Running around DAR State Forest with Tippi today.

Conway Covered Bridge Marathon - October 13th, 2012

Conway & Goshen, Massachusetts

Today, Wuzzam and I ran the Conway Covered Bridge Marathon.  We had Ned and his daughter's dog with us for the first 10-miles or so, and they were good company.

The idea for the run had been with me for a while, but what sealed it was Farmer Tom was doing a group trail ride through the woods from either Berkshire East or South Face, to the Covered Bridge in Conway.

We would start running in the opposite direction of the bikes, beginning at the St. Mark's Church parking area (we hoped to start running on an hour but we found out the church bells haven't been active for many years).  We immediately crossed the Burkeville Covered Bridge and we were soon into Conway State Forest.

Highlights of the run included:

• Cricket Hill
• Joe Herrick Gulf
• Smith Hill
• Bullitt Reservation
• Chapel Falls & Ledge/Pony Cliffs
• Moore Hill and the Firetower

We finished really strong, final time of 6:33:15.  This was my 50th completed marathon.

On the drive out to retrieve our two aid station drops, we ran into the mountain bike group crossing West Road exiting the DAR State Forest onto the Chapel Falls Trail toward Conway State Forest.

An excellent day!

Running along Potash Brook in Dubuque State Forest with Tippi.

Once complete with the long run, we stopped off at Farmer Tom's "home-trails" to do some exploring and mapping for him.

A visit to DAR State Forest in Goshen, Massachusetts with Tippi;  we rambled around for 9 or so miles altogether.

Another day out to Berkshire East in Charlemont, Massachusetts with Tippi.