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) 2-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!

Running in Atlanta: x * Pi miles around Georgia Tech

A running trail loop of 𝜋 miles, so close to 3.1 miles or 5K, how cool to find it while attending a graduation ceremony at Georgia Tech last week! I hadn't realized that 5K were 98.9% of 𝜋 miles, fair approximation.

This time I didn’t find a printed map like on my run on the Atlanta Beltline 2 days earlier, but the trail itself as signage, including a map, every mile or so, and markers on the sidewalks, at every turn. I wasn’t even going fast at all but missed a couple; to my defense, I can’t help to spot that turn on, guess what, Turner: would you have turned left with the alignment of these two arrows?

Tip: the university has a map online too.

Grateful to be visiting on the 20th year anniversary of this running landmark at GT. And learn about the history and background, which you can read on this picture. Although, talking about the 20 years, surprised that this course has been used for a 5K race for 35 years (16:08 time in 2022 for instance). Maybe the dedication is just for the plaque.

Anyway, kudos to the visionaries who built a well-spaced modern campus, with large arteries and inclusion of a few green areas, allowing to design and build such a 5K route.

Here is a flyover of my 3 loops around the campus (click on the image or this link).

If you are in Atlanta and in search of a safe loop to log a few miles, you can do a few 𝜋-peats on that course. I wanted to run a half but I had a flight to catch that Sunday morning. This time, with the temperature and windchill effect getting close to freezing, and the picture breaks, I really had a… slow-gish run. If I visit again, I'll try to make time for 10 laps, for 50K!

On a College campus with a Track team, I bet there must have many 4-minute miles being ran on that loop.

By the way, no, the graduation wasn't for one of my kids but 25 students of my alta mater in France, Arts et Métiers, which has a partnership with Georgia Tech. Go Gadz'Arts and Yellow Jackets!

PS: a few bonus pictures.

The official start point in front of the Campus Recreation Center (CRC):

A robot nest:

Running in Atlanta: buckle up on that extending belt!

When an urban trail makes paper maps freely available, you get a sense that the city and surrounding metropolitan area are serious about making biking and running easier for their residents! And visitors. I had visited Atlanta for work quite a few times but I was surprised not to find any “Running in Atlanta” post in my 800+ collection, so here is a first one, followed by another upcoming post about a run I did in the Big A Town.

When I started my blog 18 years ago, there weren’t too many on-line resources recommending running routes when visiting a new place. The best approach was to look at maps and spot trails when available as thin green lines, or canals or  train tracks, hoping they would have some good and safe running path along. Fast forward almost 2 decades and a good set of options popped up in the search results, including a few which had the word belt in their name (see for instance this list from GreatRuns or Atlanta Track Club's recommendations).

Like Paris has its boulevard périphérique around its 20 arrondissements (districts), but for car, Atlanta is building a similar extensive belt all around the city, but for bikes and pedestrians. And, yes, I said bikes, not e-bikes which I consider being light motorcycles and not mixing well at all with the formers. Although I’m sure many commuters would disagree with this statement and want to use such a belt to go full speed in a car-free environment.

I hadn’t taken the time to look for a map of that belt before going out on Friday morning, before our noon visit at Georgia Tech. I found that map while running on the Eastern section. It does show two finalized sections, on the East and West sides, with major developments and plans to build connectors at the North and South.

For the section I used, it was really wide and I liked the smooth concrete. It was mid-morning on Friday morning, on a workday and, after the early morning commute time, the traffic was quite light. I’ve heard from locals that riding a bike on that trail on Saturdays or Sundays is epic.

Here is a Relive flyover of my out and back on that Eastern section (click on the image below or this link).

There you are for a great way to log a good number of miles away from cars, and without having to cross too many streets. From a city planning, it shows how harder it is to plan and build such green and pedestrian arteries after the fact, but super well done, Atlanta, keep up the great work and effort!

April 8, 2026 update : USA Today announcing the opening of new segments, at the south of the Beltline :

Spring has sprung in Atlanta, and with it comes the newest section of the Atlanta Beltline.Two new segments of the city-wide trail are set to open April 16, connecting the Glenwood Park, Grant Park, Ormewood Park and Boulevard Heights neighborhoods on Atlanta's southeast side.Segments 4 and 5 of the Southeast Trail, formerly known as the Southside Trail, are accessible from MARTA bus stop No. 107 as well as the Beltline itself.

PS: a few vignettes along that trail.

Reynoldstown area.

A well-tagged tunnel!

Art and recycling!

Catching the eyes of mechanical engineers...

Views of Downtown and Midtown.

Back to Piedmont Park.

The ultra selfie!

A resisting rainbow crossing on Piedmont.

The back of the map/flier.