Yes, right inside that gate was where the dog was found and then about 100 feet further was where Katie was found. It's mentioned above that the dog was easy to see from the gate by Katie's girlfriend.
To me there are now multiple possibilities with the runner. 1. He ran into the park (especially since we know there is footage of him outside the park running down 10th St. 41 seconds earlier) and turned around because of something he saw. 2. He turned around because of something he heard 3. He has an unusual running pattern where he only goes inside the park for 41 seconds and then turns around. Which seems unlikely if you're going to enter the park close to 1am. 4. The murders did not take place where the bodies were found and were later put there. Only speculation because I feel like with the timing, he would have seen something and said something.
Also, we now know he has a headlamp on which means he was able to see much better than the random lights placed along the path inside the park. I'm not even sure how many lights are on in the park that time of night, but he was definitely able to see ahead of him.