Back in January, a few friends and I decided to run 13.1 miles, a half marathon, in the bitter cold and snow.
Call us overachievers, call us crazy — we were looking for a challenge. Starting at Lions Park in Niskayuna, we took the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail all the way to Troy. While portions of the trail had been cleared, we ended up running through a lot more snow than planned or desired.
Challenge found.
Our hard work was rewarded with fried chicken and waffles once we reached the finish line — Flying Chicken in Troy.
If everything but the part about eating chicken and waffles sounds like no fun to you, don’t worry: This article is not about winter running. It’s about running outside when it makes more sense to, and as it turns out, Lions Park is a great place to start.
The midsummer heat we’ve been experiencing also makes the park and the trail, which offers a cool breeze from the Mohawk River and ample tree covering, an ideal place to run. The park also has plenty of parking and restrooms.
On Wednesday morning, I took the trail about 31⁄2 miles west, toward Schenectady, up a steep hill that reveals a beautiful view of the Mohawk on the right and a prairielike field under a big sky on the left, and back.
I was one of a handful of runners on the trail, but cyclists passed on my left quite frequently, and I saw a few occasional rollerbladers and dog walkers as well.
The park is friendly to cyclists, with bike survival aid boxes placed along the trail containing essentials such as Band-Aids, instructions on fixing a flat, a tire pump and, for the malnourished, little bags of cookies.
Heading west from the park, the trail runs through farmland, as evidenced by a tractor-crossing sign, and under the Ferry Road Bridge. (In all my runs on this trail, I’ve yet to see a tractor passing through.)
About two miles in, you’ll see a sign for Lock 7 and a road, which you can take to the lock for a breather and a nice view of the river. But you can also cross the road and take the trail up a hill, where another entry to the lock area will soon appear. I prefer this option because it keeps me on the trail.
At about three miles, the trail forks. Cyclists should steer clear of the bumpier, flatter trail on the right, as it’s been known to knock its share of bikers off their seats. The trail on the left — the continuation of the Mohawk-Hudson trail — heads up a steep hill toward Blatnick Park, home to Niskayuna Babe Ruth.
The top of this hill is where I turned back Wednesday. Had I kept going, I would have run through the General Electric Global Research campus, a change of pace from the woodsy three miles prior.
As a Schenectady resident who often runs in an urban setting, I like to run in the woods when I can, especially in this heat. Running in the shade is worth the short drive to Lions Park, accessed easily from Route 7 just east of Latham.
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