This past weekend, my running group from Tri State Running Co., based in Edgewood, drove up to join our fellow Ohio runners at its second store in Mariemont. We had a nice group-run into Hyde Park and back.
Hundreds of runners, both loners and those from several running groups, joined us along the course. At time, it seemed like a traffic jam along Erie Avenue, the main drag through the Cincinnati neighborhood.
It was a nice run. Some nice landmarks. We ran along a nice paved trail about a mile long through Fairfax. We passed the Mushroom House along Erie Avenue. It was nice.
But truth be told, nice is kind of boring. Nice is running up and down suburban streets, running along the same course with hundreds of others. Sometimes, you want something a bit off-course.
Contrast it with a run we had earlier in the week, originally planned to go down and then back up Turkeyfoot Road. It was to be another nice run through suburban streets. But a third of the way into the run, our pace leader, Karen Emark Minzner of Independence, asked with a mischievous grin if we wanted to take a detour.
Now normally, Karen likes to portray herself as the mom of the group, always making sure we do the right and sensible thing. So when she suggested going off the beaten path, you know it’ll be a treat.
And it was.
She said she got the idea from her husband Jon Minzner, a doctor, pace coach and runner who has never seen an off-road he has not taken. The night before, she said, he was looking up alternative routes, and he determined that a trip up to Flagship Park was in order — and would cover the same amount of miles.
“I was not surprised he was planning a deviation from the map; his group is quite good at that,” Karen said, adding that if she chose to follow, “I worried, as I often do, that I might lose someone or that I would irritate someone by changing plans at the last minute.”
But she also found running the regular route to be gloomy.
“After a while, the car noise on the road made conversation difficult,” she said. “Waiting for lights at crosswalks became annoying. I decided that running to the park was a much better idea… When we reached the water stop, I told my group that we could get off Turkeyfoot and run to the park. I was surprised everyone was all for the route change.”
Karen was familiar with the changed route and liked it. She soon found out the other runners shared her pleasure.
“I enjoyed the newfound quiet and was impressed with everyone’s awe of the change of scenery, and their comments of how much better it was,” she said. “I guess it was something I had started to take for granted.”
When she realized the amended route might end up a quarter-mile or so short of the planned nine miles, “no one seemed to care. Everyone was just happy to be out in nice weather, with nice scenery, and good company. Some of the perks of running outside, besides getting physically fit, include getting to see new things in a new way and having great conversations with people. We got both on that Wednesday run. It’s amazing to discover what you’ve been missing in your own backyard.”
Sometimes, one does not plan for the detour off the beaten path. Instead, you’re forced into it by the very nature you’re enjoying.
That happened on an earlier run this month around Lunken Airport in Cincinnati. It was a Thursday evening, breezy and warm, and local running legend Harvey Lewis was pacing and leading the pack.
Joining us was Sheena Baylon, a co-worker of mine from Campbell County. Sheena’s a soccer player, but she’s had surgery on both knees this year. Her running game needed work, and we had run together a few times, averaging about three to three-and-a-half miles each time.
I asked her if she were up to running five miles that day. She shrugged and asked why not? But she told me later she wasn’t sure she could do it.
The run started out as a nice, easy run on the smooth, flat, paved path around the airport. Until, that is, we came down a short, steep hill where the path weaved around the ball fields and golf course. Well, it was supposed to weave around. In reality, the path was underwater, with nothing to be seen but swampy bogs all around. While we wondered how we might have managed to take a wrong turn, Harvey came loping through the marshy field with a giant smile on his face. He waved to us, turned around, and bade us to follow. What choice did we have?
“We splashed and skidded through streams of muddy water,” Sheena said. “It cooled off our feet (and) refreshed my spirit. At this point, I had been close to taking a walking break. But it is simply impossible to walk rather than run through mud puddles.”
Why wade when you can run?
“On each stride, I plopped my foot down heavier than usual just to watch murky water burst upward and cover my fellow runners. It was really fun. We giggled like school children. A little water — and in some places a lot of water — can really break up a monotonous run. It was just the motivation I needed to keep going. I would sacrifice pace for fun any day.”
Paul Long writes weekly for the NKyTribune about running and runners. For his daily running stories, follow him at dailymile.com or on Twitter @Pogue57