Steel City Road Runners run. Look at those downtown loops!
Run All The Streets 0015
Pre-Pro Bike run. Getting some elevation and doing ALL of Douglas Street! Yay!
Run All The Streets 0016
The Pro-Bike & Run route going through Point Breeze, Squirrel Hill, and Shadyside.
Run All The Streets 0018
The Pierogi run! Seventeen miles with Pro-Bike and Run with a CF fundraiser at the end. That was an awesome run and a great time afterwards. I might touch on this one again, as we did some interesting places, such as the Armstrong Tunnel.
Run All The Streets 0019
Looks like another Pro-Bike & Run group run. I must have been running with somebody to keep a nice route like that!
Run All The Streets 0020
This run was clearly on my own – look at all those little dead-ends! This marks the last run of January for me. As I recall, there were a couple more days in January, but they were very cold ( no warmer than 10 degrees), so I was prudent and didn’t run outside. This effort to run different streets sometimes means I just run one street away from a “normal” route, or that I take that little red-brick alley off to the side.
Now, on, on, to February and the next 100 miles in this journey!
