Tired of studying? Take a lap around the corner - Make It Work

With finals hanging heavy over campus, you are probably one of the many ready to GET OUT of this place. No offense, Hopkins.

Unfortunately, we are all doomed to stay here for at least another week, and we will most likely see more of the library than we'd like to. But I come bearing good news.

There is a way to escape Hopkins - and it is healthy, too. During reading period, I suggest you drop your books, pick up your sneakers and go for a run. I promise the 30 minutes will do you good!

Before we get started, I suppose I should give a little safety announcement. We have all been warned that Baltimore is the scariest place on earth, so I do not need to tell you to run during the day, on populated streets, with a friend if possible.

I cannot promise that nothing bad will happen, but I can say that I have run in Baltimore just about every day since my freshman year, and no one has ever attacked me.

I might have been knocking on wood while I wrote that sentence, but really, I think you'll be just fine running in this town if you have safe routes and use common sense.

There are good running routes around Homewood campus. A lot of runners like to run near water. Luckily there is water less than three miles from campus, in every direction.

You're probably familiar with the Inner Harbor. Though the Collegetown Shuttle makes it seem like this body of water is hundreds of miles away, it is actually only a three-mile run (downhill) from the library.

And if you get tired, you can pick up the Collegetown at the Harbor or the JHMI at Mount Vernon to take you back.

To the east is a little gem called Lake Montebello. If you run straight down 33rd St., you'll hit it after 1.6 miles. The lake's perimeter is about 1.5 miles and makes for a really pleasant, flat jog. Plus you'll get to see some Baltimoreans walking it out around the track.

Feel free to stop and do some pull-ups or leg exercises on the outdoor exercise equipment along the track.

If you're up for a little challenge, go uphill to the north for 1.3 miles on Charles St., turn right at Coldspring Lane for 0.3 more miles, and discover the Guilford reservoir. It's small and square and sits on top of a hill, so there's a nice view of the Loyola area.

Sometimes an old man with a cane walks around the pond, along with Loyola students. If you're still feeling energized at this point, go down Coldspring for another half mile and turn right at the Bolton St. Synagogue.

Go to the back of the parking lot and you will discover a great trail that will take you to a wide street called Wyndhurst. Here, you can turn right until you hit Charles St., and then head south again. The whole loop (pond lap included) is about five miles.

And lastly, to the west lies Druid Hill Lake. Just follow Wyman Park Dr. (right behind the Decker Quad, to the west) away from campus and you'll reach a nice lake (similar to Montebello, but bigger) in 1.2 miles. Once you're there, you can run around Druid Hill Park, and check out the Maryland Zoo.

Aren't you getting excited already? A lot of students might not believe it, but there are some great trails and lakes around this city that add a touch of nature to Baltimore.

If you're still hesitant to abandon campus, though, there's always the two-mile campus loop. Starting at MSE, you can run up Charles, take a left on University Pkwy., left at San Martin Dr. and then left again at Art Museum Dr., leaving you back on Charles St.

These are only a few of the many running routes that await. To learn more details about these routes or to create more routes, I would recommend a visit to Map My Run. Also, there's a giant database of routes at