Running in Mostar
Published on 2017-05-05
One of the great things about traveling is that you have new environments for running. Berlin is very flat, so after arriving in Mostar, and seeing the big hill "Hum" with the big white cross on top, I couldn't wait to run there!
After some research, and finding this post by Amy, I decided that it shouldn't be too hard. It is slightly more than 6 kilometer uphill run, starting from the "Župna crkva Svetog Petra i Pavla", the Catholic church, in the top right on the map below.
You can follow the blue dots all the way to the big cross, but running along the main road (orange on the map) can be quite dangerous due to traffic and the curves in the road where it is hard to see oncoming traffic. I did stay on the left side of the road to not have to look back all the time for traffic. However, on the way down a car passed another car exactly where I was running, not cool! So be careful!
From the start of the smaller road (white on the map) the run becomes very peaceful. That is the best part of the run, no people, no cars, no tourists. I did see a few people on bicycles going up as well. It seems running is really not something people do around here, even though it is so great!
Reaching the top is really worth it. The view is amazing. Unfortunately you can't see the old bridge from here, as part of the hill is in front of the view. I read a few posts online that say you can walk a bit down to get a better view of the bridge, but those articles are full of mine warnings, so I stayed close to the cross and enjoyed the view for a while before heading down again.
Tips:
- Drink enough before heading out, or bring some water. There's nothing along the way;
- Stay on the left side of the main road (orange on the map) to see oncoming traffic;
- If you're into barefoot running, you can do that on the smaller road (white on the map), the pavement is very smooth;
- Be careful, do not leave the road, stay on the path(s) at all times!
Map source: OpenStreetMap.