Medal of Honor Park (Cottage Hill)

A second massive win in the search for great parks in the area, Medal of Honor is another huge park with tons of options.  Where Langan Park was built around leisure activity, Medal of Honor was built entirely around physical activity.  With a soccer field, several baseball fields, a football field, miles of running paths, a huge playground (which I will talk about later), and a Dog Park, this one is for the person on the move.


This park was jammed with runners, but as many of the reviews I have read about MOH have said, you don't feel crowded out because the park is so big.

Running this park is nice, because you can run either a 0.8 mile loop, or add another 1 mile stretch that heads out toward the entrance to the park.  There were a healthy mix of runners doing each or both,  They are attached, so the transition is easy,  You can also tack on a massive amount of off-road miles on trails that lead out of the park.  I made my own off-road path within the park, running behind the baseball fields and running behind the water tower.  It was raining this time, but flooding wasn't an issue and there was plenty of support with red clay to run on.

The one mile extension is also on a pretty decent decline going out and a likewise incline coming back.  Not too big of a hill, but it'll definitely let your legs know you ran up it.

The Dog Park which is attached is a wonderful bonus, and it is a very nice area for your four-legged friends.  The Dog Park is also broken into two sections, one for small dogs and one for large dogs.  Very smart.

Safety again, seems like it would never be an issue.  The neighborhood is very nice and with the baseball parks on premise, I'm sure there are plenty of other folks there at night.  I am not certain of this, but having played ball as a kid, I know we played most of our games at night.

For the kids, there is a HOLY COW facility for the kids that I swear did not exist when I was a kid.  It looks like a mini-Six Flags park built as a continual playground that, were it not raining, I would have been all over myself.  My wife went onto the playground area and said there are also plenty of areas for parents to sit while the kiddos are playing.

My run was - meh.  Still sore from my incline walk yesterday, my legs were sore from the get go.  Could never find a good pace and my breathing never settled on me.  Can't blame it on anything but myself, because the weather was perfect for getting some miles in.  Either way, I logged 7.2 miles, which will get me closer to my goal, so mission accomplished there.

As a plus for me, apparently the local football team has taken on the Steelers monicker.  The Langan Park team had the Raiders name and logo, so perhaps that's a thing around here.  Whether it is or not, I'm glad to see those hypocycloids in my new hometown.

This park is a winner and if I were giving stars, it would get the full 5/5.  Hopefully on to another park tomorrow, assuming the weather doesn't keep us on the treadmill.  Cheers!