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Polka and beer might seem like an odd backdrop for legions of health-conscious runners, but the worlds appeared to get along just fine when I jogged around Patterson Park this morning.

Granted, Baltimore’s 35th annual Polish Festival is more of a night affair. Even so, the closed-off street that resulted from the party suited a lot of pedestrians just fine. I counted 22 runners, hikers and dog walkers during my very brief time on the edges of the park. There were also bikers on the streets around the park, but they looked like they were actually going somewhere, so I didn’t count them in my leisure audit, so to speak.

Here’s my route map.

It’s not just your imagination: Arundel Mills really is huge.

At 1.3 million feet, according to the owners’ site, it’s the second largest mall in Maryland. It was the biggest, until the mall in Annapolis, where I bought my copy of The Sparrow, opened an expansion in 2007. Development is following, with the BWI hotel district likely to eventually merge into Arundel Mills’ cocoon of big-box and small-box retailers.

That all adds up to a lot of teenagers and bored parents, which means an opportunity to jog around the perimeter of the parking lot shirtless, embarrassing your child, spouse or younger sibling beyond virtually anything else you could possibly do.

However, I am sad to say that I do not recommend this course of action. The parking lot perimeter lacks sidewalks and has guardrails in some place that are likely to bust a kneecap if you trip or swerve.

Instead, try running a few intervals around the pond near the AACC branch. It’s beatiful in most spots, and you’ll get a nice hill workout (see map — I’ve modified my route slightly to make each loop a bit closer to a mile). You could also enjoy walking this, if that’s more your style. It could be especially good for people with dogs.

Then, when you’re through with your running and stretching, there’s no shortage of places to eat. Assuming, that is, that your loved ones don’t chase their sweaty, heavily breathing, embarrassing family member away.

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Note: This could also be in very easy transit reach if they ever get around to building the MTA Yellow Line. Which is to say: Don’t hold your breath.

Yesterday, I had a chance to run around the Fort Armistead Park / Thoms Cove area. It was quite pleasant, with very little traffic on the roads. See the route here.

I don’t recommend this route for people with Animals: Simply too many chances to lose them. Bikers might get bored, but runners and walkers should have a great time.

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Note: I’m including this in both the “Anne Arundel” and “Baltimore City” categories, since it borders each area.

One of the main goals of this blog is to build community.

Specifically, I want a community of happy, well-adjusted people who like to discuss walking, biking, running and related topics. Maybe sometimes they’ll even walk and run together. Maybe they’ll even spontaneously break into song once in awhile. You never know.

Starting on the very modest level of my blog, I would like to invite you into that community. If you would like to write about walking and/or running in the Baltimore area, please e-mail my gmail account, which is named “patrickmaynard” (minus the qoutes, of course). I’m not posting it with the little twirly “at” symbol because evil robots will pick it up and send me spam, but I’m sure you can figure it out.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Here is a brief summary of my recent runs. Nothing special here: I’ll probably start using some of the Web’s more innovative tools shortly, with maps and more in-depth descriptions of how to get to a place, where to put water, whether you need a friend to drive along in your car shouting, etc.,.

Until then, this is all I have.