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Vickery Creek Running Trail Map

Vickery Creek is one of the largest parks in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area group of parks. It is a huge park (about 254 acres) and had lots of trails. Some are pretty steep hills, most are single-track, but there are trails where you can run side-by-side as well. You can run for miles out here without seeing anyone. It seems that most people just don’t run here compared to the other parks.

Vickery Creek can be a fun place to run – if you know where you’re going. I went over here without reviewing the trail maps and ended up going down a trail that was closed. Instead of turning back, I decided to try to go around the closed area and ended up hiking through the woods for a while. Climbing up hills covered in foliage does not make for a fun time. Fortunately, I made it back onto the path and kept on going.

Big Creeks winds through the park as well.  As you run through, you will see lots of vantage points to stop and admire the view.  There is a dam  that is really cool – make sure to stop and check it out.  This also seems to be a “make-out” point for teenagers.  I seem to startle a couple of them every time I am running through.

I highly recommend Vickery Creek for nice, quiet trail runs with some hills and not a whole lot of traffic.

Click here for the official trail map: Vickery Creek – Official Trail Map

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Barefoot Running

After a long run the other day on the Silver Comet Trail, for some reason I decided to take off my shoes and run another half mile barefoot.  I’m not even sure what inspired me to do this, but I took off my shoes and socks, left them on a bench and took off.  In a strange way, it almost felt like jumping into the ocean naked.

It was January, so I could feel the cold wind between my toes and although the asphalt of the Silver Comet roughed up the skin on my feet, the cold helped numb them up.  I was skeptical at first, but as I ram further, I could definitely understand why barefoot runners are so into this.  Running on the front part of your foot forces you to turn over faster and take shorter strides.  You actually feel like you’re running faster – and according to my watch – I was!

As I got back to the parking lot, I could feel gravel and pebbles beneath my feet and you really have to watch where you step.  As a distance runner, I like to keep my head up and look forward, but it truly impossible to do barefoot – you have to keep your eyes in front of you to avoid rocks, glass, dog poop, etc.  I knew that if I wanted to run barefoot again, I would have to be on a well paved road or trail, build up the skin on my feet or get some of those “barefoot shoes”.

The next day, my legs were sore in ways they never had been before.  I had no pain in my knees but my calves were on fire!  I could tell that all of the stress of pavement pounding was absorbed by my calves and not jarring my knees anymore.  I knew I had to try it again…

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Gold Branch Trail Map

The Gold Branch trail is part of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area system.  It is a nice, quiet loop of single-track trails through a heavily wooded area.  The trail curves down to Bull Sluice Lake and follows the edge of the lake for a good distance.  There are great views here and it is a great place to escape the city.

The parking lot is off Lower Roswell Rd and is easy to miss.  Once you park you will see the trail-head at the corner of the lot heading down into the woods.  There are maps posted intermittently throughout the park, but this one will give you a good idea of the layout.  There are great lake views, swamp areas, boardwalks and wooded paths.

There are a total of about 5 miles of trails here and some are more clearly marked than others.  I found it was easy to follow a nice, well groomed trail straight into a very narrow trail around rocks and trees next to the lake.  It is a great place to do some trail running, but watch out for roots and rocks.

Here are the “official” trail maps for the Gold Branch Unit:

Gold Branch Unit – Official Trail Map

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Clif Shot Bloks

I have been using PowerBar and GU gels for a while now on long training runs and prior to and during races. Some of them taste decent and some are just plain nasty. (Anything chocolate flavor would make me gag trying to eat and run at the same time.) These are essentially sugar and some electrolytes in a gel form which kinda reminds me of cake frosting. Not only do these gels coat your entire mouth, they are really tough to get down and run at the same time. If you are not near a water stop, don’t even take one, because you will immediately want to hydrate after the gel.

I have eaten Clif bars for about ten years now and while I do venture to other energy bars, I always come back to the Clif bars because of their flavor and the fact that they don’t melt. I was eager to try “Clif Bloks”, their gummy equivalent to the gels…

Clif Shot Bloks - Out of the Package

I set out on a nice long run and 15 minutes in, decided to knock out the first 3 “Bloks”. The first thing I noticed was that the package made it very easy to portion out each gummy and that I could eat them at my own pace. Just tear off the top of the package and push them through. Whatever does not get used goes back into your pocket. With a gel, you have to eat it all at once or else become a sticky mess. Next, the flavor was SO much better than the gel. On flavor, there is no comparison – the Bloks beat the gels, hands down. Update: I recently tried the margarita flavor Bloks… These are supposed to contain extra salt for cramping. I don’t reccommend these on a long run. The salty taste is over the top – it was instant dehydration for me. You may like them, but I just couldn’t handle all that salt. All of the other flavors are quite good though.

The Cons: Despite everything the Bloks have going for them, the one thing that I found is that they don’t give me the “sugar rush” boost that the gels do. It’s more of a gradual long-term energy thing. If I am hitting the wall and need that massive sugar rush – I will go for the gels. The Bloks just don’t seem to absorb the same way.

That said, I now have more “Bloks” in my gym bag than gels now. What do you use? Hit the “comment” button and weigh in!

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US 10k Classic

The website for the US 10k Classic states that the race will be returning in 2012.  This is my absolute favorite race in Atlanta and I was really bummed that is was skipped for 2011.  This race has some nice hills and is one of the tougher road races in the city, yet somehow I got a PR on this course.  Since I’m feeling excited about this one coming back, I’m going to give you a race report from the last one in 2010.  Better late than never!

I was very nervous about the course as I had never run this race before.  The race course starts at Cumberland Mall and ends at Whitewater Park in Marietta.  I knew there were some massive hills because I have driven up highway 41 many times before, and I wondered if I could keep a decent pace throughout the course.  The night before the race, I took the family to Scalini’s and ordered the pasta sampler to carb-up.

The next morning, I was feeling great.  I don’t know if it was the pasta the night before or the plain bagel for breakfast, but I was full of energy and ready to race.  I found my spot at the starting line and was only two people back from the start.  As I waited, I saw the absolute coolest opening of any race I had been to.  During the national anthem, three skydivers parachuted to the ground in front of me.  I pulled out my phone to take a couple pictures…

Parachuting Into The US 10k Classic

The last parachutist was carrying the American flag and touched down right at the end of the Star Spangled Banner.  What a great way to open a race!

National Anthem at the US 10k Classic

With all that motivation, I blasted out of the starting line at top speed. I usually try to pace myself a bit more, but it was a great feeling, not to mention, that it is straight downhill right out of the gate. You hit your first hill right after you shout “Under the Bridge!” at the 285 overpass. It is a straight uphill climb to the Best Buy shopping center. My wife took a picture of me as I was cresting this hill. (I’m the one in the orange circle.)

Running the US 10k Classic

This is the start of the first and really only nice downhill run of the race.  Once you run downhill to the clock tower / village parkway area, you get another steep incline to Windy Hill Road.  About this time the sun started coming up and beating down on that asphalt.  It was a tough climb.  Once you cross Windy Hill Rd, the course is mostly flat by Dobbins Airforce Base.  Then ANOTHER uphill to the big chicken.  Once you pass the big chicken you are home free.  A nice gradual downhill to the finish line in front of Whitewater Park.

Looking down at my watch, I couldn’t believe it – a personal best 10k time.  In fact, I still haven’t beat it – even at easier race courses.

Medal, Hat and Shirt at the US10k Classic

I don’t know whether it was the food, the opening ceremonies or just psyching myself up, but definitely my favorite road race to date…  I can’t wait for September!!

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West Palisades / Rottenwood Creek Main Trail

Let’s continue to explore Atlanta running trails with the West Palisades area on the Chattahoochee. This is also called the Bob Callan Trail. It is another Chattahoochee River national park service trail, so if you buy a year pass, you can get into every other Chattahoochee NPS trail with your pass.

This in an out & back trail that starts out very flat, following the river. Once you hit Rottenwood Creek section of the trail, prepare for some nice hills! One of these hills is pretty rough and long, followed by some more rolling hills. The beautiful scenery will distract from the burn in your legs! The trail passes under 285 and ends in a parking lot near a commercial building. This is also about the 2 mile mark, so a turn-around here will put you in at 4 miles total. That is IF you choose to turn around…

West Palisades and Cochran Shoals Long Run

Another option here is to put in a long run and head out of the parking lot onto Interstate North Parkway. Run northeast through the Powers Ferry traffic light to the entrance into the Cochran Shoals park. From here you can add the Cochran Shoals loop, run back to the West Palisades course and run back to the parking lot for a grand total of roughly 9.5 miles. It is a great scenic run with hills to start, flat throughout the main run and a few rolling hills and a downhill run at the end. For the extremely adventurous, add in the sope creek section of the Cochran Shoals course and add 4 more miles to hit around 13.5 total.

Click here for more info and trail maps of the Cochran Shoals and Sope Creek sections.

I hear you can also reach the Cochran Shoals section from West Palisades through some “unofficial” connector trails in the woods – I haven’t tried this yet, but wil update this entry when I do.

Here is the official trail map:

West Palisades / Rottenwood Creek Trail Map

If you have run this route and would like to contribute, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a line!

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Leita Thompson Running Trail Map

It’s time for a more challenging run! Next up in the Atlanta Trail Running series is The Leita Thompson memorial park in Roswell.

Leita Thompson was an early female banking executive who helped other working women with retirement assistance, disability, housing and social and professional recognition. She bought the 107 acre piece of (then rural) land in Roswell as a “vacation property” from her permanent residence in Atlanta. Eventually she moved here and lived here until her death in 1978.

The park is located on 92 between Roswell and Woodstock. Parking is in the memorial garden area for the start of all the running trails. There are four loop trails here labeled with colors – red, blue, green and yellow. Red and Blue run around the entire park for about 2 miles, with the Red trail taking an extra .25 mile turn at the end. The Yellow loop runs for 1.12 miles around the front of the park, and the short .25-mile Green loop circles the pond in the middle of the park.

When I run here, I typically run the red course and add in the green loop to total a 2.5 mile hill run. These are pretty tough hills and cut-backs – after two loops you will definitely feel the burn! Because you are running under the shade, it makes a great summertime run with about a 10-15 degree difference in temperature under the trees. If you look up in the trees, you will see several bat houses – this must be how they keep the mosquitoes away. All-in-all a great, scenic run that is perfect for you hill workouts.

Even though, there is a trail map at the park, I am unable to find an “official” trail map for the park. I will update this post once I find one.

UPDATE 1/31/2012:  I took a picture of the official trail map from the sign at the trail.

Lieta Thompson Official Running Trail Map

If you happen to have one I would love to hear from you and post it – drop me a line.

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Chastain Park Trail Map

For the next post in my Atlanta running trail mapping project, I will cover Chastain Park. Chastain Park has a nice, mostly concrete running trail around the perimeter of the golf course. In places it is not clearly marked, leaving you wondering which way to go, but it is roughly 3 miles total. There are a few hills – one nice steep hill with cut-backs near the south end of the park – so I would say that it is a moderately easy run.

If you’re looking for the beautiful people, this is where they all went. I have never seen so many people take a shower and put on makeup BEFORE their workout, but it sems to be the standard operating procedure here. Pick out your best running gear (and maybe a little perfume or cologne) if you want to fit in. There have been several celebrity sightings on this trail… It is well worth it for the people-watching alone!

This is a PATH foundation trail and it is very well maintained. There are water and rest areas at various locations on the trail. Below is a link showing the official map for the trail:

Chastain Park Running Trail

Know of a great Atlanta running location? Drop a note and I will add it to my list.

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Cochran Shoals - 5k Loop

One of my favorite places to run is Cochran Shoals. (Commonly called “The River”.)  There is a beautiful 5k loop that is wide, well marked and scenic. There are two parking areas, one off of Interstate Parkway North on the south side of the park and another off of Clumns Drive on the north side. I highly recommend parking in the south lot as the 5k markers start there.  This is a highly popular park and on a sunny Saturday you may have to wait in line to get a parking spot.  In addition, there is a parking fee of $3.00 – I recommend buying the yearly pass for $25.00 – you will definately want to come back. Here you can see the full 5k loop starting in the south parking lot.  The markers have you following the Chattahoochee river for the first 1.5 miles.  The entire trail is flat and easy – a great place to throw down a 5k PR.

On the back side of the trail, you are running on a well groomed trail through a marsh.  On a hot summer day, this can get humid.  Make note of the side trails you will pass to the right.  These trails will take you to the Sope Creek section of the park.

In addition, there are three water fountains along this trail – one in the middle (around .5 miles), one at the north lot and another at the south lot.

Cochran Shoals - Sope Creek Long Run

If you want a nice, long distance run, try heading up to the Sope Creek area of the park.  Once you turn off the well groomed 5k loop, you will hit some decent hills.  Watch out for bikes on this wooded trail section.  Also, make sure to keep an eye out for roots and rocks.   There are markers at the turns here and if you stay on the main path, the hills are easier.  Once you get to the Sope Creek entrance, you will see a beautiful small lake / pond area and also find a water stop and restroom.   Adding this section to the 5k loop will give you a total of about 7.5 miles.  The 5k loop at Cochran Shoals will give you a nice, flat cool-down run after those hills.

Here are the official park maps – the full park is broken into three sections based on the entrance – Interstate North section, Columns Drive section and Sope Creek section.

Interstate North Trail Map

Columns Drive Trail Map

Sope Creek Trail Map

If you find this post useful – please drop me a note. I would love to hear your feedback!

Continue reading »]]> I have scoured the net looking for a good repository of running trail maps around Atlanta and have come up short. There is no good resource for running trail maps – you could use www.mapmyrun.com, but it is diluted with running routes that leave from a person’s front door. I need a resource for actual running trails. Hopefully this list will grow to be more complete over time and a halfway decent resource for Atlanta runners.

Garmin 305 GPS Watch

Two years ago my wife, Jen, bought a great toy for me – the Garmin Forerunner 305. This is a GPS watch with tons of features. While running, you can see all sorts of real-time information such as distance traveled, elevation, calories burned, pace, auto splits, heart-rate and more. Plus, if you have run a trail before, you can compete against your previous run. I typically just use it for real-time distance, pace and heart-rate. The cool thing is that when you get home, you can plot your course on the computer through various applications. I use SportTracks by Zone Five software, but there are others as well.

For all of my running maps, I will give my GPS output on a map as well as any “official” trail maps I can find to try to give a complete overview of the trail. I will also try to give some decent information about the area.

I hope this helps other Atlanta area runners and will hopefully serve as a growing repository of good running locations in Atlanta. If you find these posts helpful or if you would like to contribute, let me know. I would be glad to have additional writers for these articles.