Running in Baltimore: Patterson Park on Match Day!

I shared in previous posts that I had fallen quite behind with my blog. It's not just a few weeks, or a few months, but even several years! As I'm visiting Baltimore again today, I realize that I missed posting about two runs there back in May 2023: 3 years, duh, time flies! And, as my blog extends and backs up my limited memory, time to keep filling the missing holes... Speaking of memory, I had for instance forgotten I had visited Baltimore back in 2008 for the Informs conference; time definitely flies away...

As a parent of a med school student, you are invited to three major milestones or rituals (not counting the cadence of hefty invoices...). First, the White Coat ceremony, typically after the first year. Then Match Day in March of year 4, and the usual Graduation which, again for med school, marks yet another commencement, with the transition to a residency. That made for 3 opportunities to run in Baltimore.

For Match Day, with Agnès still working/teaching, we only visited for less than 24 hours. And it was worth it; Greg not only matched, he got his first wish with Penn Radiology! In for 6 more years, such a long academic path after 4 years at Cal (BSc in micro cellular biology), 3 years of research at UCSF, 4 years at Johns Hopkins, that will make a total of 14 years of graduate studies!

After a red eye and before the ceremony in the morning, I still managed to squeeze in 15K in the central Patterson Park. As you can see on this map, it's that green spot in the middle of the city. Not quite the size of Central Park but you can fit a close to 1-mile long figure 8 loop within the rectangular perimeter, and the slope of the park makes it for a varied and interesting workout.

There are also a few historical landmarks to see along that loop/park established back in 1827, almost 200 years ago!

First and foremost, overseeing the whole park and Eastern Baltimore, the Patterson Park Observatory, aka the "Pagoda" (1982).

Hampstead Hill: This high ground at the northwest corner of the park is perhaps its most significant historical site. It served as a critical defensive position—known as Rodgers Bastion or Sheppard’s Bastion—during the War of 1812. U.S. forces utilized this earthen line to protect Baltimore from British ground troops during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814. (wikipedia)

The Marble Fountain (1865)

The Boat Lake (1864)

A monument in honor of General Casimir Pulaski.

Overall, many traces of the battles to keep Maryland in the Union...

Also, Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. Memorial Fountain: A tribute to the pioneering heart surgeon and civil rights activist who helped implant the first automatic defibrillator at Johns Hopkins.

On the South side, St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church, making us think of the inspirational fight of the Ukrainians for their freedom.

All in all a convenient way to log miles if you are staying downtown and visiting Johns Hopkins, while being healthy that is... Take care!