Spring Hill College Run

It is a common strategy in the 08 to log miles on the Spring Hill College campus.  And why not? It is a beautiful campus, it is safe, and you get to run along-side a golf course.


Whichever way you enter and leave the campus, you'll also get to run down the Avenue of the Oaks.  This portion of your run is key to staying motivated.   Running the Avenue of the Oaks stirs thoughts that maybe your run is important to the world at large.  That thousands of eager fans will line the avenue to cheer you on to the finish line where the keys to the city of Mobile await you.  The Mayor proclaims that your arrival signals the end of starvation and the renewal of hope for humanity.

You can make up all sorts of heroics running along this oak-lined drive, which is probably why most pedestrians pay no mind to the fact that it is a road meant for vehicular traffic.

This is not to take away from the rest of the campus, which is well-suited to exercise and has an endless supply of routes to run. Getting the miles in can be difficult as you find yourself looking around and exploring more than you focus on your pace.  Campus has tons of beautiful architecture, statues, churches, a cemetery, a hidden lake, the aforementioned golf course, and a great view of downtown Mobile.

There are several pictures of campus here for you to look at.  It is important to note that this was while the students were on break.

When school is in session, the roads are much more busy and the parking lots are full.  It is also important to note that there are tons of people using Spring Hill College as their outside workout destination and not all students will be happy that you are using their space.  They pay a lot of money to be there and squatters getting in their way may be justifiably met with disdain.
Safety is not an issue at the campus, as they have their own police service and the nature of a college campus usually lends itself to safety.  I will remind you again though, you are surrounded by 18-21 year old kids with cars who are not that excited that you are on their territory.
Either way, it is a great spot to run and if you are appropriately kind in giving the vehicles their right-of-way, you should enjoy your run on Spring Hill College campus.

Langan Park

My first run for the 2015 Mile Challenge was in Langan Park.  This is a very large park located in Spring Hill with tons of activities.  In addition to having plenty of running trails there is a full playground for kids, gazebos with grills, an amphitheater, and a disk golf course.  It is also surrounded by The Azalea Golf Course, The Mobile Tennis Center, The Mobile Botanical Gardens, and the Mobile Museum of Art.  A great spot to start a challenge and a park that I'm sure I'll be running in quite a bit this year.

 There are several elevation changes in this park, so if uphill running is important, the option is there.  There are so many different paths to take though, so if you want to avoid the hills, it's easy to do so.  The variety of paths here also make it nice to keep your surroundings ever-changing.  I believe you can probably do a 5 mile run here and not have to cover the same ground twice.  However, if you wanted to do one small continual circuit, there are plenty of small loops that allow you to do that as well.

Another nice aspect of Langan Park is the ability to cover some historical ground for education.  The park itself is 720 acres, and mixed in those acres are several side-paths to take with signage to guide you along.  Pretty cool to add to your trip there.

I don't see safety being an issue here but the park closes at dark, which is probably a good idea.  There are tons of families taking in various activities there as well, so it looks like you can be comfortable with your children there as well.  I didn't see lighting near the paths, so it looks like the "close at dark" rule is held pretty tight.

As far as my run goes, after 4 months of no running and way too much beer and wings, it went pretty well.  I got over 6 miles in without getting worn out or losing pace.  The pace was pretty slow, averaging about 10.5 minutes per mile, but that will solve itself in time.

I stuck to my Dream Theater soundtrack for the entire run, leaning pretty heavily on 14 minute songs so that I could say "I only need to run 5 songs to get through this."

The weather was pretty ideal, being slightly cold for wearing shorts, but warming up quickly after about a half mile or so.  Cloudy, but no threat of rain.

All in all, good day, good park, good run, and Langan Park will be seeing the bottom of my shoes many times over 2015.