Sunday, June 6, 2010

"Train"ing Run At the Towpath

The annual towpath "Train"ing run is a grand occasion for the club. Hundreds of runners flood the 34.1 mile towpath that runs all the way from Highland Park to Trenton, to celebrate National Trails Day.
Start time is based on estimated pace and distance. The goal is for the entire mob to finish together at Johnson Park at 11 AM. The mileage covered by every runner is totalled and 0.50 cents per mile as well as part of the entry fee are donated to the Cancer Institute of NJ. Then the fun begins as sweaty, stinky runners mingle, enjoy the camaraderie and gorge on fresh burgers, hot dogs and salad.

We had a blast. Despite the blazing heat and humidity, the turnout was tremendous and we totalled close to 2000 miles, my contribution being a teensy 5.5 miles. What can I say? My long run days are on Thursdays! I ran with Ken (who I was seeing after a year) for the first 3 miles, then finished the run with John. Thank you, guys!

I planned to picnic for an hour or so and ended up staying past 2 PM. By the time I got home, the heat and humidity made me feel like a wilted head of lettuce. But a nice dinner at Applebee's with margaritas,
grilled Dijon chicken and portobellos, and a maple butter blondie restored me like nothing else can.

11 comments:

ajh said...

Congrats on the run in the heat. Sounds like a fun time for a good cause.

Marlene said...

This sounds like such an amazing event!

Heather said...

What a fun event (and yummy recovery dinner)!

Abby said...

I love training in groups, and this sounds like a fantastic event (heat and all - and boy, was there heat this weekend!)

Jamie said...

mmmm.. maple butter blondie :) Nice job on the run! Sounds like a great event!

Tricia said...

sounds like a great event!

Irene said...

How fun, regardless of the heat! Summer came early this year.

For some strange reason I really want a margarita... Mmmmmm.

Mica said...

If you have to run in the heat, this path looks like the place to be. That's a really cool event too!

X-Country2 said...

I had no idea there was a National Trails Day. How cool!

Ali said...

What a great event!

and that blondie ... oh my!

Lindsay said...

ditto to xc2 on national trails day! very cool.

mmm dessert. can never go wrong there. glad you had a good run and contributed the miles you could!