I may have a chance to go to St. Joe's for a visit in the near future. Looking at the map on mapquest looks like it is in western Philadelphia and that it is surrounded by a lot of green. Anyone know what the area is like? Safe part of town? Good running, parks, etc? I see a botanical park, but usually those are no good for running. thanks for any input.
WHERER MY IHOP
fairly close to fairmount park and good running paths/trails...neigborhoods change quickly in philly,
st joseph's is an okay area...not aware of any shootings/murders in recent weeks.
You're on City Line Ave, just off of the Main Line. Towns like Wynnewood, Narberth, Ardmore, Penn Valley are all a stone's throw. Safe streets in any of those towns(just to the west...take City Ave S to Lancaster W). Haverford College is only 2-3 mi up Lancaster with a nice 2.4 mi Trail loop. Of course, you're close to the park/river as well(in Philly) with the boathouse loop being a flat 8.4 around. Lots of good options abound.
Nice. Thanks for the info. I'll likely be staying as close as possible to the University - whatever hotel they put me in. Is it easy to just head out the door and get into a nice quiet neighborhood or park?
the coach is kind of a dick. don't tell him I said that
are you going for a school visit? or work related? do you know what hotel you are staying at? if you are down on city line by rt.76 you can easily run to belmont (5mile home course), run the river on kelley drive, or even quick drive to valley green.
Work. No idea where I'd be staying. It's still a ways off.
The nearest hotels to St. Joe's are about a half mile north of St. Joe's University on City Line Avenue. There is a Hilton, a Crowne Plaza, and an Adams Mark. All are within about a mile of one another, with the Hilton being the closest to St. Joe's. All the communities on the west side of City Line Avenue (across the street from the Hilton) are very nice residential areas that I ran in for years and you can't go wrong. The streets, however, are not squared off, so if you don't have a GPS to get you back to your starting point, it is not difficult to get a bit lost the first time you run them.
If you want a pleasant route into the surrounding communities and you are staying at the Hilton, head down Old Lancaster Avenue, which is right across City Line, until you reach Montgomery Avenue. Turn left on Montgomery and you can run for miles on that street. There are really nice roads that branch off Montgomery (with some good hills in places, but most have no sidewalks so you're truly on the road)that are very peaceful and make for beautiful long runs, especially on a weekend, but again, easy to get lost on without a GPS.
There are many beautiful places to run in Philadelphia near St. Joe's once you know the area. Someone mentioned Forbidden Drive in Fairmount Park, which is an amazing trail run within the City and truly beautiful, as is much of Fairmount Park. Fairmount is close to St. Joe's. The River Drives in Fairmount are fine to run on and you will usually see many runners out, but I wouldn't venture off them-some of the surrounding areas are not great for a solo runner.
Depending on where the hotel is. Anything downtown is...well....downtown. You would be limited to stuff in the park/river area pretty much if running from the hotel. On City Ave, you can get down to the river drives easily, or head through Bala into some nice quiet neighborhoods like PennValley/Narberth etc. Same if running from St. Joe's; head west into the Lower Merion neighborhoods like Wynnewood, Merion Station, Narberth or even Ardmore. Alot of top guys train out this way. Jen and Terrence used to be around, Blincoe,Bobby Curtis, Carmen Douma-Hussar and others, so the training can't be all bad. Good luck and happy running.
And if you are going to be here for awhile (especially if you have a car) Valley Forge Park and the surrounding area is somewhere you should check out. Great mix of flat (some mile marked) paths and rolling hills (some trail, some paved).
Heck, if it's good enough for Catherine the Great...