1,530 – that’s how many pictures I took on my 9.5-mile trail run at Burke Lake Park this morning.  I narrowed it down to 45, and then narrowed it down further to twenty.  Twelve made it into the blog.  You have to kiss a lot of frogs…..

=PR= Race Series held their second of four free trail runs this morning.  Today’s run was at Burke Lake Park.  The trail around the park is about 4.65 miles, so we ran it twice and then added a little more to make it a nice and tidy 9.5 miles.

In the light mist before the race, Gayle, Amanda, Angela, and I gathered with MRTT runners Evie and Erin from other chapters for our fun multi-chapter pre-run meet-up and group photo.  There were a few other MRTT runners that we saw along the course that missed the photo.

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Not to be outdone, the Cruisers got a picture, too; and as you can see, Amanda and I double-dip in both groups!

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After a few instructions from a representative of Potomac River Running, we were off!  I immediately started messing around with my GoPro – you can see the remote control in my hand. 

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Erin, from one of our local chapters, and I immediately fell into step together.  We’d met briefly at the Algonkian Regional Park trail run on Easter weekend and recognized each other.  She’s a very strong runner and kicked my butt.  It was great!  She pushed me just enough to make me work hard, but still kept it fun.

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Cruisers Bill and Joe were right in front of us and we caught up with Joe pretty quickly.  It was very overcast and a little too dark with the tree coverage for the earlier pictures to come out very well, but I’m sharing them so you can get a idea of how beautiful the trail is.

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At some point early on, someone running in the opposite direction, shouted,”Hi Debbie!” as she ran past.  I didn’t recognize the lady, and as she passed, I turned to ask, “Who’s that?”  It was one of my readers – Katya!  We haven’t officially met, but have been at several of the same races.  I watched for her during our second lap, hoping to finally officially meet, but didn’t see her.  Next time, Katya!

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I regret not getting my iPhone out and snapping a few pictures of the beautiful trail, but running with my GoPro is still a learning process…

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The trail goes around the lake, and for the most part, it’s tree covered.  There is one section over the dam that’s open.  I remember this part being incredibly hot as the sun beat down on us during a run here several years ago.

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Once we finished our second lap of our Burke Lake trail run, Erin and I turned back around to find the ladies from my chapter, and found them within about a minute.  All that time and they were just barely out of our sight…  I held up the GoPro, and told everyone to follow me for some running pictures – Pied Piper style!

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Post-run, we got one more picture before everyone headed home, and my heart was happy to hang out with both my Cruiser and MRTT friends!

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After a week of getting too little sleep, and trashing my legs during the trail run, I took a three-hour nap this afternoon!  It was rare, and amazing!

 

  • Questions:
  • Local peeps, have you ever run at Burke Lake Park?
  • Do you prefer dirt trail or paved trail/road running?
  • Who race today, or is racing tomorrow?