Apr 5th Run: Tom's House

Thanks to Paula Clemens for the update and to Tom for leading the first run in April!

Anne Jane,

 

Tom will take the run next week from his house, 5434 Aylesboro. We did the bird run through Squirrel Hill this morning. For the record, it wasn't raining, just in case anyone might ask. Everyone managed to stay in remarkably good spirits even though it wasn't raining. If you don't believe me, ask Tom.

 

Paula

Mar 29 Run: Coffee Tree in Squirrel Hill

Since those of us remaining after today's run will not be in Pittsburgh next Sunday, for simplicity's sake we decided that the run would begin at the Coffee Tree in Squirrel Hill. Whoever shows up can choose the route.

Today's run was covered new territory for the group and is definitely on the list for repeat performances. Pam Murray lead us up (and I do mean up!) the Southside slopes to Arlington - another Pittsburgh high point. The views were stunning - you could see the Point, the buildings downtown, the bridges up the Monongahela River, Oakland and much more. And as if the views were not enough, the streets themselves, all narrow with houses and churches hanging off the hills, provided constant visual interest. San Francisco kept coming up in our conversations. But it was a truly Pittsburgh set of steps that took us from the top of the slopes down to the bottom, past more tiny houses and even some undeveloped open space. Once again, I am amazed how much variety our city has to offer.

A few of us had our post-run coffee at Big Dog Coffee on Sarah Street near the Southside works. If you happen to be in the area you should definitely stop by this cozy hangout which also happens to have great coffee.

Mar 22 Run: Hot Metal Bridge

Next run - Pam will lead from the Hot Metal Bridge - the usual parking lot to the right of it on the 2nd Avenue side.  I can't remember quite where it's going: Pam will fill us in.  (And the run after that - we're trying to come up with another Lawrenceville run that does not involve soggy freezing shoes and that may get a photo of us in front of the giant Iron City sign.)
Note that there will be a run to the run starting from the Coffee Tree at 6:30 AM and those who want a ride be at the same place at 6:45 AM

We had cool dry weather for our run today, in which Virginia led us past real crocuses and unreal electric daffodils in Oakland and Shadyside, on nice level ground until we hit the Chatham campus and needed to make our way back up.  At that point, we needed to find a good conversation topic to keep our minds off the hill; one of which was the contents of this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/fashion/15commune.html - and we wondered if they were going to open a branch in Pittsburgh, and if so, if Steelers garb would be involved.

The usual fun conversation at the Coffee Tree (getting renovated just in time for our springtime visits) revolved around condos we would love to live in, whether we should revive mah jongg, and the fabulous Triangle Bar in Swissvale, among other things.

Roye reporting, waiting for Anne Jane to return

Mar 15 run: Coffee Tree for a run in Oakland

Just to make the email predictable to find:

I'm happy to lead the run this Sunday, March 15. Meet at the coffee tree. We'll run down Forbes thru the Schenley golf course and around the Cathedral of Learning and thru Shadyside and back thru Chatham campus to Squirrel Hill. Another trainer for those interested in the half marathon. -- Virginia

Thanks Virginia!

I  may not be there - if I am not please let me know where the following week's run will be.

On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 11:55 AM, Anne Jane Gray <annejane@gmail.com> wrote:

Perhaps we were dazzled by Pam's run or just wiped out but we neglected to pick a run for next week. Any ideas? 

Pam's "Stacks and Tracks" run took us through Schenley Park, the bottom of Oakland, and a veranda with an unexpected view of Panther Hollow. Despite the Daylight Savings Time darkness and the overcast skies the run kept us interested as we explored parts of our neighborhood that we have not visited in a while.  Here are the "Stacks and Tracks" we visited:

• The brand new track at Schenley Oval - which we ran around a few times to give the sky time to lighten up
  
• The rail road tracks that run through and above Panther Hollow  
  
• The big steam stacks by Carnegie Library
  
• As well as the stacks in Carnegie Library
  
• While not stacks or tracks, the very long staircase up from Panther Hollow to the back of the Frick Art Building deserves a mention
  
• A view of the steam stacks from the formerly mentioned veranda around one of those CMU buildings overlooking Panther Hollow - we marveled that only an engineering college would fill glass walled rooms  with dusty old electronic equipment and a heating plant (in fairness there was a fancy meeting room and a class room too)
  
• The stacks in the CMU library - running nearby brought up the sad tale of a former member's dog as well as a not verified fact that Alcoa (who donated the library) specified that nothing could be built to obscure it from US Steel workers driving on Forbes Ave
  
• And finally the CMU track!
  

And if that were not enough for one day over coffee we also devised a great way to use Facebook to enhance the profile of those people (namely me) who might be being investigated by future employers.

Mar 8 Run: Wendy Bennett Trailhead for a Tracks and Stacks run

Pam Murray is keeping us guessing about her Tracks and Stacks run - meet at the Wendy Bennett Trailhead  (Overlook Drive entrance to Schenley Park) next Sunday to find out where it goes. Remember that next Sunday is the start of day-light savings time and we loose an hour of sleep - move your clocks forward 1 hour.

I learned a tough lesson this morning as I waited forlornly for a ride to the run that never appeared. I am just glad it was me and not a new member! From now on if I advertise a ride to the run, I will be sure that there are people who will be available to provide that service. Roye, who also missed the run, were still welcomed at coffee afterwards.

I am sure the South Side run was great. Paula the Brit provided the following link to a map of the run: 

Paula Leslie writes:

This morning\'s basic route. Then add on whatever bits people did. This undermeasures because of the straightlines so maybe we did do 5.5plus R2R. PtB

To view Hot Metal to Smithfield & back, follow the link below:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_route?r=363220385916

I also re-drew the run to the run via Bates street to the Boulevard it at was actually 2.5 miles - not 2.9.