By Warwick Ford - Central Park is a 2.5-mile by 0.5-mile tasteful nature preserve, bang in the middle of the densest population area of the country. It is easily reached on-foot from any hotel or residence in Midtown, the Upper West Side, or the Upper East Side. Central Park has 58 miles of pedestrian paths, not all of which are suitable for running because of crowds of slow people in many parts. There are two particularly popular routes for runners — the Reservoir jogging path and the Park Drives loop. The bridle path is another option. There are facilities such as food outlets and water fountains, plus limited restrooms. The Reservoir occupies most of the width of the park from 86th Street to 96th Street. There is a scenic 1.58-mile soft jogging path around the reservoir. Bicycles, inline skates, and dogs are prohibited. On-footers are requested to go counterclockwise, and the vast majority of people adhere to that. You can access this path at many different points. The other popular route is the 6.03-mile Park Drives circuit (known as West Drive and East Drive on the respective sides of the park). This road is closed to vehicles on weekends year-round and in off-peak hours on weekdays except for the period from Thanksgiving through New Year. When it is closed to vehicles, it is used by large numbers of on-foot exercisers, cyclists, inline skaters, and strolling pedestrians, but there is plenty of room for all. Even when it is open to vehicles, its recreation lane is fine for runners. There are two other important paved paths that you can use to shorten the distance of the Park Drives loop. These are the pedestrian-friendly link roads known as the 72nd Street Transverse and the 102nd Street Transverse, which join West Drive and East Drive. The "Inner Loop" involves using both of these transverses and has a total loop distance of 4.02 miles. If you cut off the main loop by just one of the transverses, the resultant distance is close to 5 miles. With this choice of 4, 5, and 6 mile loops you can easily construct any distance you want, making it an ideal place for serious training. For more details, download a free printer-friendly runners' map at www.funonfoot.com/nycpkmap.html.

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