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Jerry's Out-Of-Towner Welch Pool Loops |
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| Route: | Jerry's Out-Of-Towner Welch Pool Loops
| | Mileage: | 4.6 to 6.2. (The Shorter Loop described here is 5.2 miles. The Longer Loop is 6.2 miles. See also Variation below.) | | Hillage: | Shorter loop has gentle grades. Longer loop has one steep hill. Elevation change: 165 ft. for both Shorter Loop and Longer Loop.
Average Grade: 2%. Notable hills:
| Atherton St. Rise: | On Shorter Loop: 90 ft. rise in 0.4 miles for a 4.2% grade. | University Drive Hill:
| On Longer Loop: A climb of 100 ft in 0.4 miles for a grade of 4.7%.
| | | Description: | Both the Longer Loop and the Shorter Loop start and end at the Welch Pool parking lot, which is on the south side of Westerly Parkway across the street from the State College Area High School North Building. During the summer, the pool is a great place for a post-run swim. Either loop can easily be adapted to start and finish at one of the many hotels on South Atherton St.
Start from the Welch Pool parking lot and run west on Westerly Parkway. A little over a mile from the pool Westerly ends at Blue Course Drive. Make a left. Take Blue Course Drive about a mile to Stratford Drive and go left. At the end of the long, downhill block is Waupelani Drive. Make a right and then take the next left onto Whitehall Rd. Carefully run on the left shoulder of the road. The sidewalk is intermittent on Whitehall and University Drives, but the shoulder is wide.
About a block past Waupelani Drive, Whitehall becomes University Drive (a narrow, shady road called East Whitehall Drive continues to the left). University Drive is a busy road, but there are few cross streets and the scenery is nice, with a fine view of Mt. Nittany to the right. Stay on University Drive for about a mile to South Atherton St. Make a left. South Atherton is a very busy thoroughfare, so be careful when crossing the cross streets. Continue over a hill and down for about 3/4 mile to the light at Westerly Parkway. Make the left at Westerly and continue for about a third of a mile to the finish at the Welch Pool.
Longer Loop: Start the same way as the Shorter Loop and do the first nearly 4 miles of that route. At the corner of University Drive and South Atherton, continue on University. Here, University Drive is still a busy road, but now runs through a residential area with many cross-streets. Continue on University over a short, steep hill. At the bottom is Easterly Parkway. Make a left. About 3/4 mile later, at the corner of Allen Street, Easterly Parkway becomes Westerly Parkway. Continue for another half-mile, crossing Atherton St and finishing at Welch Pool.
Variation: About 3 miles into either loop, make the left onto East Whitehall Drive from Whitehall Rd as Whitehall becomes University Drive. Take Whitehall to South Atherton. There, make a left to finish the Shorter Loop or go right, then left a couple of blocks later to finish the Longer Loop. This variation takes about 0.6 miles off the Shorter Loop and 0.1 miles off the Longer Loop.
| | Remarks: | Jerry's Welch Pool Loops came about when NVRC President Jerry Steffy moved to town. He was unfamiliar with the streets, roads, and trails of the State College area and picked a route on which he would not get lost. When Jerry started up the Beginner's Running Groups, he would have the runners do the shorter loop as soon as they were able to run 5 miles. With a shift of start and end point, the loops can be run from one of the many hotels on South Atherton St. The routes are also not far from the Penn State campus. For these reasons, the loops are ideal routes for visitors and newcomers to State College.
The biggest drawback of the routes is that they are on relatively busy streets (though it's nothing like running in the big city!)
| | Map: |  | Shorter Loop
Profile: |  | Longer Loop
Profile: |  | Added: 01/07
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