Sunday, March 27, 2011

Great Roads Around the World

Epic run this morning. Not that the pace was anything to brag about or anything. It was really more of a feat just to get out there and do it. The Green Springs Sunday Morning 10 Miler is one of my favorite workouts, and it's only more glorious in the spring to watch the cardinals chase each other and check out the azaleas blooming. But what made this one special wasn't any of that. Only 3 of us showed up, and that was a pretty good sized crowd in itself considering it was drizzling rain, a little bit gusty and coooooooooold (for March).

I squeezed 3 extra miles in early along the canal that flows through ECU next to 10th street. Full of water, it even had rapids in it at the bridge by Elm Street Park. I tried to imagine that I was running through Seattle in that mist with a roaring river alongside me. And that got me to thinking.......about epic trails and roads from the past............(pause for fuzzy scene change and harp music)

The Rockland lighthouse appears out of nowhere as you run towards it in the fog.

This first one's in Rockland, Maine. On a business trip for GW circa 2003, I found some freetime to go for a quick run. I was a newbie to running and not capable of much. But running along the golf course I found a rock jetty going out into the harbor. It was so foggy you couldn't see but about 50 ft. It was eerie running on those big flat slabs of rock in utter silence other than the sound of water slapping up against them. I had no idea how far the jetty went or what was on the other end until, out of the fog, the lighthouse appeared.

In more normal conditions, the lighthouse stands proud over Rockland Harbor.

Another favorite of mine is the seawall that runs around Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC. Stanley Park is overrun with runners, so you can't help but feel right at home. It's such a beautiful city and from each point of the run you get a view of a different part of it - from downtown to the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Sea planes take off and land every few minutes from right in the harbor as you meander your way around the island.

Even in early February, the weather is more than comfortable for running in Stanley Park.

Another business trip gave me the opportunity to get in a 15 miler along Newport Beach, CA. I marveled at the expensive homes with patios that opened up right onto the boardwalk.

You have to pay attention to meander through the crowds on the Newport Beach boardwalk.

I had a great run out there, even though I got caught up in a pissing match for running supremacy with a Cali boy as we went shoulder to shoulder exchanging running resumes.

The scenery is unmatched at Newport Beach, fo' sho!

In 2005, I rented a bike and rode the historic White Bird hill climb in Idaho. An engineering marvel for its time, this road meanders over 8 switchbacks as it ascends over the tiny town of White Bird, where the Nez Perce indians opened a can o' whoopass on the white men that came to slaughter their entire tribe just to be big white bullies.

The White Bird hill climb and its 8 switchbacks to the top.

After about a 45 minute ascent to the top, you can take the newer, more direct higway back down to the bottom for a quick loop. Great place to stay south side of White Bird - just look for the people that have their bed on the porch and sleep on it outside!

Almost to the top of the White Bird hill climb with the valley of the Nez Perce below!

Another Idaho favorite is the Airline Trail, just about 2 miles from my parents' house in Garden Valley. I was invited for a 15 mile run with some neighbors just after doing Ironman CDA, and this run was epic. We went 8 miles into the wilderness, and I stuck to my guide like glue as he had his trusty dog, a hunting knife and a pistol with him and plenty of cougar experience. The other guy was way behind - cat food, for all I knew! After 8 miles of nearly hand over knees uphill running, we turned around to beautiful view of Garden Valley and made our way back down.

Up to this point, I had scoffed at the claim that the Airline Trail was steep. Right after this, it was like scaling a roof!

Some of the Airline Trail is groomed for dirt bikes, but much of it is pristine wilderness and somewhat eerie as you feel totally alone and perhaps as if something is watching you!

Plenty of places to make a wrong step on the Airline Trail!

I had some pretty epic bike rides in the 6 Gap and 3 Gap areas around Helen, GA, but Hog Pen Gap always sticks to my mind. It was down the north side of Hog Pen that I had my all time top speed of 63 mph. I also had many a good bonk climbing the south side.

The sign for the top of Hog Pen Gap is always a welcome sign!

When they weren't rioting about Anti-Americanism, the students at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea were quite nice when running on the campus. Just on the other side of the hill I lived on was a back gate to the campus, and running cross-country in high school I had lots of opportunities to explore every mile of it. There was something soothing about the sound of the cicadas in the fall as I cruised under the trees around those historic buildings.

Ivy grows on the walls of the historic architecture at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.

While we're talking about Seoul, I would have to include Riverside Park along the Han River that cuts through the city.

The Han River winds its way through the city of Seoul, Korea.

At the time - late 1980's - the park was brand new and the Han River suspected of creating mutant fish in its toxic waters. But as a high schooler, I had it in my head to run my own marathon in a place where signing up for a real one didn't exist. I ran 9 miles from church to home along the park every Sunday to train for my own personal marathon, which I ended up doing in spandex bike shorts with a leather chamois pad that rubbed my balls raw til they were bleeding. But I did it!

The park road was modern and crowded even back when I was running on it in the 1980's.

Last, and probably most nostalgic for me, is Taechon Beach, also in Korea. We spent several summers there relaxing in the sand with friends from school and church. Over Chusok holiday one year while I was in high school, a bunch of fellow cross country runners and I met for an epic run along the road that wound up and over the hill at the beach. I remember flying up and down the winding steps that were cut into the hill, looking for any kind of terrain we could swallow up, too young and feisty to care about being tired.

I didn't have any pictures of the dirt road that I remember running, but the beach was the main attraction back in the day anyway!

There's plenty of time and life in me yet to find more epic trails and roads to explore! I hope the roads you find yourself on are just as inspiring. Thanks for reading!

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