Use this topic for posts to collect community stars for the Duck Trails course.
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This is a fun little route. There wasn’t many people on the trails at 8 a.m. save a handful of early birders. I would have run this at night but was afraid of getting yelled at or a neighbor calling the cops. The RunGo directions were spot-on while the wood chips provided a welcome reprieve from the mud abound on the other three trail courses.
Story
After completing the Hammond Hill course Tatyana and I headed here to get another course in. Lots of people on the trail. I love how soft the trails are.
Had a delightful run/walk with my daughter @natalie this morning with new Taylor Swift music to keep us going. Lots of woodpeckers!
I had planned to run this course April 12 but for life reasons had to delay to doing it after the Daffodil Dash 5K on April 13. It was the perfect long cool-down after a hard effort at the race with the cushy woodchip trails. I especially like the second loop - in the wet conditions that day, there was so much water under the boardwalk section that it felt almost like running through a temperate rainforest. Plus, my first blue jay and red-winged blackbird sightings of the year!
Just Ducky
Another first time course for me and it is a lovely little run! It was nearing sunset when I started and I heard plenty of birds near the first big pond, then the repeated TAT-TAT-TAT of woodpecker farther into the course. One beautiful stretch of wildflowers on the Stadlen trail stood out:
Can’t wait for more of them to bloom! I thought kneeling on the ground would provide better perspective for this picture. I fell more than knelt when I tried and getting back on my feet turned into a 50-50 deal due to stiffness in my legs.
Ultra Gravity
So, somewhere on Trailipop, I realized that after finishing the five trail course, I could run Duck Trails a second time and hit 50K! Of course there was no choice, it had to be done. On returning from the second time around, it was nearing the end of twilight. Plenty of frog sounds and the full moon popped out for a brief minute.
I began to wonder @adamengst if there could be some interest in a Mini-Ultra Challenge that did only the 5 trail course in one day (or some shorter time). Perhaps that would push anyone who finds the ultra challenge too intimidating to gain some trail ultra experience before tackling the Ultra Challenge. I’m old and slow and my elapsed time Sunday, with a lunch break, was about 12 hours. Just a thought.
Good night, Moon!
I love running in Sapsucker Woods. The trails are so soft and there wasn’t much mud. It is super nice to be running these Challenge courses again with @Jamie. We ran it twice this morning doing the first loop together, then I picked up some speed for my second attempt as I had a tempo run on my training schedule for today.
Loved this gentle easy loop! Perfect for a weekday morning before work. Met up with @medardia and saw a few others out. Stopped to botanize as usual.
I brought my son with me for a short run this morning. It was smooth sailing aside from a couple of stops to pick up dropped mittens.
Perfect weather for a run today, I hope everyone’s getting out! This is my first time using RunGo and I wanted to test my ability to follow the directions without the benefit of a pack of other runners. Aside from a little hiccup at the start, it went pretty well! I heard more birds than I saw, but there were plenty of Canada geese out and about. This course is nearly in my backyard, so I anticipate many more runs here this summer.
After janking my ankle a little bit on the Lindsay Parsons Preserve trail (oh those dogs!) I decided to try a softer and shorter path this morning and give Duck Trails a go.
It was easy like the Saturday morning cartoon I remember. Really lovely to run on, and bonus points for the picturesque boardwalk and Andy Goldsworthy sculpture (I’ve always been a fan of his work and never knew that was even there!) It was my first time on that side of the road with those other trails, so I was grateful to have had my awareness of the trail system expanded some. Will definitely be coming back for this one, but sad I’ll have to leave the pups home.
Deliciousness!
Having run The Hoctathon and FH Fox, it was lunch time, especially since rain was imminent. I back tracked a little to hit R & V Jamaican Cuisine food wagon (on the stretch of Rt 366 that overlaps with Rt 13). My first time there. Saturday special choices were between Oxtail Stew or Jerk Chicken. I went with the Jerk Chicken over seasoned rice with a cabbage slaw; also ordered an extra side of mac and cheese; and sprang for a mini-loaf of the Jamaican zucchini bread.
Drove over to park at Duck Trails and sampled some of everything in the car while rain drops plinked off the roof of the car. It was priced more for dinner but I have some very delicious leftovers for lunch tomorrow, too!
After lunch, I hiked/ran the course in some rain. Had it all to myself, except for several geese and a few goslings at the first pond, a couple of blue jays, some crows, other birds I don’t know, and a mother red squirrel crossing the trail with one of her babies in her mouth.
After completing the Hammond Hill course Tatyana and I headed here to get another course in. Lots of people on the trail. I love how soft the trails are.
Reposting because I have no idea if I did this right to get stars the first time
It doesn’t look like your Duck Trails effort was posted from Webscorer, @Kyle_Reynolds. You can (and should) always check this on your activity log on the leaderboard—if everything works, it updates as soon as you post.
https://challenge.fingerlakesrunners.org/Athlete/Log/36924
If you didn’t have cell service when you posted, you may need to repost in Webscorer. Instructions are at the bottom of the Timing page.
Well, this was an interesting run …
I started around 8:20 am and birding was already in full swing. I slowed to a walk when passing obvious birders. ‘Across the road’ by the pond, I came across someone recording bird song. I again slowed because I was fairly certain he was not interested in the sounds of my heavy footfalls and labored breathing.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to when the trails might be less busy?
I was a space cadet today, not paying close attention to RunGo. Check out my confusion:
I really enjoyed the course, and I definitely need to give it another go.
Nice run after work today. 
Very convenient for me as I work right on Brown Rd
I’ve run these trails many times before and decided to do the figure 8 in the opposite direction 
I am noticing Skunk Cabbage race swag AND a coordinating hat! Great outfit! 
I had originally planned on running the Freeville course today, but I woke up feeling super tight. I decided to take it easy and headed over to Duck Trail for a nice slow run.
It was a little drizzly this morning, but the trail was beautiful. All the trees and flowers are blooming and all the birds were chirping. I had never been to Sapsucker Woods before, but I will be coming back for a little hike with the wife and kiddo.
