Off the Beaten Path

AO: Hulkamania

Conditions: Low 70’s, calm

Hottub put out the call on twitter for runners. Shortly thereafter, Sunshine answered the call. Rubber had to bow out due to a potential FNG arriving at BombSquad. ERC made no comment. Hamburglar let everyone one know that he and YHC would be there, too!

Sunshine was first to arrive, then YHC came pulling into the lot. Shortly after, Hottub appeared with unusually long locks reminiscent of Flash. As Hottub and Sunshine stretched, YHC cranked up Pandora & tucked my cellphone safely into my signature and highly envied fannypack. Last to arrive was Hamburglar but as always he stepped out ready to roll and set the pace. Knuckle greetings were made.

5:14 – One Minute Warning

5:15 – Go!!

Off into the Gloom, no headlamps lit because no headlamps are necessary. We know the territory like the back of our hands but what if we traveled off the beaten path. Read on to see what transpired.

We took off down Frontage road, then turned left to ascend the bridge. As guessed, Hamburglar led the way, YHC tried to keep pace, and Sunshine & Hotub brought up the six as they enjoyed each other’s fellowship at a conversational pace. At the top of the bridge just before our descent, Hambuglar touched the ground and turned back to pick up the six, while YHC continued on in the lead.

Down the bridge we turned left on the run path past the Barc Parc. By the time the path intersected Clarie Chapin Epps Drive, Hamburglar announced that I was in charge of the run this a.m. and where ever I went, everyone else would follow. Well with great power comes great responsibility and YHC decided that we would go where no PAX has gone before!! We turned left through the YMCA parking lot until we reached Marina Parkway on the other side.

We crossed over Marina Parkway and onto a gloomy 2^nd run path that led us down to the intercoastal waterway. The path was not lit well but was paved an easy to follow (if you concentrated really hard you could almost see which way to go). As we ran parallel to the waterway, the pavement turned into gravel. As we ran across the gravel path, we all subconsciously paid particular attention to where our feet landed and were vigilant as to not twist an ankle on any uneven surface or  fall into a pothole. The pace was solid around a 8:15 to 8:30.

As we continued on the gravel path no potholes were encountered but something much more dramatic was found: a MASSIVE Sink Hole opened up across 80% of the path. The hole was not only 10 fet across, it was at least 5 feet deep!

Hamburglar and YHC luckily were not racing each other and were able to stop on its edge and wait for Hottub and Sunshine to arrive. After stopping Sunshine and Hottub and showing them the Sinkhole, we all proceeded as a group past the Sink Hole for another 50 years or so. Then we ran up the bank and into a new development which had nothing more than roads laid out in the community. These were roads with no names, however, we were able to follow the roads back to Marina Parkway (MPW). Once on MPW, we turned right and headed south back towards the YMCA.

At the turn-about, we went due east down 62^nd Avenue N. and straight past Claire Chapin Epps Drive for about 1/6 of a mile. We then turned into a 2^nd new Develop which again had nothing but pristine roads winding through it. The road eventually looped around a large retention pond and the paved surface turned again into gravel.

The gravel road eventually connected to a paved road at the back of a neighborhood.  We followed this road as it gently wound through the sleeping neighborhood. Near the end of this road, YHC had to stop to tie his sneaker, which allowed Hottub to run ahead and to try to catch Hamburglar, while Sunshine stayed behind to run with me. After this flip/flop and new pairing, we exited this neighborhood about 50 yrds from the run path next to the Barc Parc. Here we turned left and then shortly thereafter left again to pick up the path past the Barc Parc.

At the intersection of the run path and Col. Bob Bell’s path, Hottub and Hamburglar were picking up the pace as they prepared to push each other up and over the Bridge once more.  YHC made an unsuccessful attempt to close the gap with the leaders, then looped back to pick up Sunshine.

Up and over the bridge and on to Frontage Road once more, we sprinted back to the Hulk for another strong finish.

5.4 miles was logged just under 45 minutes with a pace ranging from 8:09 to 8:26 pace. Everyone felt great as we recovered on the picnic benches.

Hamburglar prayed for us.

Moleskin: Great run with great PAX. It was an honor to lead this morning and take the PAX on a new route. YHC looks forward to the cooler temperatures as we head into the Fall and continue to train or the MB Mini. I look forward to regualr PAX and new PAX challenging themselves each week at Hulkamania.

 

Aye!!

Quaker