Oil Creek Run

Last night, I spent the night over my sister Jamie's apartment in Meadville, PA. We planned on meeting some people at Oil Creek in between Titusville and Oil City which is about 35 minutes southeast of Meadville. This park is home of the WORLD'S first commercial oil well! Also, the first Oil Creek 100 miler will be held October 10-11. Click here for a map of the park.

Drake Oil Well

When we got there 2 people, Don and his wife Becky from Cortland were already there along with their Husky. We waited a little while longer and Jeff, who ran with my brother and Jamie last time, showed up. Unfortunately, he was having problems with a disc in his back, so he couldn't run.


After talking for a bit, we got running. Their husky came along for the run and navigated the trails much easier than everyone else. They said that it has gone up to 20 miles before!

It was pretty freezing out with temperatures in the low teens. However, it didn't take long to warm up as the trail started up the side of this hill (or should I say mountain). The trails were especially tough running through the deep crunchy snow. Some parts had footprints, but even with those it was tough. I was relieved when we finally got near the top and had a great overlook of the valley and creek.


We then turned around and headed down the side of the hill towards the Swinging Bridge. It felt good running downhill even though we had to make our own footprints.

After crossing the bridge we hopped on the bike path and headed back to our cars. The bike path was a little better since snowmobiles had run over it. We probably got in 6 miles for the day even though it felt like 20!

I had a great time meeting new people and talking to Don about various ultras and running experiences. Oil Creek is a beautiful park and I highly recommend it. I look forward to exploring more trails in the future and seeing what the place looks like without snow!