A Green Light Run

It is possible, entirely possible, to run in the downtown area of a significant city. But, downtown running does not exactly fit with the goal of continuous running. A downtown run is pretty much stop, start, cross the street, run on the sidewalk, stop, wait, start...and repeat over and over. And, for the record, I do not run in place while standing on a street corner waiting for the light to change.

I spent a few days this week in downtown Indianapolis, which includes plenty of stop lights, cross walks, side walks, construction projects, and some quality running trails just outside of downtown. Tuesday, rather than settle for the starting and stopping, or heading out on a trail, I opted for a "green light run."

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not exactly certain the term "green light run" originated with me. But, I honestly cannot point to a time, place or magazine where I either heard or read about someone completing a green light run. It was during a trip to San Jose in mid-March on a day when I needed at least an 8 mile run when, after the previous day of stops and starts during a run in downtown San Jose, I had the thought to just follow the green lights...and "green light runs" were created, at least for me.

The concept is not very complicated. Head out of the hotel (or your downtown apartment)...take a left (or a right, whichever you prefer)...head toward the corner. When you reach the corner, if the stop light is green you keep running straight. If the stop light is red, you take a left...or a right (for me on Tuesday, the light was red and I turned left). Head down the block to the next intersection, where the stop light on Tuesday was red and I took another left.

There are a couple of tricks to this concept. If you catch every red light, and you keep turning left...the result is you just keep running around the block. Back in San Jose, I ran around the same block four consecutive times before reaching a corner where the green light allowed me to cross the street. The "around the block" syndrome can happen at any point in a green light run, if you keep turning the same direction you just keep running around the block...and you get a little dizzy if it is a small block.

Through good timing, a left turn, a right turn and the decision to wait for a green light rather than make a turn, you can actually find a good run in a downtown setting. In fact, if you need to complete a long run on a day when you end up in a new city, green light runs keep you moving and draw your attention away from just running since you have to watch those lights and cross walk signals.

As beneficial as they may be, you do have to pay attention to your direction during a green light run. Otherwise you run the risk of ending up ten blocks over and 14 blocks down from where you started, with no real idea how to make it back.