Running Columbia

By Amy Coward

As usual, I’m in the middle of training for a race. A half marathon to be exact. I’ve found that if I’m always registered for a race, the odds are better that I’ll get out of bed in the morning and run.

Most of the time, I register for races that are out of town, especially the longer distance races. I love seeing new sights and having an excuse to travel. But the training runs are at home, of course, so I try to vary the routes to keep it interesting. After a while, running in circles around my neighborhood makes me glaze over.

This past Saturday, I wanted to run in a different area of town for a change. I chose the route for an upcoming race that my organization is putting on and I wanted to see what the course was like from the runner’s perspective.

My dog and running partner, Betty White, went with me as usual and was delighted to arrive at the new location. (I guess she was bored with our neighborhood, too). She looked around excitedly and immediately starting sniffing new smells and searching for squirrels.

We started out at the beautiful new baseball park, Spirit Communications Park, and wound our way through the historic neighborhoods passing the Robert Mills House, the Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens and the Manns-Simons Site. In spite of the constant squirrel distractions and Betty pulling me this way and that, I was able to admire all the elegant homes from the early 1900s that now house mostly attorneys. Still beautiful, I thought. The streets are wide, shady and quiet on a Saturday morning in this area so Betty White and I had the place pretty much to ourselves.

Further along the route, we passed the Greek Orthodox Church, with its glorious gold dome and the Governor’s Mansion complex, so stately and refined. Like a tourist, I starting snapping pictures to post later. It was just too beautiful not to.

By the time I returned to the ballpark, I was done for the day, totally exhausted. And I had only run half the race course. So next Saturday, the second half of the course awaits. It will take me along beautiful Riverfront Park with the canal on one side and the river on the other and through Elmwood Park with all its historic homes. I can hardly wait.

Instead of longing for an out-of-town race this Saturday, I’ll be happy waking up in my own bed and hitting the streets of this new part of town. And I may just make a habit of this new neighborhood thing each Saturday.

Wherever I go in Columbia, chances are it will be a great run.

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it.