anyone know this area ? Is there decent places to train. Ill be visiting down there soon. Thanks
anyone know this area ? Is there decent places to train. Ill be visiting down there soon. Thanks
There are decent places to train in Cville. If you have a chance go to Ragged Mountain Running Shop and they can tell you good places to run. Also at the shop they have a booklet that lists a good number of runs in the area. Ragged Mountain Running Shop is located at 3 Elliwood Ave.
A few places of note:
Dirt Road: It's actually named Ridge Road, but all the runners call it Dirt Road. Hilly dirt road, good scenery, can do 12 miles running both Ridge Road (4 miles) and Decca (2 miles). One time a teammate and I put up mile markers, but one of the residents tore em down.
Panorama Farm: This is where UVA and one of the local high schools have their home XC courses. The XC course is wide with good grass footing. But more importantly there are tons of mountain bike trails. This is where I used to do my weekly 18 milers. Difficult terrain (i.e. hilly and winding trails), but a blast to run on.
Sugar Hollow: Run a jeep trail four miles up and you're on the Skyline Drive (part of the Shanendoa National Park). Pretty damn cool.
Rivana Trails: This system of trails goes around almost the whole parimeter of the city. Some parts are hilly, some are flat.
Camp Holiday Trails: 2 mile dirt road (actually a bit short of 2 miles). A the end of the road you can get on a trail that goes around a reservior (maybe 3 miles around). The trail is pretty hilly, but that's Charlottesville for ya.
Like the other person said, Ragged Mountain has a book with a bunch of the runs to do on the roads. They also should also be able to give you directions to these places. If you can't make it to the shop, let me know and I'll try and give you some directions. There are a few more runs the the UVA team does (Over the Top, O-Hill, Foxhaven, etc.), but you'll need a bit more knowledge of the area. I could try and give you directions for those also if you want. Just email me:
and I'll try and help.