Topsham Trails Day Run

Today was the first annual Topsham Trails Day. Ryan and fellow Trail Monster Scott Ellis have been involved in the newly formed Topsham Trail Alliance, which is working to bring more trails to the area and more awareness to the public about existing trails. The idea was to get some publicity, and to get people out on the trails, on foot, doing clean-up, on ATVs, etc. today, in advance of this week's town meeting, where there is a bond article asking for funds for trail development. And so, being Trail Monsters, it seemed fitting that Ryan and Scott were asked to lead a run on some of our favorite Topsham trails today. Due in part to the weather, and to scheduling, the group that joined us was small, but all were happy to be out exploring. In fact, there was one woman who was on her first trail run ever, and her longest run ever! Cool :-)

We splurged, and asked one of Sam's daycare teachers to come babysit, so that I would have a chance to join in on the fun this morning too. So, Sam had a great time, and so did we! Mindy ran over to the Mt. Ararat parking lot with us, where we joined Scott, Erik and a few others for the run. The plan was for a 6 mile option and a 12 mile option. In the end, it was only me who was interested in the longer run, so we all started out together, and then around 5.5 miles, Scott and I kept going, while the rest of the group turned back. With a few trail newbies, the initial 5.5 miles were at a pretty slow pace, with lots of stopping to gather the group together, but we enjoyed a nice mellow jaunt over Mt. Ararat, along the quarry and the Heath, and down to the Cathance river. It was overcast, misting and a bit cool out, but the woods more than made up for it - the forest floor was covered with lots of greenery, and I saw a few Painted Trillium, lots of wood anemone, ferns, and some good patches of trailing arbutus and goldthread, plus one or two Ladyslippers. I had fun chatting with Scott, Erik and Mindy along the way. I think everyone had a great time, and it's always fun to introduce people to "new to them" trails!

I was a bit intimidated as the group split, and I took off with Scott. He's a super nice guy, but speedy, and I honestly wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep up. However, I just kicked it into gear, and held on :-) We chatted here and there as we ran, but also ran some long stretches in comfortable silence. This was fine with me, as I needed all the energy I could muster to hold his pace. We headed out on the powerlines toward the Homeplace and dump loops that I know well, but Scott took me on a few new trails which was fun - now I just have to be able to follow his route again on my own, so I can get out to enjoy those trails again! :-) The woods were green and quiet, and the trails were all in good shape with a nice, soft treadway. As we ran out along some of the dirt roads near the dump, I spotted four Bobolinks in a fruit tree by one of the ponds. Awesome!

Once we got back to the steep hill before crossing Rt. 24, I told Scott to go on ahead. I was feeling pretty tired, and figured I might do better if I could just mellow out a bit for the final 2 miles. He put some ground on me in a hurry, so although I think he enjoyed my company, I know I was slowing him down a bit. I ended up with 13.8 miles in 2:09:13, with the first 6 miles run at around 11:30 pace, and the next almost 6 miles with Scott at right around 8:15 pace. No wonder I was feeling like I was pushing things during that second stretch. But it did feel good, and I'm super happy to have had Scott to show me some new trails and pull me along. All in all a great, if soggy, trail run!

I came home to find Mindy hanging out with a super happy Sam, and Ryan making pancakes for us. Hurray! And as we sent Mindy on her way a while later, Sam waved at her through the window and said "Mindy!" So cute!!