Run 52: We Ended up at Home

We ran all around the city and ended up at home. 

But it wasn’t where we started.  About two-thirds of the way through, this project led us to the house and the neighborhood that we now call home.  On our Pleasant Ridge run we came across a stucco craftsman with an open house sign.  When we returned the next day to check it out, we fell in love with the details in the woodwork, the French doors, and the magnolia trees in the front yard. 

We hadn’t planned to buy a house (Too busy! Too much work!) and we hadn’t planned to leave Mount Lookout (Ault Park! Zips Cafe!) but on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we found ourselves with a new set of a keys and lots of boxes to unpack.

 

For years—living in O’Bryonville and then Mt. Lookout—we ran on Observatory, Erie, and Madison and couldn’t imagine any other daily routes.  Back in January, we jotted down a note to ponder throughout the year: “Choosing where to live based on where to run… has this opened up neighborhoods we may not have considered?” 

When we ran in Pleasant Ridge on a Saturday in early October, the park behind the Recreation Center was filled with families, the sidewalks were shaded with trees, and there was plenty of variety in the topography.  Plus, we discovered that there is a “Pleasant Ridge Runners” club.  Sold.

But this project hasn’t been about making one neighborhood home.  Rather, the entire city now feels familiar. 

Now, when we see Twin Towers in the distance we know it to be in College Hill.  When someone tells us they live in Mt. Washington, we can picture them driving past the Creamy Whip on their way home from work.  When we hear a news story about any random place, chances are it was on one of our routes and we can say, “Oh, we ran by there.”  

 

When we’re driving through a place that at one time would have been unfamiliar, we recognize a cross-street or a park, and remember the run that took us there.  With every neighborhood is a bucket list for the sites to which we will return over the years and get to know better. There are so many: the Taft Museum, Krohn Conservatory, Stanbery Park, the list goes on.

And even more than the sites and streets that we know, we have an impression of each neighborhood that was formed from our firsthand experience.  We ran safely through the streets of every neighborhood, mostly in the morning.  In this way, all of the neighborhoods were bonded--we saw them as welcoming places where two runners from some other part of the city could show up and do their morning run.

 

 

We knew going into this year that Cincinnati has a robust running culture and a community of runners that grows each year.  Even people that don't run themselves are spirited about supporting people that do:  the deep crowds of spectators at the Flying Pig Marathon are proof enough.  As we ran through Avondale, Over-the-Rhine, Winton Hills and countless other neighborhoods, we received thumbs up and words of encouragement from complete strangers. 

 

This project gave us the opportunity to spend time with friends who share our passion for running and our love for this city.  Even better, in a few neighborhoods our friends became our running guides and showed us their neighborhoods from the perspective of someone who lives there.  On other runs, when a neighborhood was new to everyone our friends learned about new places as we did. 

 

It also gave us a chance to spend time together—to take a short trip each week and take on a small challenge.  We worked towards a shared goal and laughed a lot while doing it.  After a few weeks, it was clear that running was the easy part and that the real challenge would be plotting the courses and writing the recaps.  Now, just as we had found our rhythm, we’ve reached 52. 

 

This Saturday was the first in a long time that we didn’t wake up and drive together to the start of a carefully charted route in an unfamiliar neighborhood.  Instead, we each ran alone through our new neighborhood and then up Montgomery into Kennedy Heights. 

Since we moved to Pleasant Ridge in late November, it has been dark in the morning before work and then dark again when we get home.  Because of the shorter days our daily runs have been a bit disorienting, and this past Saturday’s was one of the first we’ve been able to do in the daylight.  It made us realize that although this project has officially ended, from now on we’ll run with a different perspective.  We’ll take more notice of the places around us.  We’ll ask our friends to join us.  We’ll wave to other runners.  We’ll seek out new routes. 

And because Cincinnati is home, every run will be a Run 52.

 

 

-Kayla and Donnie

 

 

 

Run 52: Winton Hills

 

The last run. Number 52 of 52.  The weather couldn’t have been any worse. 

We woke up on Saturday morning to a forecast of freezing rain turning to snow.  Rain is fine.  Snow is fine.  We’ve run through them both.  But freezing rain?  Had this not been #52, we might have slept in and postponed it. 

Plus we’d already had a few rough runs this week, weather-wise.  Donnie is still grumbling about a 5:00 AM five-miler that I forced on him when the temperature was only eight degrees.  My eyelashes froze. 

Conditions this December have not been ideal. 

Despite the weather and law school finals week, our A1 running buddy Emily was hard core enough to meet us at the Winton Hills Recreation Center on Winneste Avenue. 

Winton Hills is a heart-shaped neighborhood between Spring Grove Village and Carthage.  Our Winton Hills loop started and ended at Winton Terrace and Findlater Gardens, two Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority developments whose collective history takes up most of the neighborhood’s Wikipedia page. 

Today, an A-frame church building, the recreation center, and a contemporary public school sit between Winton Terrace and Findlater Gardens.  Despite the weather (notice this is the second time I’ve used this phrase—the weather was really bad), the area was bustling with families enjoying their Saturday morning activities.  Emily snapped our picture in front of the Rec Center.  I think the screen on our camera was beginning to freeze:

In this picture, Donnie and Emily run past the church as they try not to trip on the slush, which was also beginning to freeze:

Here is Winton Hills Academy behind a field of snow:

Normally I wouldn't post such blurry pictures (okay, that's arguable), but these give you an idea of the conditions:

 

Past Findlater Gardens, we turned left onto Winton Ridge Lane.  This stretch is a two-lane road with farmhouses on either side.  All of a sudden it felt like we were running through the countryside. 

At the bottom of Winton Ridge Lane we turned onto Wooden Shoe Hollow, which is a one-lane dirt road that is home to a thriving community of serious gardeners.  The area has a rich history of greenhouse gardening dating back to the late 1800s!  Early German settlers grew vegetables year-round using hotbeds and manure from the nearby Cumminsville stockyards. 

The area’s name comes from the wooden shoes that farmers and gardeners wore to keep themselves from sinking into the fertile soil.  If you have the time, Al Funke has a great historical piece about the area.

The growing tradition continues today with businesses such as Keystone Flora (native wildflowers), Wooden Shoe Gardens (micro greens, herbs, and vegetables—available through a CSA), and nearby Funke’s Greenhouses. 

Our good friend Sam lives on Wooden Shoe Hollow and has often treated us to amazingly delicious meals made from the produce here.  We love visiting Sam and Suzy and couldn’t resist stopping by to say hello:

We tried to do a little caroling for them, but it was an inadequate attempt.  Still, it was a sweet way to wrap up our last neighborhood run.  We’ll do a final post next week to recap the whole experience.  In the meantime, cheers to fifty-two!

Our Winton Hills route with mile markers is here:  http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=532605

Run 52: Westwood

As we prepared for our Westwood run it seemed that we had come full circle. It was back in February that we completed a snowy tour of Clifton.  Now, at the other end of the year, thanks to a record-setting storm, we found Westwood blanketed in snow.  In fact, the snow was so significant we had to reschedule our run from Saturday to Sunday.

The snow made for some great photos:

 

Of course, snow couldn't keep our eyes open:

I was looking forward to touring Westwood, as it had been a long time since my last visit.  In 2008, it was in the Westwood home of our good friend Soren where we watched the Presidential election results pour in.  Other than a few subsequent trips to Soren's, that was the extent of my Westwood experience.

As we got started, it took me a while to get warmed up. Amazingly,  I was even less flexible than usual. The previous evening, we had dinner at the Riverside Korean restaurant in Covington.  The food was incredible, but this runner struggled with sitting on the floor and fitting my legs under the very low table. 

Exhibit A:

The results of cramming my legs under the table are apparent in this awkward photo (left leg crossing over the front of body, right knee and right foot pointed outward).

Once I got loosened up, I was struck by block after block of impressive homes and spacious yards.  

As we got going, Kayla’s legs seemed to thrive after an evening under the  table. It was all I could do to keep up with her as she strided smoothly over the rolling hills on Epworth and then Boudinot.

The streets of Westwood seemed to go on for longer stretches without major intersections or turns.  It occurred to me that Westwood would be a great place to hold a road race.

After making our way along Werk and then Harrison, we came across Mother of Mercy High School.  Not only is this the Alma Mater of our friend Katie, it is another architectural gem, adding to the overall character of Westwood.   Watching Kayla round the turn of the front driveway led me is to wonder if she might have been a high school track phenom.

Even closer to the heart of Westwood, we encountered the Westwood library branch. Who wouldn’t want to pick some books up from this art deco masterpiece?

I thought the library brought to mind the Water Works building in South Fairmount.  Kayla said it reminded her of the Lunken terminal.

Right around the corner was the United Methodist Church--yet another Samuel Hannaford project.

The Westwood Town Hall is a relic from the days when Westwood was an emerging farming suburb at the turn of the 19th Century. Even after Westwood was annexed in 1896, its residents sought to maintain a unique identity.

 

Signifying the union between the one-time suburb and city, the Town Hall houses Westwood’s Cincinnati Rec Center.  It just so happened that the CRC sign featured some emerging runners who had recently taken place in the Girls on the Run 5k.

Just around the corner from the Town Hall, we made our way up Harrison where we found the Henke Winery, an internationally renowned family operated winery that also serves great food.

Kayla can vouch for the winery as it is where she celebrate Maggie's 30th birthday. Her only complaint: they didn't stock her favorite 3 dollar supermarket wine--Rex G.

Our last stop took us to the front window of this neighborhood bakery, where we drooled before these cakes as icicles formed at the base of our mouths. 

Unfortunately, the bakery was closed--we headed out early for this run. But a great cake is always a good reason to return.

Check out our entire route here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=532355

Run 52: West Price Hill

 

On Thanksgiving morning, Rapid Run Park in West Price Hill was empty except for an older woman, bundled up in a long coat and a big hat, walking her dog.  She wished us a happy Thanksgiving and asked if we knew what time the parade started.  This short conversation gave me the time to realize that although it was cold and a light frost was still speckling the grass, I didn’t really need my gloves.  I dropped them off at the car before making a second circuit around the park.  

 

 

Rapid Run Park is hilly and full of stately trees.  There is a shallow lake—drained for the winter—which is known for being “one of the best places to launch a toy boat.”  I’ve heard that the west side high schools use the park as a cross country course. 

 

 

 

 

The picnic shelter here is another example of our city’s fine park architecture:

 

 

We really could have done our entire run in Rapid Run Park and been perfectly content, but West Price Hill is one of the city’s biggest neighborhoods, and we knew we had to work up a good appetite for afternoon meal.  So we headed up Rapid Run Road to Glenway, where we cut over to Kreis Lane.  This jaunt down Kreis and up to Ridgeview was familiar to us from having run the Price Hill Pacer 5K several times.

For the next two miles, we ran through West Price Hill’s residential streets and through Covedale, which is a district of the larger neighborhood.  The houses along this route are so pretty—most of them are Tudor or craftsman.  The streets and sidewalks here were very “runnable” (I’ve coined this term, FYI) and lots of people were out on their porches or in their yards, getting ready to head to the parade. 

On West Eighth, we passed a row of businesses that included the Covedale Pet Hospital and its sunshine mural:

 

 

On a handful of occasions our Run 52’s have coincided with a special neighborhood event: a Queen City Bike display in North Fairmount, the Hudepohl 14k in Pendleton, the Hyde Park Blast.  On Thanksgiving morning in West Price Hill, the neighborhood gathers along Glenway Avenue for a parade. 

When I hear the sounds of a parade my heart swells on cue.  For me, a marching band can strip away both the cliché and the academia from words like “civic” and “community” so that I’m reminded of what those words really mean to people, and how those words feel. 

 

 

The parade makes its way through the Glenway business district—past the Covedale Center for Performing Arts, Sebastian’s, Price Hill Chili, Hart Pharmacy, and many other neighborhood institutions—and is meant to usher in the holiday season.  Another sign of the holiday season is the Christmas tree stand on Glenway.  We could smell the pine from across the street!

When it was possible, we tried to run behind the spectators and not disturb their view, but we couldn’t resist the neighborhood sign:

This was route number 50 of 52.  The challenge is nearly complete! 

We know we have so much to be thankful for this year—each other, our health, our friends and family, our city.  I could go on and on.  In fact, at dinner that evening when it was my turn to describe what I was thankful for, I did go on and on.  My dad had to cut me off so that Donnie could have a turn.  Ha! 

Happy Thanksgiving.

Love, K.

 

View the full route with mile markers here: http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=531343