Some perspective

The Dolly Sods Wilderness; not Pittsburgh, but not too far away.

Always in big woods when you leave familiar ground and step off alone into a new place there will be, along with the feelings of curiosity and excitement, a little nagging of dread.  It is the ancient fear of the unknown, and it is your first bond with the wilderness you are going into.  What you are doing is exploring.  You are undertaking the first experience, not of the place, but of yourself in that place. It is an experience of essential loneliness, for nobody can discover the world for anyone else.  It is only after we have discovered it for ourselves that it becomes a common ground and a common bond, and we cease to be alone.

- Wendell Berry

PA in Runner's World

It's not Pittsburgh exactly, or even Western PA, but Pennsylvania's Rothrock State Forest is Runner's World's current Trail of the Month.

Check out the write-up here.

Yellow Creek State Park

Been doing a lot of work east of town lately and exploring that area, so write-ups on Crooked Creek and the northern section of the Laurel Highlands Trail should be on the way.  For today: Yellow Creek State Park in Indiana County along Route 422, about 90 minutes from Pittsburgh.

I ran the southern side of this park on a very muggy, muddy morning after the recent Irene-induced rains, but still found it enjoyable for the most part.  Based on the official map, I'd planned on doing about 5-6 miles connecting the Ridge Top and Damsite Trails.  I did that, and a bit more.  With better research I would have realized that much more than a half mile separates the two trails, and it's a winding route between them. 
This park is popular among mountain bikers for good reason, and they've done a nice job of mapping things out.  Check out the RideYC.com web site before venturing out, and I'd suggest printing their map as well.  Here it is.

What I ended up doing was the Ridge Top Trail to the South Shore Singletrack to the Damsite Trail to the Bear Cave Loop and back, which was about 10.2 miles. 

The Ridge Top Trail is great.  Lots of stretches through pine forest, some fun rolling hills, a few small creek crossings (or just runoffs from the prior day's rain) and good, mildly technical terrain. 

The rest of the trails were a mixed bag, though generally on the positive side.  The South Shore Singletrack meanders a bit too much in its easternmost sections, but is very fun as you move west.  The biggest creek crossing of my run--roughly shin-deep and about 8 feet wide--was somewhere along there, and was very refreshing on a hot day.  The Damsite trail is pretty standard fare, and same goes for the Bear Cave Loop with a tough climb thrown in there. 

I did get a bit off-track onto one sticky, buggy, disgusting stretch of mud on my way back around, which I suspect might have been the Billygoat Trail.  I reckon you'd best avoid that area unless you find yourself there during a drought.

I looped through the Ridge Top Trail again at the end, and enjoyed it even more the second time around, knowing where to let loose and where to exercise a bit of caution.

Finally, I was thoroughly pleased that I'd parked near the beach, as a dip in the cold lake (with a Power Ade from the nearby pop machine) was the only proper finish to this slow, poorly planned jog.

The takeaway: a very nice park that I'd be open to exploring again.  As for the trails themselves, certainly not on par with Laurel Highlands or McConnell's Mill but, then, there's a lot to be said for ending your run in a deserted lake.

(And I should mention the birds.  If you're into fowl, put another in the plus column for this park.  I saw several falcons, some wading birds (Heron?) and a huge owl along the way.)

Brady's Run Park (Beaver Co.)

If you live up this way or happen to find yourself about an hour north of Pittsburgh, settled right between Route 51 and I-376 is Brady's Run Park.  A nice pond in the valley of two steep slopes makes for a nice setting if you're in the mood for some tough climbs and occasionally confusing trails. 

Here's the trail map.

The Brady's Run Trail (including both North and South) offers about 6.25 miles of nice singletrack, with some random roads and doubletrack thrown in here and there.  The map recommends a clockwise loop for mountain bikers, but after running it in both directions I think I'd advocate the opposite for runners.  Not only is it easier to find the initial trailhead for the North trail, but if you're willing to push through two serious, if short, ascents, you will be repaid with some very fun, slightly more gradual, meandering descents.

Here's the route I took second time around, parking at the ice rink and starting from the small parking lot just across Brady's Run Rd. from there (the trailhead is to the left if you're standing in the lot, uphill into the woods):

Unfortunately you won't see much of the lake on this trail, except at times from a distance.  You will see two annoying sections of seemingly endless switchbacks, one on each side, but I guess that's better than taking these hillsides straight-on (although you will do that, too, in places).  You will also see some minor creek crossings and and a few fallen trees, but no serious obstacles.

About a mile in you'll come up behind a baseball field and the trail will dump you out on the road.  I'm not actually sure that I took the right trail from there, but I just sort of wandered across the road and back into the woods where it looked worn and followed it, but whether it was the right trail or not, who cares.  It got me to the back of the lake, where I was able to again cross Brady's Run Rd. to get on the South Trail.

All in all this park reminds me a bit of Riverview: nice trails, but steep in some sections and confusing in others.  I wouldn't drive an hour out of your way to run here, but if you happen to find yourself within 20 minutes or so of the park, it's definitely worth exploring.  Here's the elevation profile for the counter-clockwise loop:

Based on that alone, it may not look any easier taking it one direction or the other, so all I can say is that I enjoyed it more running it in reverse.

One tip: next time I find myself here on a hot day, I'll definitely start at the west end of the lake, so I can end my run in the water instead of the radiating heat of an asphalt lot.

Thumbnail Review: Sewickley Heights Borough Park

This is a beautiful little park off Fern Hollow Road in Sewickley Heights.  A partially marked trail system provides...  I have no idea, but probably 3-4 miles or more of doubletrack and mild singletrack through picturesque Pennsylvania woodland.

A map from the Borough will cost you $4, but you shouldn't have any trouble fumbling your way around this relatively small park.  As a few points of reference, if you hit a creek, you're at the lower edge of the park and probably want to make your way back uphill.  If you hit a large open field, you're at the peak of the park and right by the parking area. 

Despite its size, though, the woods feel quite removed from Pittsburgh.  A great place for a short run.  Here's a suggested 2-mile figure-eight that may or may not roughly track the trails I did with the spouse and hound last weekend:

(click for larger view)

Off the Road Again

No local trail reviews in this post; just a personal update.

As bad luck and reckless training would have it, that sluggishness referenced in the February 17 post below turned out to be the beginnings of a torn soleus muscle, likely triggered by PJ McArdle hill repeats on the prior weekend. As it further turns out, cani-cross with a recently retired and newly adopted sled dog is not the wisest sport to undertake when one’s soleus is starting to tear. So, two weeks after that post and eight weeks before the Big Sur Marathon, my right inner calf swollen and pulsating with pain, I realized I probably wouldn’t be running in the Big Sur Marathon this year.

The doctor ordered seven weeks of rest, and aside from two very painful test jogs in the middle of those seven weeks, I abided. A lot of chilling, a bit of stretching, an increasing dosage of cycling and an occasional foray onto the elliptical eventually found me still feeling the pain in varying degrees at the end of six weeks. And then it suddenly subsided.

I was still signed up for the marathon at that point, though knowing I wouldn’t be ready. So I down-graded to the 9-mile option despite uncertainties about whether my leg could even handle that much in its semi-healed state, particularly given the hills of that course. A few more sessions on the indoor bike, a lot more stretching, and two meager runs proved joyously pain-free, so I gave it a shot

Sunday morning in Carmel-By-The-Sea, the weather was perfect: about 55 degrees at the 6:45 a.m. start reaching above 60 when I crossed the finish, without a cloud in sight. The 9-miler followed an absolutely beautiful course, mixing Highway 1's pavement with the beach trails and park roads of Point Lobos Natural Reserve, which meandered along the coast and through tall pines. Without question it was the most scenic run of my life--if a bit bittersweet in light of my original plan--and my leg held up just fine to my delighted surprise.

All this to say I’m back on the trails, thank God.

Local news: Shoefitr

Right here in the Burgh, Shoefitr has been quietly developing what could be one of the best programs out there for the modern runner.  I first heard about the company through a profile in the PBT last May.

This month has seen a lot of rising buzz around the company, so I thought the half dozen or so Pittsburgh runners who read this should know what a few of your fellow Pittsburgh runners are up to.  Take this Time Magazine post from a few weeks ago as just one testament to Shoefitr's success. 

It's a great product, and the company certainly deserves to succeed.  I've used Shoefitr to purchase a few pairs now through RunningWarehouse, and was happy with the results in all cases.  Having an oddly shaped foot, I've found Shofitr's colored 3D models to be particularly helpful in determining whether a shoe will not only fit me, but fit comfortably in all places.

As a runner and a Pittsburgher, it's nice to see some local boys doing well.  2011 should be an exciting year for Shoefitr.  Here's hoping for the best.

In Others' Words

Despite an inexplicable sluggishness, I enjoyed a lovely run through seventy-degree Virginia tobacco country last evening, and was delighted to return to the Burgh to see that the sun found its way north of the Mason-Dixon as well.  While no one around here probably needs any added inspiration to run on such a fine day as today, I've been gathering various quotes about running that have struck me over the past year or so, and so, I thought I'd share.

"During 13 years of professional running, I never got it fully right. It's like golf. You'll never be perfect; you try to get a little better at every opportunity. That's the beauty of distance running, I think. It's a never-ending journey of trying to find out how good I can be, what I can improve on, even with my limitations. I'll never know the answer, but I'll keep looking for it."

- Bob Kennedy (the runner, of course)

"I sometimes think that running has given me a glimpse of the greatest freedom a man can ever know, because it results in the simultaneous liberation of both body and mind."
- Sir Roger Bannister

"Remember, the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running."
- Sarah Condor

Whether the weather be fine
or whether the weather be not,
whether the weather be cold
or whether the weather be hot,
we'll weather the weather whatever the weather,
whether we like it or not.
- Unknown

"If you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing: you have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired... You've always got to make the mind take over and keep going."
- General George S. Patton (1912 Olympian)

"It's very hard to understand in the beginning that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the voice inside you that wants to quit."
- Dr. George Sheehan

“Do the work. Do the analysis. But feel your run. Feel your race. Feel the joy that is running.”
- Kara Goucher

"Running is not, as it so often seems, only about what you did in your last race or about how many miles you ran last week. It is, in a much more important way, about community, about appreciating all the miles run by other runners, too."
- Richard O'Brien

"Good things come slow--especially in distance running."
- Bill Dillinger

"Running well is a matter of having the patience to persevere when we are tired and not expecting instant results."
- Robert de Castella

"The music of a marathon is a powerful strain, one of those tunes of glory. It asks us to forsake pleasures, to discipline the body, to find courage, to renew faith and to become one's own person, utterly and completely."
- Dr. George Sheehan

"There are no standards and no possible victories except the joy you are living while dancing your run. You are not running for some future reward--the real reward is now."
- Fred Rohe, The Zen of Running

“Life is short. Running makes it seem longer.”
- Baron Hansen

Trail Conditions in Brief

Eliza Furnace trail is pretty well melted down to the pavement west of Hot Metal, with some intermittent snowy and icy patches at the gravel edges and an icy stretch between South Side Works and the Birmingham Bridge.  East of Hot Metal it's a bit more touch-and-go, with a fair amount of ice that manages to blend into larger areas of pavement and snow.

Lower Panther Hollow is dangerously icy, but passable at the edges where you can still dig in a bit on the snow.  I wouldn't advise venturing in without spikes.

Upper Panther Hollow is worse, with the snowy edges thinning completely in sections.  Don't risk it.

Bridle Trail is just pure, slick, skateable ice.  There may be some patches of dirt, hay and snow here and there, but they offer only false hope.  Just avoid it.

I haven't been to Frick or Riverview in recent days, so I can't speak to those.

Today's rain and dropping temps in the days to come do not bode well...

Riverview Park - Second Impression: Confusing

Upon a second, slightly longer visit to this park I have to admit, it's confusing as all get out (whatever that expression means). 

I did 10.5 snowy miles through Riverview the other evening--about 7 of them in spikes after slipping through my first few, and about 4 of them guided by headlamp as the dark set in.  While the woods are definitely nice, the short length of the various trails makes it tough to get a good rhythm going.  I found myself constantly running into forks, roads and the occasional dead-end, as you can see here:

I'm actually not sure that there's any section of uninterrupted trail here that lasts more than a mile.  It's clear from the official map that the named sections are all short, but they link together a bit more cleanly on paper than they do in practice.  As a point of comparison, I find Frick to be similar but much more navigable on-the-fly. 

Maybe Riverview Park just requires a bit more exploration and a higher level of comfort with its twists and turns to get a good longer run in.  For now I think I'll reserve this one for the shorter days. 

On the plus side, this time around I did see way more deer than I ever thought lived within the City limits, and spied a large hawk and a huge owl close-up.  So I got that goin' for me.

Riverview Park - First Impression: Positive

Photo: Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy



Never having spent much time in the North Side aside from ball games and an occasional social gathering or similar event, I ventured into Riverview Park late yesterday afternoon with little notion of what to expect and my only goal being to squeeze in about 6 miles before sunset.  I parked on Perrysville Avenue and simply stepped into the steep woods.  I'd been told it was hilly, wild, under-maintained, and beautiful.  Sure as the sun fell, all proved true.

Despite the park being larger than Frick, I found myself criss-crossing my tracks and circling around the same areas several times.  When I didn't pass the famous Allegheny Observatory and eventually found my way back to Perrysville over the course of 5.5 miles, I figured I hadn't seen all there was to see.  As a Christmas gift gadget informed me when I got home, I was right:

This is good news, as the northern and western portions of the trails I covered were my favorites, so I can only assume those to the further northwest might be similar.  A trail map of the park can be found here.  Trails I covered included Deer Hollow, Overlook, Old Zoo, and pretty much everything east of Kilbuck Road.

There was no shortage of wildlife, with several blue jays, one groundhog, two does and even one decent-sized buck spotted around mile-marker 1 on the above map.  Unfortunately there was also no shortage of trash, although most of that seemed to be around the cemetery border and down near Kilbuck Road. 

The woods itself is very nice--quite comparable to Frick, but with a heck of a lot less people.  The trails were a pretty even mix of single-track, some lightly maintained double-track, and some fun if hard-to-follow deer paths.

Riverview is a great park overall based on what I saw, and since that wasn't much, I look forward to getting back and exploring the rest of it.  I can see this being a particular pretty park under a few inches of snow, so I'm glad I discovered it as we ease into winter.

Connecting Schenley to the Jail Trail

I gather that this is old news to many runners of the local trails, but for whatever reason it took me quite a long time to figure out that the Eliza Furnace Trail basically passes Panther Hollow Lake right around where it hits Boundary Street.  Not sure why I never noticed this before (from either side of the tracks) but I didn't.  It actually wasn't until I was exploring Google Maps a few weeks ago that I realized the two trails run about 50 feet away from each other down there by the pond.   So to any other directionally-challenged minds like mine, this makes for a great link between Schenley and the South Side.  For reference, the run from the Riverfront Park to the pond is just about 2.5 miles.

Here's a nice 8-mile lollipop starting at the end of 18th Street in the South Side.

Youghiogheny Scenic & Wild River: Kendall Trail

This one's not in Pittsburgh, or even Pennsylvania, but if you happen to find yourself at nearby Deep Creek Lake for a weekend, this is a nice, easy, scenic trail worth checking out.

This is an out-and-back.  Starting from the town of Friendsville, simply follow the river upstream along Morris Avenue and you'll see the trail head where the road ends, more or less under the I-68 overpass.  It runs five miles sticking pretty much to the river bank, then just sort of peters out into ever thicker brush at National Falls.

A map of this trail is unnecessary, and I don't have one anyway, but this map of the adjacent Yough should give you a pretty good overview.  National Falls is at the southern end of that cluster of rapids.

This is a beautiful river valley, and its general inaccessibility (except by foot or kayak) means you're pretty well out there in the wilderness after the first mile.  At the end of the second mile you'll reach a fork; to keep running, stay to the right, along the river. If you're feeling like a break, check it out to the left, where you'll find the foundations of the ghost town of Kendall.  In fact, these first two miles are the remnants of a railbed that once ran to Kendall, where the railroad apparently decided that the canyon became too tricky to keep going.

Here the path turns to an unmaintained fireroad-type surface for another mile or so, then gets into some singletrack.  There is a rocky section about halfway along that can be a bit tricky with the fallen leaves and a lot of loose rocks, but other than that, nothing serious.

Since you're going upstream, the trail is uphill.  You barely notice it, though, until you realize how much easier it is coming back down.  One of those.

Along the way are many points to access the river, but be warned that there is a dam upstream, from where they release large amounts of water which can take this from a rather shallow, mild river to one of the fastest around.  If you happen to be there on a release day, you'll likely see many kayakers and rafters on their ways down.

You'll know when you've reached the end because you really won't be able to push any farther through the vegetation.  Also, there will be a large boulder (and a few smaller ones) on the edge of the bank that you can climb out on to get some great views of the valley above and below you.

In my sights

Unfortunately I have no excuse to head north for work anytime soon, but if one should arise I have two trails in mind to try:

Minister Creek Trail (~7 mile loop near Tionesta)

Morrison Hiking Trail (~11 mile loop near Warren)

Both are in the Allegheny National Forest, and both sound quite nice. 

Spent the weekend in Shenandoah National Park, which has got to have the highest scenery to proximity-to-Pittsburgh ratio of anywhere.  An easy 4-5 hour drive for beautiful mountains and great trails.  If anyone knows something comparable that's closer, I'd love to hear about it.

Raccoon Creek State Park: Raccoon Loop Trail(s)

I'd never heard of Raccoon Creek, but a friend had been talking this park up for sometime (all relayed hearsay, as she's never been there herself), and when I looked into it I saw that it's one of the DCNR's 20 "must-see" parks, so I thought I'd check it out. 

Maybe I missed something, but I'd rate it pretty average on the whole.  That pic above is from the park web site, and that's pretty much what you can expect to see on the trails.  Nothing wrong with that.  I like a good lowland eastern woods trail; I guess I just expected a bit more.  In any event, your map:

Raccoon Creek State Park

The Forest, Heritage and Appaloosa Trails all link up to create the Raccoon Loop, a 19.5-mile perimeter trail around the park.  A bit off-center of that loop cuts through Route 18, splitting it into two sections of probably 11 miles to the west and maybe eight or so to the east.  I set out from the main park office right along Route 18 and did the western half of the loop, then tacked on the Valley Trail at the end for some additional mileage. 

Sections of the Forest and Heritage Trails are fantastic.  I started out on the Heritage Trail, which is well-travelled for about the first mile, although it was by no means crowded.  After that, I saw only two day-hikers, two horseback-riders and three groups of backpackers the whole time.  A few miles into the western section of the Heritage Trail it gets into some really nice rolling hills as it crosses a few low ridges and nearly-dry creeks.  The inclines are very manageable, and the downhills are pretty open and really fun through this area.  Then things get a little thick.

I anticipated some overgrowth with an early autumn run on trails that probably don't see a ton of traffic, but there were sections where I completely lost the trail among all the thorns, burrs, bushes and downed trees.  Luckily, someone did a hell of a job marking the trees every 15 feet or so along these trails, so it never took more than a quick visual survey to get my bearings back. 

The Heritage Trail eventually dumps out onto the Appaloosa Trail, which is shared with horses.  Thanks to them, the trail is wider and generally pretty well packed down.  Nothing too exciting along this section.  This eventually leads you to Nichols Road, which you then have to follow for a brief stretch to get onto the Forest Trail.

At this point, you're as far as you'll get from the park's main attractions, so the first mile or so of the Forest Trail here is, despite being right by the road, like a labyrinth of weeds and branches.  Soon, however, it opens up into a really nice little pine grove through which you'll wind for less than a mile, unfortunately.  After that, pretty standard fare. 

After the Forest Trail crosses Route 18, I got a bit off track and somehow ended up on the Lake Trail very briefly, then on the road.  I consulted my map and figured the Valley Trail would be a nice finish to the run, and it was (notwithstanding a minor faceplant as I came too fast into a damp wooden bridge). 

All things tolled, nothing too technical, no serious steeps, no great vistas, but generally some nice woodland singletrack.  Also, the fact that the park office (with clean bathrooms) sits roughly in the middle of this trail (with a potable water station somewhere along the Appaloosa or Forest as well) means that the full loop would make for a solid marathon training run. 

If I return, I suspect it will be during spring or early-summer, before the ground cover has too much time to spread.   I also suspect I'll start with the eastern portion of the loop next time, in search of some grand view of the pond, which seems to be the park's main draw, and which certainly provided a great place to cool off after my run.

Shooz

For any shoe geeks out there, here's what I found to be a pretty interesting discussion of the evolution of New Balance's recent trail shoes and the forthcoming NB Minimus.   I particularly liked the little slideshow about halfway down showing the development of the lasts up through the various prototypes.

As for running, I'm fresh off recovering from a minor muscle pull and have been primarily on the roads and lovely broken-glass-laden sidewalks lately, but am hoping to check out Raccoon Creek State Park and the Allegheny National Forest in the next few weeks.  Any thoughts or pointers on worthwhile trails in either would be much appreciated.

Check Out the Pittsburgh Parks Blog

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy has a nice blog of their own, updated far more regularly than this occasional journal here.

Check it out: http://pittsburghparks.wordpress.com/.  The latest entry is about the Panther Hollow, which also got some press in the P-G this week concerning the restoration work being done down there. 

I just did about 5 miles in Panther Hollow last night and may wait to head back into those woods until the work is done.  Lots of gravel, packed down paths in the valley, and some large machinery chilling by the stream took a bit away from the ambiance, but I do look forward to the finished product.

UPDATE 11/13/2010 -- The work in Schenley seems to be coming along nicely.  The panther hollows trails have a fresh coat of cruched limestone.  Bridle trail also well on its way.  With the leaves down and this nice white surface, Schenley is great right now for running at dusk and after on these dark days.

Burning River 100: Ohio's Ultra

Ledges Trail, Cuyahoga Valley N.P.

Here's a great play-by-play of one blogger/runner's journey through our neghbor's very own ultramarathon, the Burning River 100. 

It's enough to have me planning a daytrip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  I lived a few years in Ohio and didn't even know they had a national park.  Or hills, for that matter.

Skiing the Burgh

The running seems to be getting a little harder around here as things melt and turn to ice, but things have stayed pretty cold in the Appalachian foothills south and east, which has made for some of the best skiing I can recall in this part of the country. These guys didn't see a reason to leave town though.

I am a __________ runner.

Since beginning this blog to which I've lazily attended, I've found myself reading more about running, which seems like an odd thing to do. But on occasion I find myself in a position where running is not an immediately available option, and reading about running through woods seems the next best option when struck by a desire to run through woods. Depending upon my mood and the article's precise subject, the reading may either quench or fuel the urge to be running.

In any event, as I've been reading more about running, I find myself thinking more about running and, in particular, about runners. Either they or the people marketing to them seem to enjoy categorizing the factions. Most runners stick to the pavement, I would venture; they are obviously the roadrunners. But of those, like myself, who prefer soil and stone under foot, the level of categorization is puzzling.

As the title of this blog suggests, I assume I am what I've heard dubbed a "trail runner." I assume this because I very much like running on trails. But even that fails to pin me down the way some might like to.

I gather that if you run extremely far, you are an "ultra runner." This makes some sense, and there is a magazine out there just for you. I also gather that you ultra runners enjoy competition, as you seem to have a lot of ultramarathons (or just "ultras" if you're cooler than me). I guess you guys can go on or off road.

I think that if you like to camp and climb and such along the way, you might be what's deemed an "adventure runner." You avoid the roads, and there are companies out there who will carry your crap for you. There is also a blog about your passion that may or may not have corporate sponsorship. You are not so much into the whole competition thing, although there are "adventure races" which can either incorporate or consist entirely of adventure running. I'm not sure if you run farther than ultra runners. It might vary.

Some of you are "mountain runners." I think you might be mostly into hills. It's possible you are also an attractive Kiwi who promotes potatoes. Alternatively, if you hail from the U.S. of A., there is actually a team for you. I used to think you didn't run as far as the ultra and adventure runners, but now I think I may have been mistaken about that. Your blog is definitely underwritten by corporate dough.

If you are a mountain runner who is also British, Scottish and/or totally pretentious, you are a "fell runner." You might not run as far as the others, but I think you like to use a compass. You probably are also really into shoes (aka "trainers"). You are even worse than me at blogging.

If you are running on odd natural surfaces in very specific places simply for the sake of having an obscure hobby, you are probably a "talus runner" and I have no interest in getting to know you.

What differentiates cross-country running from trail running? Is it the mere presence of a defined pathway? Surely there must be more to it than that. Perhaps it is team spirit and competitive sport vs. personal solace and spiritual pursuit.

I know this much: I get bored on roads and I've never run a marathon, let alone one of the ultra variety.

Perhaps that does very little to aid in labeling me. Perhaps the fact that I prefer pathways adjacent to waterways means nothing with respect to the kind of runner I am. Perhaps in the end I am a simple trail runner, nothing more.

And yet, there is still a periodical out there for advertisers to reach me. Which is good, because I like gear.