Mill Creek Park

I drove to the Rose Garden in Mill Creek Park at 9:00 this morning to go for a run. My plan was to do a 7.75 inner YUT-C loop from the Rose Garden to the Covered Bridge by the Mill. I started clockwise around the loop.

Early in the run, I saw another runner ahead of me. He was running a decent pace and was running alot of the hills. I wanted to take it easy today so I felt no need to sprint up to him. I finally caught him at the beginning of the Monkey Hill extension. I knew he must have heard or run YUT-C before since he took the Stone Bridge Trail as well as the Monkey Trail.

Stone Bridge

He said his name was Brian Klase and he was from McDonald. I saw he had an Akron Marathon hat on from a few years ago. He told me he was coming back from a knee injury. The rest of the run went by fast as we ran together and talked up till the Lily Pond where he was parked. This morning's weather was spectacular with temps in the 40s, just warm enough to avoid hat and gloves.

2009 Warren Turkey Trot

This morning my brother Brian and his wife Tami, my sister Jamie and I headed down to the Kent Branch to participate in another classic Turkey Trot race. All of us signed up for the 5 mile race which was set to start at 9:45. However, it was pushed back due to all the traffic this year. Another record was set with nearly 2,200 runners!!

I haven't gotten too far into my Boston training yet, so I wasn't expecting a PR. Before the race, we walked around and talked to the many familiar faces. I talked to a high school teammate and friend Brian Gilson a bit. I always kid him about how he catches me at the turn-around and ends up beating me every year. I also talked to NEO Trail members Jim Harris and Bill Losey.

When the race started, my brother lined up right behind Heath Harris razzing him that he would be right behind him. He stayed up front till about Mahoning then dropped back :p

From Mahoning to about the first mile, I ran and talked with Taylor Sowers. We ran through in 6:45. A short bit later, I sensed Brian Gilson coming up behind me and peered over my shoulder. Sure enough, there he was! We talked for awhile as I tried to keep up. Soon enough he left me in the dust. He caught me too early this year!


I ended up finishing in 34:20. This is far off my 30:32 Turkey Trot PR in 2006, but I was happy nonetheless considering. Jamie got first in her age group with a PR of 34:58. Brian also ran well with a 35:50, especially considering he did 65 last weekend at Slim Pickins. The weather, which can be wild for the Trot, was beautiful! I am thankful for all my friends and family and to be able to spend Thanksgiving running and eating with them! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Pine Lane to Boston Store

This morning I ran 8 miles starting from Pine Lane and running the Buckeye Trail to Boston Store. I was able to wear shorts and a t-shirt and brought my Camelback along. On the way back, this one kid passed me with about 1.5 miles to Pine Lane. He was moving really fast even on the uphills. I decided to hang with him as long as I could. When I got back, I told him thanks for pulling me along and found out his name was Jake Draa. He won the YUT-C 50K this year and goes to Kent State. We talked about marathons and ultras for awhile before taking off.

Long Night Run

Tonight I went to Happy Days at 7 PM to get in 2 3.5 mile Boston Run loops in before our Tuesday night trail run at 8:15. I felt great during both these loops. On the second loop, I saw 6 eyes in the woods shining brightly from my headlamp. I stood there for a second seeing what they would do then moved on.

Kellie, Jason and Jen showed up for the group run. We ran the same thing we did last week on the ledges and then to Kendall Lake. The ledges trail is pretty technical at night, but no one fell this time! I ended up getting 14 miles in for the night and my legs felt great!

Tuesday Night Trail Run

Kyle Bowman, Kellie Truesdell, Brian Musick, Jason McMains, Dan Bellinger and me (left to right)

Tonight I met my brother, Kellie Truesdell, Jason McMains, Dan Bellinger, and Kyle Bowman at the Happy Days parking lot for a night run at 8:15. I showed up at 7:30 and ran a loop of the Boston Run Trail. Once everyone else got there we ran on the ledges trail to Kendall Hills and back for 7 miles.

Afterward, Brian and I sat outside and relaxed since the temperature was pretty warm. The sky had a few thin clouds but the stars were mostly out and very visible. A cool thing happened as we sat out there. We were talking about our grandfather who passed away over a year ago and wishing he could send us a sign. One other time when we talked about this, I saw a huge streak in the sky bigger than a shooting star like a meteor. Well tonight, Brian joked about a plane flying high and I started to say "That shooting star is moving slowly." But before I could finish we both saw a shooting star streak across the sky just underneath the plane.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

This morning at 10 o'clock I went for a 5 mile run at Portage Lakes State Park. We've had awesome weather this weekend for November! This morning it was about 60 degrees and clear blue skies. I started on Shoreline Trail for 3.25 miles and then ran 1.75 more for 5 miles

Towpath Run

Today after work, I drove over to Boston Store to do a run on the Towpath. I usually hate running on the Towpath, but just wanted to get in the miles at a quick pace. I ran to Mile 22 and back for about 5 miles.