Around Hartford

Training routes for distance runners

Trinity’s distance runners—those who constitute the cross country and indoor and outdoor track teams—are a rare breed, says John Michael Mason ’12, M’14, assistant professor of physical education and director of cross country and track and field. “They’re in season all year long,” he says. “It’s a privilege, but it’s also hard.” Mason, himself a former Bantam runner, says that the student-athletes compete in cross country in the fall, indoor track in the winter, and then outdoor track the spring. Throughout the seasons, even in the winter if it’s mild enough, the distance runners turn Hartford and its neighboring towns into their training sites. Mason says a favorite loop goes down Fairfield Avenue, into Wethersfield and then Old Wethersfield. Another goes through downtown Hartford to the Connecticut River. Other courses take their names from the streets the runners encounter, including the Nott and Goff routes named after Wethersfield thoroughfares. Nearby West Hartford and Manchester provide off-road trails in their reservoirs, with the latter also the site of the teams’ home course of Wickham Park. The Vernon Rails to Trails project is another popular training spot, says Mason, with Bantams often finding themselves running among the Huskies of the University of Connecticut and athletes from other institutions. Strength and speed-form training complement daily runs, Mason says, noting that he’s a “big believer in overall athleticism.” He adds that he sees a bright future for distance runners at Trinity. “We try to keep a rising tide mentality: If we can get people to perform their best, their rising tide will raise all ships for our team.”

See some of the Bantam courses.