9 at Bradbury

Valerie posted on the TMR site last night that she was planning on 10 mile at Bradbury this morning. After a lot of hemming and hawing, and with Ryan's prodding finally overtaking my 'mommy guilt,' I posted that I was coming to play too :-) Yeah, a TMR Sunday morning Bradbury run! We met at 8:30. It was cool, damp and overcast, but I warmed up quickly once we started running.

Ian, Jim and Tom joined Valerie and I as we headed out onto the East side trails, while Linda and Bethany went off to run on the mountain side. Valerie took us on Mindy's 8-mile '40 for 40' loop, basically the Bruiser minus the twisty Lanzo and O Trails. It was a fun loop, with a fair amount of mud and a lot of puddles. We had fun chatting away as we ran about Pineland, ultras and the AT among other things, and the miles just clipped on by. The woods looked beautifully rich and lush, with the greens popping on the overcast day. Although I spent most of my time either watching my footing or chatting, I did note a number of ladyslippers, painted trillium, blue bead lilies and lily of the valleys along the way.

On the East side (all photos courtesy of Valerie)

Late into the loop, Jim took a nice digger, and although he popped right back up, he and Tom took the shortest way back, while Valerie, Ian and I continued on with "Mindy's route." When we got back to the parking lot, we stopped for a few minutes to check in on Jim, and then headed up the Terrace Trail to the summit.

Ian and I running up the Terrace Trail

Not much of a view today, but hey, at least it wasn't raining! We finished up the run by running down the South Ridge Trail. When we got back to the parking lot, my Garmin was reading 9.6 - perfect! Linda and Bethany had finished up their run, and although our car was in the lot, I couldn't find Sam and Ryan anywhere. Turns out they were out walking on the trail with Jim. I ran out to find them - Sam was having a blast walking "outside" :-)

High fives after a walk on the trails with Jim

Ian took back off for some more miles, while the rest of the crew headed to Edna & Lucy's for an after-run treat. Yum! What a fun way to start the morning. Many thanks to Ryan for watching Sam so I could run, and to Valerie, Ian, Jim and Tom for a great run!