 |
| Nine runs, 168 miles, YMMV. |
Having run all public roads and trails within a 1-mile radius of home back in May, I decided to step it up and get to work on the 2-mile radius starting on Memorial Day weekend. The first run was 23 miles mostly on trails through Duke Forest on a quiet rainy Saturday.
 |
| Old Oxford Rd. |
Following a five month hiatus, I resumed on a brilliant fall Sunday before Halloween. After a family hike along the Shepherd Nature Trail, I ran 20 miles home tackling the cul-de-sacs of American Village along the way. Halloween decorations and goats provided entertainment.
The next weekend, I continued work on the project with a fun 18-mile run, much of this along the trails of Eno River State Park including my favorite swimming hole: Eno Quarry. I linked up some cul-de-sacs via neighborhood trails in the rural northern neighborhoods.
 |
| Goats in American Village |
The next weekend, I continued work on the project with a fun 18-mile run, much of this along the trails of Eno River State Park including my favorite swimming hole: Eno Quarry. I linked up some cul-de-sacs via neighborhood trails in the rural northern neighborhoods.
I spent about half an hour field checking and mapping the "Eno connector" using Open Orienteering Mapper on my phone. I couldn't figure out how to save my map. Frustrated, I got back to work running home by way of the MST, Business 70 and Old NC 10.
 |
| Eno Quarry |
Orienteering ate up the weekends. Then I got injured and another month passed. It looked like the 2-mile radius wouldn't get finished before the end of the year. On Saturday, Dec. 9th I set out on a 20+-mile run to collect Croasdaile in its entirety, but fell short.
 |
| Croasdaile Farm |
Up until now I'd been using the project as a motivator to log 20-mile training runs. It was also gratifying getting bigger chunks of the map done at a time. But now I had to go back and fill in a 7-mile hole. On the plus side, I could do this during the work week.
The midweek thing got repeated on a crisp sunny Wednesday Dec. 20th. I logged a 16-mile run, which was a nice blend of trails and roads along Nancy Rhodes and the south side of Eno. Restrooms and faucets at Valley Springs Park were shuttered for winter.
 |
| Bushwhacking near Pea Creek |
 |
| Just another beautiful day in the neighborhood |
I knew to expect no water sources for the final 15-mile run, which was mostly along the Laurel Bluffs Dunnagan and Bobbits Hole trails so I packed two bottles. I got it done on a beautiful Saturday Dec. 23rd, and just like that, the 2-mile radius was completed!
No surprise, this was exponentially harder than the 1-mile radius. I'll have to get my head right before taking it to level 3, but I've enjoyed learning a lot more about the neighborhood. I've also ruminated a bit on posted signs and confined motorists:
But possibly the day will come when it will be partitioned off into so-called pleasure grounds, in which a few will take a narrow and exclusive pleasure only, when fences shall be multiplied, and man-traps and other engines invented to confine men to the public road, and walking over the surface of God's earth shall be construed to mean trespassing on some gentleman's grounds. To enjoy a thing exclusively is commonly to exclude yourself from the true enjoyment of it. Let us improve our opportunities, then, before the evil days come.
-HDT, "Walking", 1862
Comments