Use this topic for posts that will collect community stars for the Waterfront Trail course. You can also ask questions or make comments about this course.
Here’s how it works.
Click the “Post Using This Template” button below to create a new post with a Story heading and boilerplate text.
Replace the boilerplate text with your report for one or both sections. The Story header is key for distinguishing between posts and replies—don’t change it.
Your post must be on the same calendar day as your run as entered in the leaderboard.
Story
To pick up a community star, replace this text with a write-up of what your run was like, a photo you took on the run, a link to your Strava track, or something similar. Don’t delete the Story heading above.
The Challenge is back! I have some pretty ambitious goals for my weekly mileage this summer, so I thought no better way to do it than go for all 44 courses. I got until the end of August, before off to college. We’ll see….. . 2 down, 42 to go:)
I was out of town for the first week of the challenge so I decided to try to catch up by running the a waterfront course in the chilly drizzle today. Turns out I wasn’t the only one, I was happy to see @melissawallace at the turnaround and again at the end! I didn’t take my phone out in the rain for a photo but I did stop by gimme for an obligatory post run latte and scone (I’m only in it for the snacks!)
I had to drop a kid at Boyton for practice, so it made sense to kick off my 2026 Challenge today! Pace was slow and steady, and I’ll take it considering I ran the Seneca 7 on Sunday and have a cold.
As Sarah mentioned, the Waterfront Trail is currently closed for work - as of this morning (04/30), the second bridge is closed, and the trail between that and the Fire Department training ground is also completely closed.
Trip down memory lane (with unintended warmup/cooldown)
Senior moment - thought course started/ended at MM 0 by the IYB..didn’t realize mistake till watch gave me the 3-mile update by the boathouse. Oh well - it was such a glorious morning along this course that the extra distance was a bonus. Memories of countless other runs on the past kept recurring - runs in the dark of morning, runs with various companions, getting swamped by cross-country teams and rowing crews at times…but pretty much had the course to myself.
Shoutout to @StephBailey who held off passing me until we were over the wooden bridges…they were a bit icy and slippery..
I waited to run this morning until after the rain passed, so this course fit perfectly with my timing. I ran through a little rain and sunshine and largely had the trail to myself. There’s a short bit by the pavilion that’s currently closed but easily bypassed, and the newly paved portion by the municipal mulch pile is so nice now!
Blowin’ in the Wind
Leaving Lansing Center Trails, there was a light rain and darkening clouds threatened worse. But, since my shoes were already soaked, I decided to do this course anyway. The only other time I had run it was for my first Ultra Challenge in 2021 at about 1:30 AM (because I mistakenly thought the Ultra Challenge had to be completed in a single calendar day).
Parked, threw on a rain jacket and gloves, and started. This photo captures the conditions at the start:
The sun did sneak out again before I finished. Saw an osprey (I think) take off from the nesting platform and could see another head sticking up above the edge of the nest. Crew teams were on the water, though I think a couple of them were just learning. I hiked the last mile or so to end my day.
. 2 down, 42 to go:)
practice, so it made sense to kick off my 2026 Challenge today! Pace was slow and steady, and I’ll take it considering I ran the Seneca 7 on Sunday and have a cold.
