Favorite Places to Run: 5 reasons why we like Masonic Village
Occasionally, we like to tell you about some of our favorite places to run. Here in Elizabethtown, PA, we are fortunate to have resources like the Conewgao and Lebanon Valley Rail Trail, which we wrote about last year, and the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown.
For those unfamiliar with Masonic Village, it’s a 1,400-acre retirement commuunity situated on the southwestern side of Elizabethtown. It has the full range of retirement living, from cottages and apartments to skilled nursing. In addition, it has a working farm, an orchard and a farmer’s market (that is open to the public) that last summer started serving some of the most amazing hand-scooped ice cream anywhere.
The ice cream is a nice reward after running at Masonic Village, but it’s not one of the reasons we head out to the campus to get in some miles. Here are five reasons why we do.
Paths
The community has 8 miles of pathways that snake through the grounds. In fact, Elizabethtown Borough is working on a pathway project where, eventually, one would able to run on a dedicated pathway from the local high school all the way to Masonic Village. Once there, you can head in a variety of directions and never once run on any of the roads (save for crossing a few or for a few yards to get from one path to the next). The paths loop through shaded areas and past cottages, a chapel and the farmer’s market.
Not much traffic
We know that some runners still like to stick to the roads. One of the benefits at Masonic Village is there’s not too much traffic. You still have to pay attention, and the roads can be a little narrow at places, but compared to some public streets and roads running here is a great experience.
Beautiful views, well-kept grounds
If you’re apt to take in the scenery while running, Masonic Village has some of the best. The original buildings are stone and are gorgeous, and one of the paths will take you through and around the formal gardens. Keep in mind that if you stop and smell the roses, pause your Garmin so your average pace doesn’t slow down! Serpentine Drive also takes you past a couple of ponds and some wetlands. Our favorite view is along Eden View Road just past the farmer’s market where you can look west and see some amazing sunsets.
Hills
We know many of you don’t like hills, but let’s face it: If you run, you’re going to encounter hills – and we’ve already told about 3 reasons why they’re not bad. At Masonic Village, there’s no way around the hills. There are rolling hills, such as the ones right along Freemason Drive, the main road through the campus. There are long, winding hills, such as Serpentine Drive. And then there’s Commandery Drive, which is one-third of a mile long and has some of the steepest grades for road running. Some might call it, and the rest of the hills at the village, “masochistic,” but we like to refer to them as “leg shapers” and “an alternate to speed workouts on the track.”
Great way to add distance
Because of where Masonic Village is located, it’s easy to run a mile or two just to get to the campus, and from there you can easily add mileage for your weekly long run. There are several places where the walking path loops through the cottages back to an intersection, quickly adding a quarter-mile to your distance. There’s also nice 1.3-mile loop near the farmer’s market. If you run through the parking lot, Orchard Road heads down a hill into some woods. If you stay on that to a residence, to the left there’s a dirt road that loops through some woods to a cemetery. Hang on left on that road, and it will loop back to the base of the hill at Orchard Road.
The following promotional video is from the 2015 Jerry Engle Memorial 5K that is held on the grounds at Masonic Village every year. The video has some great shots of the grounds and many of the things we mentioned. Pay attention at :55 – that’s when they start running up Commandery, or as the 5K organizers have dubbed it, “Prayer Hill.”