(North Coast Inland Trail)
Among the many great aspects of working as site editor for MileSplit Ohio is the opportunity to travel throughout the state for cross country and track and field coverage assignments. While the point of said road-trips are to attend meets for the purposes of promoting athletes and teams and reporting on results, as an avid runner, one of the added bonuses is being able to sample impressive running trails at every stop.
Whether my travels take me to the urban centers, like Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, which boast training options galore, or when I find myself traversing our small towns and rural areas where you have to scout out those hidden gems, virtually every location in Ohio houses a great place to run.
Some personal favorites (in no particular order) --
Great Miami River Trail (always a go-to en route home from the Mason Dream Mile)
Olentangy Trail (one of its entry points is literally a stone's throw from Thomas Worthington)
Richland B&O Trail (a regular in the rotation following postseason meets at Lexington)
Edgewater Park (a must any time I'm in or around downtown Cleveland due to the fantastic scenery along Lake Erie)
North Coast Inland Trail (various starting points, but the Bellevue location is ideal following a meet at Tiffin University)
Oberlin Bike Path (a great way to break-up the drive home to NE Ohio when making the trek back from the Toledo area)
(Rocky River)
While stationed on the home front in greater Cleveland for a sustained period of time (such as now), you can't go wrong with these ones --
Greenway Corridor (a great option prior to an indoor meet at SPIRE)
Polo Fields (a good place to get warmed-up before you hit the daunting hills offered by South Chagrin)
Rocky River Reservation (possibly the best ~ I know I said I wasn't ranking, but it just is...)
Maple Highlands Trail (Mtn. Run Station ~ perfect for sustained tempos due to long stretches of minimal grade change)
(Maple Highlands Trail)
Ravenna Hike & Bike Trail & Headwaters Trail (both Portage County-based ~ always nice to bump into XC and distance athletes representing the Garfield G-Men and Crestwood Red Devils on these gems)
North Chagrin Reservation (if you need to get in a 5k time-trial - this is the spot)
(Headwaters Trail)
Athletes / Coaches / Track & XC Fans:
Understanding that the listing above barely scratches the surface on Ohio's vast collection of high quality running trails, we're counting on you to help expand our bank of recommendations.
Please send in your choices of the best spots to train state-wide and make sure to include a photo, so we can get a true sense of how awesome your location happens to be.
Interest permitting, we'll share your suggestions and pictures in an upcoming article in hopes to broaden everyone's running options moving forward.
Alternatively for throwers and jumpers, if you have a creative non-track based location where you tend to get your work in, then by all means - send us your choices, as well.
Contact:
Thanks to MileSplit Maryland site editor, Ryun Anderson for the inspiration...
You can view his original article on this same theme here --