TEAM: COURSE
 Located on the corner of Woodmere and Vernor Highway is our home course, named after General George S. Patton. Within walking distance is the massive Ford Rouge assembly complex, home of one of Ford's largest automotive assembly complexes in the world.
Patton Park is 2.2 miles all the way around, and our home course is a series of repeat loops inside of the park. In years past running at Patton has often been nightmarish due to general disrepair of the fields, grass and the frequent abandoned cars, building materials, etc. As of late however Patton has received several significant upgrades that have changed things considerably. In 2006 the recreation center re-opened after a 10 million dollar rebuilding and the cross-country team is able to use the building for water, bathroom facilities and once weekly swimming during our running season.
As for the park itself - a private-public collaboration recently completed the installation of a "jogging track" around the entire parameter of the park. This 6-foot wide swatch of asphalt around the park weaves in and out around the trees to make for a scenic run and the path is well constructed - blends in nicely with the park. This new jogging path finally resolves the problem we have of the city infrequently cutting the grass in the park. Although we previously bought a riding lawnmower to cut the grass ourselves - having a dedicated running path will make our work certainly less in having to maintain the park, our twisted ankles less and also allow us to start hosting home races once again.
During the cross-country season we meet for practice nightly in the parking lot area of the Patton Park Rec Center . From this location we run to Belle Isle , Tiger Stadium or any one of the other many famous landmarks within the City of Detroit . We also have mapped out ¼, ½ a 1 mile courses that we practice on starting from the recreation center. The cemetery adjacent to Patton Park is 2.7 miles around and we often combine a park and cemetery run for distance running.
While Patton Park can be often be a rough and tumble place to train - it's our home and we like to think it toughens us up to be a great racing team!
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