Boston Store Run

Earlier this week my friend Dan Kuzma emailed me and mentioned that he'dd like to head over to the Cuyahoga Valley this weekend for a run. So, we planned a 10:00am start from the Boston Store to allow some time for sleeping in. The temperature was in the upper 40s, making it warm enough to wear shorts and a thin long sleeve shirt over top of another shirt. We decided to start our run on the Buckeye Trail heading towards Pine Lane. Along the way we noticed a decent amount of daffodils and even saw some growing right in the middle of the trail once you cross the paved path that heads downhill to Peninsula. Spring is on the way! That is once we get past freezing temps for the next couple nights...

Getting closer to Pine Lane we noticed that the water crossing was a little higher than usual. Thankfully a hiker or someone must have put down a 2x4 recently in an attempt to keep their feet dry. I can't imagine this lasting very long though if the water continues to rise. Here's Dan walking the plank...

Once we arrived at Pine Lane we decided to take the Towpath back to the Boston Store. The trails weren't terrible but there were enough muddy sections to influence our route. We both felt pretty good though and the miles were going by fast. I was glad that I didn't feel much fatigue from last weekend's FA 50K. Once we passed through the tunnel on the Towpath this middle aged runner (also named Brian) caught up to us and we talked to him about running, races, etc. He was a friendly guy to chat with and I could tell that our pace had picked up considerably without much effort as a result.

As we arrived back at the Boston Store, Brian told us that he was continuing on the Towpath so Dan and I decided to run with him until we got to where the Towpath splits off to the Stanford House. At this point we turned right and ran the Brandywine trail. Further down the trail we saw a sign that said a bridge was closed for emergency repair. Of course we ignored this since we're trail runners and don't necessarily need bridges in order to get to where we're going. We were surprised to see that there were actually 2 bridges that had been damaged from recent high water. The stream was not high today but you could see where the soil was washed out underneath the concrete pilons.

Once we got near the turnaround point of the Brandywine Falls trail we turned left and took the road back to where it meets up with the Towpath. After getting back on the Towpath we looked over to the field on our right and saw over 15 deer! We couldn't believe how many of them were standing together.

I tried to walk close to them but they seemed a lot less tame than most deer. You can see all their white tails heading into the woods in this short video...

With about a mile to go the rain that was predicted for today finally started coming down. Dan and I picked up the pace but there was no avoiding getting soaked before reaching the Boston Store. As we arrived back at our cars I looked down at my watch and saw we had done 11 miles total. We warmed up for awhile in the heated bathrooms at the Boston Store and then talked to this guy outside that was riding his recumbent bicycle. On the back of his bike he had what looked like a small trunk to carry stuff and his bike helmet had a face shield, much like a motorcycle helmet, except the shield pulled down over his face. He told us that his bike weighs about 40 pounds and on downhills he reaches speeds up to 50 mph! Pretty neat...