Mom and I have been doing things a lot differently over the past few months. After breaking with years-old Thanksgiving traditions, we decided to forge ahead with a new and different take on our Monday-after-Thanksgiving run as well.

That day, better known in Western Pennsylvania as the first day of deer season, has traditionally been our day to escape the woods and head for the relative safety of the city. Instead of dodging errant bullets in our rural neighborhood, we choose to elbow our way through holiday shoppers in Pittsburgh as we forage down one side of the Strip District and up the other.

After sampling the international flavors along Penn Avenue, we usually work off the calories by running along the Allegheny River on the North Shore Trail.

This year, we decided to head out of town for a run through suburban Green Tree to check out a potential site for a summer fun run.

Last year's Lutheran Women in Mission fun run director suggested staging the upcoming event on the grounds of the convention hotel as they had last year. I strapped on my GPS watch and Mom and I set out at a jog across the parking lot for a tour of the Radisson's perimeter.

I've run loops around parking lots before, but not by choice. I consider it one step above running on the treadmill in scenic appeal. This run featured a view of the backside of several adjacent businesses overlooking a busy highway.

We exchanged glances with employees on a smokers picnic outside a hotel back entrance. They stomped their feet and hunkered down against the biting wind while Mom and I, equally unaccustomed to the changing temperatures, shivered in our lightweight tights.

This particular parking lot distinguished itself by being set into a hillside. The half-mile loop featured a steep crawl up one side followed by a quad-jamming downhill on the other.

As we listened to the drone of traffic from the nearby Parkway West, we concluded that the Radisson was not the place to hold a fun run.

On the advice of a Radisson desk clerk, we drove to nearby Green Tree Park.

"It's a nice little park," he said. "There are soccer fields and a walking trail."

"Perfect," we thought. In reality Green Tree Park is a flat few acres crammed between the Parkway West and Parkway Center Mall. And, contrary to its name, there's not one green tree in Green Tree Park.

We tried to imagine the park on a sunny Saturday in June rather than a chilly gray November afternoon. Mom and I ran easily on the smooth asphalt trail that circled a half mile around the park's perimeter — not nearly long enough for the proposed fun run.

Adding a loop of the adjacent Parkway Center Mall parking lot completed a mile in distance, but a mall parking lot is not much more scenic than a motel lot and probably more dangerous for traffic.

We avoided the holiday shoppers speeding by in cars but were nearly bowled over by a runaway Kmart shopping cart.

Back in the park, we used my GPS watch to lay out a meandering mile-long course around the perimeter and through the park's baseball field access paths. The loop within a loop made use of almost all of the available asphalt and crushed limestone path.

We decided to complete one full circuit of our newly laid course and complete our 7 miles of wandering though the suburbs.

We headed back to our car satisfied that the Lutheran women will enjoy a fun run as part of their national convention in June — as long as they're not expecting actual green trees in Green Tree Park.

Upcoming events

Saturday, 8 a.m.: Up-N-Running Group Run, Valencia. 724-898-2525 or www.runpa.com

Saturday, 9 a.m.: Shenango Thon 5K, Hermitage. 724-983-2846 or bes5143@psu.edu

Sunday, 9:30 a.m.: Holiday 5K Walk-Run, New Brighton. 412-495-9417 or hilfinger@newbrightonborough.org

Sunday, 9 a.m.: Trot for Tots 10K and 5K, Oakdale. Run one or both distances on level Panhandle Trail. Bring a new, unwrapped toy for this benefit race. Post-race hot chocolate, soup and prizes. 412-490-0881 or ksmith@eliterunners.com

Sunday, 10 a.m.: Deerslayer Trail Challenge, South Park. Run 4 or 8 miles on rugged trails. 724-348-6012 or cgarber_us@comcast.net

Sunday, 10 a.m.: Nittany Valley Half Marathon, State College. 814-571-1960 or eggler@geosc.psu.edu

Dec. 12, 10 a.m.: Jingle Bell Run/ Walk 5K, Pittsburgh. Run along Pittsburgh's North Shore benefits Arthritis Foundation. 412-566-1645 or lmautioarthritis.org

Dec. 31, 3 p.m.: Harmony Silvester K Run, Harmony. 724-452-6780 or www.harmony-pa.us

Jan. 1, 10 a.m.: New Year's Day 5-Miler, Erie. 814-774-3209

Jan. 1, 10 a.m.: Race for Grace 5K, Zanesville, Ohio. 740-455-2659

Jan. 1, 6:30 p.m.: First Night Resolution Run 5K, State College. 814-571-1960

Race results

Spirit of Pittsburgh Half Marathon, Nov. 1: Ryan Sheehan, 1st Overall M, 1:06:13; Elizabeth Herndon, 1st Overall W, 1:19:18; Richard Goodright, 3rd 20-24 M, 1:15:29; Lindsey Shouey, 1st 25-29 W, 1:26:30; Curt Grimm, 1st 60-64 M, 1:37:50; Ken Zellars, 2nd 60-64 M, 1:40:23; Cindy Grimm, 1st 55-59 W, 1:42:57Mike Eubanks, 1:29:47; R. Brent Collins, 1:31:59; Ken Elias, 1:34:53; Bill Schessler, 1:35:28; Tim Weil, 1:35:37; Brian Cornell, 1:36:12; Kevin Recker, 1:36:45; Karl Zellars, 1:37:58; Jim Van Eerden, 1:38:15; Amanda Johns, 1:39:17; Paul McCartney, 1:39:22; Christopher Anderson, 1:39:24; Kimberley Ebbert, 1:39:35; Ashley Brooks, 1:40:32; Kathy Hensler, 1:43:15; Paul Severine, 1:43:27; Steve Schupp, 1:43:48; Keith Quisenberry, 1:43:59; Michael Labarre, 1:4:52; Steven Swan, 1:45:16; Veronica Jeremko, 1:45:29; Gabriel Alexander, 1:45:56; John Lucey, 1:45:59; Paul DiBucci, 1:46:19Avery Lawson, 1:46:20; Todd Trofimuk, 1:47:10; Alexander Cameron, 1:48:08; Michelle Choo, 1:48:09; Ronald Ripper, 1:48:18; Kylee Baldelli, 1:48:22; Michelle Ellery, 1:49:09; Mary Jo Sanks, 1:49:32; Mark Shipley, 1:50:38; Brian Fill, 1:50:41; Kelly Fill, 1:50:42; Sara Locke, 1:50:57; Geoffrey Bebb, 1:51:13; Todd Hessler, 1:51:20; James Steinkirchner, 1:52:25; Jennifer Zangardi, 1:52:58; Ricardo Baron, 1:53:01; LaRayne Young, 1:53:34; Charles Goodzinski, 1:53:34; Tom Parenti, 1:53:45; Kristine Poloyac, 1:54:11; Scott Ackerman, 1:54:24; Sam Poloyac, 1:54:32Tracey Smith, 1:54:43; Keith Schneider, 1:54:45; Shannon Sylva, 1:55:13; Maria Berexa, 1:55:48; Linsey Stonebraker, 1:55:52; Joelleen Yerace, 1:55:55; Cyndie DeLucia, 1:55:57; David Steigerwald, 1:56:05; Michael Manning, 1:56:17; George Herrity, 1:56:45; Ann Talarico, 1:57:21; Tami Rippy, 1:57:22; Christine Murray, 1:57:37; Michael Winterhalter, 1:57:54; Michele Bamburak, 1:58:13; Aaron Stanley, 1:58:44; Timothy Washko, 1:59:23; Craig Smith, 1:59:33; Rebecca Miller, 2:00:00; James Hodgson, 2:00:14; Mike Manning, 2:00:17; Amy Otto, 2:00:23; Pamela Kristoff, 2:00:24; Kristin Stumm, 2:00:26; Darryl Tieken, 2:00:49; James Miller, 2:01:18Suzanne Kasunich, 2:01:31; Karen Shaffer, 2:01:40; Christine Loper, 2:01:44; Clare Thomas, 2:01:57; Amy Cataldi, 2:02:27; Peter Hyde, 2:02:38; Nicole Khoury, 2:02:43; Tami Kennedy, 2:02:54; Clifford Franklin, 2:02:56; Rachel Johns, 2:03:07; Andrew Weisner, 2:04:37; Curt Dupill, 2:04:53; Cara Reinhard, 2:05:14; Lauren McAndrews, 2:06:39; Cindy Waltemire, 2:07:23; Kelley Morrone, 2:08:27Lisa Wolf, 2:10:18; Chuck Bergman, 2:10:18; Mike Wolf, 2:10:18; Whitney Corrigan, 2:10:37; Julia Johnson, 2:10:47; Bill Maxson, 2:10:55; Joel Normand, 2:11:34; Melinda Miller, 2:11:41; Deborah Anderson, 2:11:57; Dana Maxson, 2:13:01; Jenene Hunkele, 2:13:06; Sylvia Bittner, 2:13:31; Patti Kitt, 2:13:54; Sherree May, 2:14:36; Barbara Schweitzer, 2:14:47; Heather Slater, 2:15:05; Andrew McIndoe, 2:15:21; John Harris, 2:15:46; Lynn Dixon Stewart, 2:16:09; Susan Tirch, 2:17:22; Alicia Dwyer, 2:17:33; Gary Golebiewski, 2:17:52; Jill Moreman, 2:19:16; Cassandra Johns, 2:19:49; Bob Andrews, 2:20:14; Jennifer Himes-Smith, 2:22:26; Michael Claycomb, 2:25:26; Emily Lindsay, 2:26:25; Wesley Willow, 2:26:25; Daena DiBucci, 2:30:15; Desiree Winterhalter, 2:30:25; Dana Sabo, 2:36:19; Anne Semmler, 2:40:12; David Smiga, 3:03:03; Rebecca George, 3:21:37; Sarah Jones, 3:24:21; Denise Jones, 3:24:22Send comments and suggestions to: 435 Cherry Valley Road, Saxonburg PA 16056. Phone: 724-352-4395. E-mail: lotzak@consolidated.netPat Neubert is the running columnist for the Butler Eagle.