Stanley Cup Playoff postcard: Ottawa
NHL.com's Tom Gulitti goes sightrunning through some of the key spots in Canada's capital
by Tom Gulitti @tomgulittinhl / NHL.com Staff Writer
OTTAWA -- My idea was to fit in some exercise while fulfilling my NHL.com postcard responsibilities.
Plus I needed to find something different to write about after Amalie Benjamin and Dan Rosen covered most of Ottawa's fun eating angles earlier in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
So during a break earlier this week in the Eastern Conference Final between the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins, I did an internet search for running routes in Ottawa. In Medium.com's Great Runs, I found a five-mile loop that takes you past many of the important spots in Canada's capital, including Rideau Falls, the Rideau locks, the Royal Canadian Mint, National Gallery, the Centennial Flame and Parliament Hill, the National War Memorial and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Sightrunning can be a fun way to see a city and also gives you an excuse to stop occasionally if you want to rest. My problem was I got a little lost.
I knew where I was most of the time, but wasn't sure how to get back to where I started. That was important because it's where I left my rental car.
I recognized this predicament around the time I got to Parliament Hill, about two miles in. I put it out of my mind for a few minutes and acted like a tourist, snapping photos of the Centre Block, which houses the Senate, House of Commons and the Library of Parliament.
Also on Parliament Hill is the Centennial Flame, which was relit earlier this year as part of the celebration of the 150th birthday of the Canadian Confederation.
On July 1, 1867, the British colonies of Canada (which included the current provinces of Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick united into one dominion. On Jan. 1, 1967, Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson lit The Centennial Flame to mark the 100-year anniversary.
After checking that out, I resumed my run, but decided then that I would take an Uber back to my car when I didn't feel like running anymore. That determination was hastened when I realized it was getting dark and received the "low battery" warning on my iPhone.
If I lost power on my iPhone, I wouldn't be able to call for an Uber and also would have had less of a chance of making it back to my car on foot in the dark without the use of Google Maps. That I had accidentally veered off the loop I had been following further complicated my situation.
I had recently passed the Canadian War Museum and was on a paved path that led to the Trans Canada Trail. That would have led me back along the Ottawa River toward where I had begun, but I didn't know that at the time.
Playing it safe, I turned around, went back to the Canadian War Museum and called for an Uber, which transported me safely back to my car.