Find Your Strong: A Brief Intro to UP Diliman Running Routes

If there was something I rarely touched on in my six years in UP, it’s fitness. While our PE courses are enjoyable and unique, I rarely visited the academic oval for jogging. However, when I do go out jogging, boy is it a comfortable run every time. It’s been a while since I ran around two of the more friendly jogging routes in UP Diliman—the Academic Oval and the National Science Complex—so I took my co-interns on a tour along these two routes.

We just came from UP Town Center when we decided to go for the tour. I told them that UP is very walkable, even from UP Town Center. We entered through the Shuster Gate and immediately went for the first route: the Academic Oval, a 2.2-kilometer route. Compared to other routes, this is the most populated one, especially during weekends.

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From Shuster Gate, the first landmark you’ll see is the Sunken Garden, often filled during the afternoon with footballers, ultimate players, picnickers, and couples, weekdays or weekends.

Not far off from the Sunken Garden is Vinzons Hall and the Monumento ng mga Bayani. Apart from being a public transpo hub, this area is also packed with stalls where you can get a little snack or something to drink in the middle of your run.

Going past Vinzons Hall, the College of Law, and the College of Engineering is the Carillon Plaza. And, just a bit further is what is probably the university’s most distinguishable landmark: the Oblation Statue.

From the Oblation Statue, it’s a straightforward path back to the Sunken Garden. Or you can go for the second route—the National Science Complex.

If you take a right from the Faculty Center that’s being rebuilt and go straight, you’ll be greeted by an area that’s slightly more secluded, has less cars, and has less people. Really cool if you’re like me who prefers a more quiet scenery. The only obvious rest point in the National Science Complex is the Amphitheater, however. The route itself is also small so combining it with the Acad Oval would result in a more fruitful run. Next time, we’ll definitely go for a run without the photoshoots…maybe. 😛

But be it for beginners or enthusiasts, for me, UP Diliman is still one of the better running playgrounds of choice.

Oh, and in case you were wondering about those shoes my friend Ryanne is wearing in these photos, it’s a pair of Saucony Zealot ISO 2’s. I put a pair of old Triumph 9’s through its paces as my daily driver for the past few years so I can attest to the comfort these shoes bring. I still have another pair of Triumph 9’s just waiting to be used (and abused?). Built to last is an understatement for a pair of Saucony.

Whether or not you take your runs seriously, you owe it to yourself to get a pair of Saucony Running Shoes.

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