Originally Posted by
TimothyH
Interesting. I didn't know about the name change. It was really nice though with phlox growing along the trail.
The run was memorable because I was in Chicago for a training class while simultaneously training for a marathon. Every evening I would get out of class, drive to a different part of the city and go for a long run. One night was the Prairie Path/Trail.
Speaking of marshes, I went into the Lincoln Marsh Natural Area and managed to get lost, which is pretty sad given the relatively small size of the place. I spent a while running in circles until I figured out how to get out of the place.
Class got out early on Friday and I did a 20 mile run all over downtown Chicago - the pier, along the lake front. to the Sears tower, through some garden near the chrome bean, stopping to talk to firemen practicing using the hose by spraying water into one of those canals. I stopped some businessmen and asked, "Hey, where should I run to go see something cool" and they were like, "Yeah, check out the Tribune building, that way!"
Chicago has a great vibe. Atlanta is dead at night.
And kosher dogs with sport peppers on the poppy seed buns at Portillos.
Sounds like you got around quite a bit! Chicago has had a lot of bad press lately due to lingering crime issues in certain corners of the city, but vast areas of the city and suburbs are really great places to live and recreate. I'm out in the "commuter rail" burbs now, and have really enjoyed the interlinked trail systems out here. They not only provide a place to ride or jog, but also give an easy "escape route" out of the congestion of the metro area without tangling with a lot of cars.
I ride through Lincoln Marsh regularly, since the prairie path provides easy week day rides before or after work. But my favorite riding around here is in southern Wisconsin--either in the Kettle Moraine area northwest of Milwaukee (around the basilica known as "Holy Hill"), or the super hilly "Driftless Area" west of Madison.