South Philly Runaround

Another sightseeing run, albeit a gritty one.

I was easy on myself this morning and slept through my 5:30 alarm, but it was just too nice a day to take a dnr. So the plan was to run for 60 minutes during lunch, going down to the other side of the South Street Bridge and turning right onto Schuylkill Ave instead of the usual left I take.

This is South Philly. I always thought of it as claustrophobically narrow streets, dingy rowhouses and cars parking in the middle of streets until Deirdre took me through some quiet, leafy, sun-dappled streets that forced me to totally reassess my impressions. Damn. I tried to recapture that today by going east on Christian St., south on 16th St a little past Oregon, and then back up west then north. I did again find the little oasis neighborhood I was so impressed by (down around 18th & Shunk, shhhh . . . don't tell anyone) as well as a series of other distinct neighborhoods on unfamiliar streets, including Point Breeze and Grey's Ferry. Then it was up and over the Schuylkill via the Grey's Ferry Bridge and a rear entry back into USP.

Been running these streets so long and there are still vast domains of unexplored territory. 60 minutes turned into 75:32, call it conservatively 9 miles.

Boston Marathon was yesterday. Thus I spent the afternoon in the office, refreshing my browser every five minutes or so and following very exciting men's and women's races, as well as the exploits of various friends and running acquaintances. It was an emotional experience and I really wished I was there. Thoughts of Boston have been going through my mind ever since, thoughts which are too numerous to write about beyond wondering if it is a coincidence that Boston is so close to Easter, as it is the high holiday of running and the day beyond all others where I feel the strong sense of community that comes with participating in this bloody sport.

And congratulations to all who ran, and particular shouts to Ian and Steve; Paul, Bill, John & Daniel, and also Jambal.