Running long 1:48:03 [2] 22.03 km (4:54 / km) +258m 4:38 / km
Para Vista to Gorge Rd Aquaduct
In all my years living in Para Vista, I never used to do any long runs heading south east towards the Torrens River, so it was time to give it a go. I guess when I was a junior, my long run were never that long, and it is about 5kms across several suburbs to get to the river. Back in those days, there were also many market gardens in the river valley near Athelstone so there was not much to run through once you got there. However they are all gone now, replace by a pleasant linear river park.
I headed across Dry Creek and North East Rd to the the O-Bahn track. I followed this next to Hope Valley Reservoir. This would be really nice to run in if there was not a huge fence with barbed wire and warning signs all around it. Once I hit the river, I followed it east for about 5kms until the end of the track.
On the way back, I tried to follow the aquaduct, but this was not really possible as it disappears underground. Some interesting terrain here is fenced off due to old commercial mining sites. I had a bit of a look at the hills between the Torrens and Grand Junction Rd, which I had never been to before.
The last 5kms was back through the streets of Highbury, Hope Valley, Modbury and Valley View before returning to Para Vista.