Living in Colorado, I am blessed with beautiful places to run just outside my door. And trust me, I do not take it for granted. When Nina Machina and I are running together, you can be sure the phrase will come out of one of our mouths “Look how pretty this is!” or “Man, it is gorgeous out!” So, one of the things I love to do when travelling somewhere is to check out my trail options or other good places to run when I am visiting another city.
I will do a quick websearch on the town, local running clubs, state or city parks, etc and go from there. I also use Map My Run to help me map out a long run, otherwise I will just lace up my shoes and go.
In small town Rockingham, NC (home of Jim, aka “the hubs”) they have the beautiful Hinson Lake. It is 1.52 mile trail around the lake that does have some other smaller trails that weave in and out of the trail to maybe give you a little variety. Now, normally I would not enjoy a loop because I think I would be mentally battling wanting to stop with every loop, but it wasn’t the case for me this time. There is also a lodge that I have been to once with the hubs for his high school class reunion. Plenty of picnic tables for a quiet lunch on the lake watching the birds, if that is what suits you. I couldn’t help but think how much Noah would love throwing sticks into this lake, and rocks and dirt and his shoes…
Hinson Lake is also the home of the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Ultra. That’s right, 24 hours of running around in a circle, but people love it! The race only costs $24. It’s held in late September and caps out at 240 runners. Runners can loop this sucker up to 80 times -wow! The neat thing about it being such a short loop for an ultra is how often you are supported by your pace team. They can check on you often making sure you are taking in fuel and such. I’m kind of interested in it now. I mean, I could always use it for a really long run (as the hubs rolls his eyes)…
The marshy area
running on the wooden bridge over the lake
the trails around Hinson Lake
the magical forrest
As you can see, it really is a peaceful place to run. I hope you all get out and about exploring!
Kelly, it was wonderful seeing you, Jim, and precious Noah. As I told you, you can Jim are wonderful parents and are blessing your little boy in so many ways. I pray that your flight home will be good and uneventful. Love, Great Aunt Nancy
Thanks Nancy!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE exploring new trails. This one looks awesome!
I do too, Amanda! So fun! I always enjoy your trail recaps.
Wonderful! I am off to london next week so will snap some shots of LDN
I was just telling the hubs that I needed to go to London (he has already been but I haven’t). Take lots of pictures for me to live vicariously until I get the chance to go!
done!
That actually sounds kind of tempting… I like the idea of being able to refuel whenever, and a nice easy pace means you could set a new distance pr pretty easily… we should do it someday!!