[Review] Concordia Theological Seminary

I promised a full review of running trails at Concordia Theological Seminary in my earlier post about scouting the best route to get from the seminary or Shoaff Park all the way downtown (and back).  I'm not going to spend a bunch of time on each review section here, because I can't honestly recommend the Seminary for any runner, given the nearby options at Fort Wayne parks (Shoaff Park is almost right next door) or trails on the Rivergreenway.

I used to run at the Seminary way back in High School and that was a time when I ran, at most, probably 4 miles.  This was about 15 years ago, and the Seminary's campus had a wooded trail around 1-1.5 miles in its Northwest corner and then you could get another mile or two just running around the grassy perimeter of the campus. I also used to catch an 'unofficial' trail on the East edge of the campus, along the St. Joe river that extended at least a mile north of the Concordia property.

I was surprised about a couple of things on my run.  First, the wooded trail through the Northwest corner of campus was completely overgrown and basically 'unrunnable'

The other surprise was both good and bad.  I hadn't realized before I showed up here that the Pufferbelly Trail is slated for expansion through Concordia Seminary on its way North all the way up to Salomon Farms  (my run review is here)!  What's more is that this expansion already appears to be underway:

Gone is the old stretch along the Eastern edge of campus and here is the beginning of the Pufferbelly expansion.  This, too, is basically 'unrunnable' because this is construction grade gravel and the path is really uneven.  The rocks are really big and you might roll an ankle if you're not careful.  Luckily, I could still run in the grass alongside this and also connect to the 'unofficial' trail that goes North along the river.  Sadly, the Pufferbelly expansion along this route means the loss of yet another unpaved running trail.

Without this stretch on campus (temporarily) and the awful condition of the wooded trails on campus, I had to stick to the grassy perimeter of the campus.  Not really a viable option for future running until Pufferbelly is complete.

Cost (5/5)

It's free!

Facilities (2.5/5)

It's been nearly 20 years since I spent most of my weekends playing soccer here, but there was a restroom in the gym that's right next to all the open grass/athletic fields.  You can check to see if the doors are unlocked, I suppose.  Anyway, there was plenty of parking available and I didn't have any kind of special campus pass for parking or anything.  There's also a pretty big kids' playground that looks newly installed right outside the gym.

Distance (3/10)

• Short Runs (<4 miles) 6/10
• Medium Runs (4-10 miles) 2/10
• Long Runs (10+ miles) 1/10

I feel like this score is kind of generous, given all the reasons noted at the beginning of this review.  If it weren't for connections to trails off campus, it would be hard to get in a run of more than 2-3 miles here without getting really bored.

Surface (6.5/10)

Most of the usable surface is grass.  If you want to brave the wooded trails on campus, there's some dirt trail there (but watch out for the poison ivy growing all over the place)

Terrain (4.5/10)

It's pretty flat here.  There are 1-2 rolling hills in one spot.  Nothing for hill repeats and no extended climbs.  

Scenery (2.5/10)

Not a whole lot here.  The campus is fine for what it is - nicely maintained and grassy campus with some trees throughout.  There's one nice pond that you'll see if you run around the grassy perimeter.

Cover (1.5/5)

I feel like this is being generous as well.  There's really not much cover from the elements here, especially since the trails are overgrown.

Traffic (9/10)

I guess this is where the Seminary shines.  I didn't see another person running or walking the entire time I was here.  I saw a maintenance worker and maybe a car or two driving on campus.  That's it.

Markers (1.5/3)

There are no markers.  I'm defaulting to 1.5/3 when this isn't applicable.

Family (2/5)

Nothing much here for family except for the playground near the gym.  It's possible you might find yourself here with your family for a youth sporting event, though I don't know if other parks have taken over as destinations for those kinds of things.

Connections (2.5/3)

You can connect to the St. Joseph pathway, running from Shoaff to Headwaters (& beyond) if you go out the back exit of campus (onto St. Joe Center Road and then head east to catch a ramp/footpath that goes under the bridge by the river).

Safety (4/5)

I felt completely safe here, and I think there is campus security patrolling.  I actually didn't see any, so I might be just assuming that's the case.

Extras (1.5)

Meh.  You can't take a jogging stoller on grass, but you could take your kids to the playground and take turns running while your partner/spouse watches the kids.

Concordia Theological Seminary Run Review Score:

57% Not recommended. There are several better options close by for runs of any length.