Saturday, February 23, 2008

Mill Creek Park Group Run

Last week, I only got 12 miles in the whole week, so I was pretty excited to get a long run in especially at Mill Creek Park since I haven't run there in awhile. My brother Brian and I met up with Stacy and his son Taylor at the Lily Pond parking lot. We weren't sure how far we were going to go, but figured anything more than 10 would be good.

We got on our way down the trail and my brother wasn't sure if he locked his car so he turned around to check. The trail, with 4 inches of snow on it, wasn't very suitable for running a quality long run on, so when Brian caught back up we decided to run on roads today (which weren't cleared either).

We ran around the East side of Lake Glacier and continued South to go around Lake Newport. You can view a map of the park
here. By the steel bridge, we saw Bruce McMurray and ran with him for awhile. He was going to meet up with us at the beginning but missed us since we took the roads. The scenery was beautiful with all the trees covered in snow.


After we got past the mill, Taylor and I picked up the pace a little. The snowy road made it hard to get good footing or traction so every step required an extra effort. We stopped for a bit to stretch our calves since mine were a little sore and Taylor had a knot in one of his.

We made our way around Lake Newport and back towards the Lily Pond. Both of us were a little sick of the road, so we decided to get on the trail for a bit. We ran on the trail between the mill and the covered bridge and from Pioneer Pavilion to the Lily Pond. There were a couple times in which we slipped by the edge since the snow disguised everything.

When we got back to our cars, Taylor and I decided to call it a day since both of us were a little tired and sore from the conditions. Brian and Stacy showed up about 10 minutes later. We figured we ran about 13 miles, so I was pretty satisfied.

Afterwards, Brian and I went to get some chow at A&W in Boardman. It always hits the spot! I ate two footlong hot dogs and wasn't phased. Nothing like working up a hunger by doing 13 miles on a winter's day!

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