Story
Part 1: This was my favorite challenge course when I ran it starting in the dark one morning last month, and since it is one of the closest courses to me (an hour drive away), and since it is flat, I decided it would be a good course to run for some heat acclimation today. While eating breakfast, a check of the Activity Log shows Pete Kresock @Petorius is over halfway through the Ultra Challenge that he started the evening before. I continue to follow his progress all morning. (Congratulations, Pete!)
Kick off time is shortly after 7 AM and I wonder what to expect for wildlife this late in the morning. There are numerous dog walkers out, which may explain why I only see a few rabbits on the trail. (The trail stays rather busy all morning.) I do see a few deer off in the fields, their big ears turned out towards me as I pass, but otherwise they remain statues. Numerous birdsong and the babbling waters of the adjacent creek accompany most of my trail journey. There are sounds of the occasional woodpecker and owl hidden away.
Daytime running exposes the scenic countryside as I head south.
The bloom of the colorful wild phlox is past and now numerous other wildflowers are present. Most dominant is the yellow bird’s-foot trefoil (Thank you, PictureThis, for this and many of the other identifications!), which also is known as eggs and bacon. It does not remind me of eggs or bacon, and when I crush some of it between my fingers, it smells like neither to me. Nonetheless, it lines many miles of the course and brings to mind the yellow brick road. For a brief time, “We’re off to see the Wizard,” plays on a loop in my head.
The grassy stretch after crossing Springhouse Road is still dewy enough to soak my socks and make my feet squish mildly in my shoes for a bit. For this stretch, a mini-swarm of gnats also joins my run. Fortunately, they aren’t gnasty gnats and I can ignore them.
I cross Main Street in Dryden and begin the Jim Schug section, which is a top-notch stretch of rail trail. I love the ponds and wetlands it passes by.
The smooth trail allows me to scan both sides for wildlife. There are various small birds, but no ‘pterodactyls’. I do see a mother mallard with at least a half dozen ducklings swimming near the grasses in the water. She is near where I saw the couple last month, so perhaps it is the same one. Just before the end of the outbound trail, I do some acrobatic maneuvers to avoid stepping on a snake the same color as the cinders. He sidled off to the weeds but only a few strides later I came across this little serpent stretched across the trail.
I have been running through both sunny and shady sections on the trail, but that ends as I begin the road section. The roadside presents me with blue wild chicory, orange wild lilies, and more yellow trefoils!
My admiration for these blooms delays recognition that the preheat stage is nearly over and the road pavement will begin cooking later this morning. But, for now, I enjoy the scenic countryside, the farms, and the view over the lake. My pals are out again, but for some of them, I am old news as they seem rather aloof.
I circle back down to the trail for the inbound leg returning me to the car. I scan the wetlands for more wildlife to no avail, but it is still a pretty section to run. The grass is still a bit dewy and the gnats waited to accompany me again for the ¾-mile stretch from Elm Street to Springhouse Road. It is 10 AM and the temperature is approaching 80 degrees when I reach the end in Freeville - my day is not over yet…