Running in Panama City: Amador & Ancon

That was a continuation of my first run in Panama City, please check my previous post for all the context.

In the good old days, I would have combined both runs into a marathon but priority to the family this time, and I'm still focusing on preserving my damaged meniscus.

From the older Panama City, Casco Viejo, you can hop on the ocean front promenade via the 13th street. This time, crossing under the Cinta Costera ramp, I ran toward the Amador peninsula, which used to host two American military bases (e.g., Fort Amador). It is actually an artificial peninsula, a long piece of land connecting a pre-existing island with excavation material collected during the construction of the canal.

The peninsula is bordered with the same high quality bike path on each side.

You first pass a bridge with statues commemorating early dignitaries of the Panama Republic.

Then the colorful Biomuseo designed by the illustrious Guggenheim Museum's architect, Frank Gehry. (As our bike tour guide told us, it helped that Gehry's 2nd wife, Berta Isabel Aguilera, is Panamanian.)

At the end of the peninsula and marina, I tried to find ways to climb the hills to no availability, both are highly protected and access is strictly forbidden.

With that, I had my sight on climbing to the top of Cerro Ancón, or Ancon Hill, the highest point of Panama City.

Looking back at the map, I felt I did quite a detour, you may want to plan your run better. On the way down, I found a stair crossing through Mi Publito, you could go up this way too.

Now, going around the hill on the West side got me to see the monumental headquarters of the Panama Caanal administration, and the Monumento a Goethals at the bottom. Plus log a couple of additional miles as a bonus!

Today, Ancon Hill is a protected natural reserve, it is covered by rain forest and the view from the top is not quite 360-degree because of the abundant vegetation. Still, you can get amazing views of Panama City on one side.

And the South/Pacific entrance of the Canal on the other side.

Overall, the steep climb and outstanding views are very much worth the good sweat! And, again, these 9 miles of bike path along the Pacific Ocean are nirvana for running in Panama City!

Here is a fly-over of this route (click on the image below or this link).

And the corresponding map.