Night Run

The weather today spiked 85 degrees, as recorded on the thermometer in my car on the way home from work. I had enough time to stare at it while sitting in grid lock traffic on my ride home, now taking twice as long. After a few errands I swung by the Wissahickon for an easy run. The sun was setting and I noticed a sign posted on the Northwestern parking lot. Park closes at 9PM. I had an hour and only intended on 3-4 miles anyway. I was hoping to get at least the first half the run done on trails with the waning light behind me. I had to take some ginger steps, since I didn't bring my head lamp with me. I came across a group of mountain bikers with those REALLY powerful lamps that can pretty much light up the whole forest. I tried not to startle them by calling ahead, but I'm not sure if it really worked. I made my way down the hill and across Rex Ave to Forbidden Dr. I glanced back up the hill and always thought it was cool to see the lights of the bikers trekking up the hill in near darkness.

Now I had a bunch of street lamps to light my path and I picked up the pace on the 1.5 miles back to the Tree House. Can't really say for sure what the pace was exactly, since I didn't have my watch, but I would guess it was around 7:00-7:30 pace. I barely made it back to the parking lot above the Tree House (which was MUCH more precarious now that all sunlight had receded) in time to hear the intermittent siren of the park ranger rushing me out of the parking lot before he/she closed up for the night. Seems they jumped the gun a bit, since it was only 8:40 and the park closes at 9PM. I wondered if I could 4-wheel it out of there if they locked the gates.

Amazing how the warm weather can change your mood. I have run consistently this cold winter, through deep snow, mud, and frozen ground. The warm weather revitalizes everything, making an afternoon run or bike more enticing. Of course, I'll probably be singing a different too once the typical 90+ temperature and humidity season rolls around. There will definitely be more night runs once that happens.