the Way of the Turtle

WELL, THIS IS DISAPPOINTING...
No Gail's Trail Run for the Turtle
Thursday, December 12, 2013

It's funny, really... I originally started running December's Gail's Trail Run because it was an opportunity to run the Leatherman's Loop course when there weren't 900-1000 other runners crammed onto a little over 6 miles of trail in the beautiful Ward Pound Ridge Reservation down in Westchester.... and was drawn back by the added appeal of running it in December, when sometimes there was snow on the ground and ice on the surface of the stream crossings. When the park managers denied the permit application and forced the RDs to move the race to Collis Huntington State Park in CT, I figured I'd run it once and that would be it. Except... I've been there three times now (the last two Decembers, and a one-shot March running that apparently established the current course) and have found that it's grown on me. I remember thinking during my first run there that it was kind of neat that the race was finally developing its own identity, rather than simply being "the winter Leatherman's." I think I was especially looking forward to doing it this weekend because this year my damn knee (and, in all honesty, my own issues with getting myself out the door) have kept me from many of my usual runs - and it seemed like an especially good way to wind down my year of very little running.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature has thrown a monkey wrench into the works, with anywhere from 6-12 inches of snow forecast for the area between Saturday and Sunday. Since much of the parking is done in the field next to the small dirt lot (not a possibility if there's more than a couple of inches of snow) the RD's decided to move the race up a day. Which means I no longer have a room reserved for the night before (a minor problem, I could probably get one) and more importantly the work I have scheduled for the Honda is now in direct conflict with the trip to CT. Factor in my anticipated semi-fried state after work tomorrow (it's been a long week) and the result is - I'm staying local this weekend. No race for me.

Sadly, about par for the course this year.

JMH