Here we are, once again at the end of another year, and more specifically another end of The Trustees of Reservations "Hike 125" challenge.

Last year I had a late start, managed 83.2 miles, and ended in 35th place.  This year, despite the full 8.5 months, I just didn't drive into Massachusetts to run at Trustees of Reservation locations that often.  2019's leader-board has me in 44th place, with 59.1 total miles. 

I hope that the challenge will exist again in 2020, and I do expect to take the challenge again.

From the Trustees website, it is mentioned that "Everyone who hikes more than 25 miles will receive a patch to celebrate your Hike 125 pride!"

"The Trustees of Reservations preserve, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value in Massachusetts."

Music 2019...

Effort #56,  My Friend the Reverend, with his Lady Edie, performing "Amazing Grace".

Ran from Suffield to Windsor Locks and back, basically in a big loop for 8.8-miles.

This left me at my goal for yearly mileage, 1200.3 total miles.  I had set 1200 as a number I felt could be possible if things went well.

Ran along the Metacomet from Route 20 north, almost to the corner of Phelps & Mountain Road...  but I took the ROW to Mountain and rambled along the road back to the car.

Total of 9-miles.

Drove out to Hoosick Falls, New York with DL to meet my folks for our beef pickup.

Just like the trip from February, we took the Mass Pike to Route 22, and along that at some point DL remembered a club she once new of built like a boat, named, you guessed it, "Showboat".

Once back to Connecticut, I rambled around the roads for 4-miles.

Just 3-miles on Main Street after work, in the dark.

Merry Christmas!

Late afternoon ramble along the Metacomet, checking the trail against icy conditions. 

All in all, trail was decent, managed 4.3-miles.

Spent a few hours in the evening at Runsteveo's new place in West Suffield.

View south off Peak / Copper Mountain

Old Newgate Prison

Old Newgate Prison

3.4-mile along the Mather Loop.

Music 2019...

Effort #55,  Second late summer recording of "I Still Haven't Found What I Was Looking For".

Too icy for the woods, so I stuck to the roads, managing 5.2-miles on the Mather Loop.

Hill Street Extended Loop again, on the very cold and icy side...   9.7-miles.

4-mile run along Main Street before a trip to visit the folks.

3-mile run along Main Street in the early morning...  12-degrees.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #32 for 2019...   Gregory McDonald's "Confess, Fletch".  

This is the second installment of Irwin Maurice Fletcher, of the "Fletch" series.  Written in 1976.

Music 2019...

Effort #54,  Another late summer recording, "Transparent Radiation".

Most of the morning and early afternoon spent at St Francis, where DL had a procedure completed.  

Took a run on Main Street in the early evening for 3-miles.

Met up with Wuzzam and the Old Goat today, figured we would attempt to run from Old Turnpike Road (just off Route 44) in Mansfield, to a turn-a-round point at Perry Hill Road in Ashford.  Basically, we were running the first-half of the historic Nipmuck Marathon, out and back.

No snow or ice to bother us at all, mid forties, lots of wet areas.  Ended up with a nice 12.4-miles.

Foundations

Foundations

A new bridge named after an old friend

Old Grave?

Friends and Long Distance Running Partners

Just about over with the running today

Heavy Rain most of the day, managed 5.4-mile Mather Loop around 11 a.m.

As the cold rain began to fall, I shuffled through McLean Refuge for 3.7-miles.

Still Snowy in McLean

9.7-Mile Run along the Hill Street Extended Loop.

3-Mile Run along Main Street in the dark.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #31 for 2019...  "Down Here", the 2004 continuation of the Burke novels, by Andrew Vachss.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime Edition Cover

Music 2019...

Effort #53,  Late summer recording of "I Still Haven't Found What I Was Looking For".  Teter, our Amazon Yellow Naped Parrot is singing background.

7-mile Hill Street Loop in the morning; then a drive to visit my folks.

8-mile run around town on the roads.

Another snowshoe day in McLean, 5.6-miles.

Entry at Canton Road

First Snowshoe of the year, 4.6-mile romp around McLean Refuge.

Plank Crossing on Bissell Brook

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #30 for 2019...  "Double Indemnity",   the 1943 novel by James Cain.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime Edition Cover

Here are my accomplishments for November 2019.

November 2019 High Points:

• Stony Hill, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Westledge/West Hill, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Eddy Loop Climb, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Weed Hill, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Metacomet Ridge, Cowles Park, East Granby, CT
• Little Mount Tom, Mt Tom Reservation, Easthampton, MA
• Big View, Williamsburg Trails, Williamsburg, MA
• Unquemonk Hill, Williamsburg Trails, Williamsburg, MA
• Petticoat Hill, Williamsburg Trails, Williamsburg, MA
• Scott Hill, Williamsburg Trails, Williamsburg, MA
• Battlecock Hill, Chesterfield - Williamsburg, MA
• Soapstone Mountain, Shenipsit State Forest, Somers, CT
• Kelly Hill, Metacomet / New England Trail, Agawam, MA
• Provin Mountain, Metacomet / New England Trail, Agawam, MA
• Harts Pond Hill, Metacomet / New England Trail, Southwick, MA
• Nicks Hill, Metacomet Ridge, West Suffield, CT
• West Suffield Mountain, Metacomet Ridge, West Suffield, CT
• Peak/Copper Mountain, Metacomet Ridge, West Suffield, CT

Music 2019...

Effort #52,  The twelfth piece from the July 21st, 2019  "Heat of the Day Session" by the Dark Heart Duo, "Just One Time".

3.4-mile run just as the snow began to fall, around the Bridge Street - Wisteria - Kent loop.

Lots of driving today with DL.

• We picked up some donuts at Mrs Murphy's for my folks.
• Visited Bellevue Cemetery.
• Visited Angelina's for a sandwich.
• Stopped at the folks for some hay to cover our plants.
• Shopped at Perkarski's in South Deerfield,
• Stopped at the Williamsburg Snack Bar for lobster rolls.
• Once back in Connecticut, we attended the town tree lighting ceremony.

Mt Greylock from Bellevue Cemetery

  McLean Game Refuge & Holcomb Farm Marathon

November 29th, 2019 - Granby & Simsbury, Connecticut

McLean Game Refuge & Holcomb Farm Marathon day in Granby and Simsbury, Connecticut.  

Not a lot of build-up for this, I was thinking an attempt at the Bullitt Reservation / DAR / Williamsburg Route, but two cars are necessary for that attempt and I had but one today.  I would be solo.

I got a good running start at just a little after 9:00 a.m., with two water plants plus the refill opportunity at my vehicle which was returned to around mile 8 or so.  

Rambled through McLean to the beginnings of the hills (Westledge, Pilfershire, West Mountain, Eddy, and Weed Hill) at 12.5-miles at 5.5-mph (which was an incredible pace for me).

Once the hills were finished, and I entered into Holcomb Farm Trails, I was still at 5-mph, which had me feeling really energized.  I was moving really well, running strong on everything other than the long steady climb up Westledge, the steepest portions of Eddy, and then the bushwhack type footing up Weed Hill.

Things slowed a bit through Holcomb, especially once crossing Simsbury Road.  The trail from there to the re-entry into McLean proper hasn't seen much traffic, had many leaves covering the roots, and I was beginning to tire.

I hung on to complete the 25.6-miles (gps measured, so this should be easily over 26.2) in 5:13:00.  Just dipped under 5 mph average to a 4.9.  Awesome performance on my third marathon of 2019, and 57th overall.

Surprise call-in at work;  3.2-miles at McLean afterward before a nice quiet dinner with DL.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #29 for 2019...  "Only Child",   Andrew Vachss Burke novel published in 2002.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime Edition Cover

3-miles on Main Street during the evening hours.

3.3-miles at Cowles Park in the afternoon.

Music 2019...

Effort #51,  The eleventh piece from the July 21st, 2019  "Heat of the Day Session" by the Dark Heart Duo, "Overheated".

Very sunny 40-degree day;  visited the Mt Tom Reservation with a visit to Little Mount Tom as the plan.  All told, I finished with 9.9-miles along some wonderful trails.

Trustees of Reservations "Little Mt Tom"

Whiting Street Reservoir

Graffiti on abandoned building (Boys Club/Ski Area)

3-miles along the Farmington River Canal Greenway, Route 20 to Copper Hill Road.

Here are my accomplishments for October 2019.

October 2019 High Points:

• Barrack Mountain, Mohawk Trail, Cornwall, CT
• Lookout Point, Mohawk Trail, Cornwall, CT
• Ragged Mtn, Peoples State Forest, Barkhamsted, CT
• Pine Mountain, Tunxis Trail, Barkhamsted, CT
• Hart's Pond Hill, Metacomet Trail, West Suffield, CT
• East Barndoor Hill, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Weed Hill, McLean Refuge, Simsbury & Granby, CT
• Metacomet Ridge, Cowles Park, East Granby, CT
• Nick's Hill, Metacomet Ridge, West Suffield, CT

After work run along the Farmington Valley Greenway Trail from Route 20 south to Floydville Road for 3.3-miles.

Also, on this day, in 2005, I completed a Northern Nipmuck Marathon with Tippi and Wuzzam.  Total time was 6:28:18, and it was my 30th marathon and Tippi's 6th.  Wuzzam had Summer out for the event with us as well.  Hard to beat a day when a few guys can run with their dogs.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #28 for 2019...  "Pain Management",   Andrew Vachss Burke novel published in 2001.

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime Edition Cover

Music 2019...

Effort #50,  The tenth piece from the July 21st, 2019  "Heat of the Day Session" by the Dark Heart Duo, "Light Shining Through".

Cold and damp today, drove out to McLean to run a "hard" 3.6-mile loop in 33:22 (6.5 mph).  Ended up with a total of 3.9-miles with the short cool-down.

A visit to Williamsburg Woodland Trails as well as the Trustees of Reservations, via Unquemonk (Big View) and Petticoat Hill for 6-miles.

The Locke's Loop at Petticoat Hill roughed in at 1.4-miles, and the Big View Loop was right around 2-miles I believe, for prosperity.

Locke's Loop - Petticoat Hill

Locke's Loop

Big View / Unquemonk

Managed the ridge loop at Cowles after work, 3.3-miles.

Music 2019...

Effort #49,  The ninth piece from the July 21st, 2019  "Heat of the Day Session" by the Dark Heart Duo, "Nightmare".

Back to Connecticut, with a cold visit to McLean Reservation for 3.6-miles.

Flew back from Chicago Midway to Providence, T.F. Green.

Meanwhile, here are some maps of my combo runs last week, as well as a tie in with last November's routes in Illinois.

2019 Routes

2018 & 2019 Routes

Forest Preserves of DuPage County 

Easy day relaxing due to a few inches of snow and extremely cold temperatures in the Chicago Land area.  Picked up JC after he finished work for the day, and visited my favorite spot to eat in the Wheaton, Illinois area, Mi Casa Restaurant on N Main Street, Wheaton, IL.

Another chilly morning spent running, this time at St. James Farm Forest Preserve in Warrenville, Illinois.  I managed 7.5-miles connecting to the Herrick Lake trails.

From afternoon until evening, Dl, JC and I celebrated Thanksgiving early at JC's place with a wonderful slab of prime rib we brought with us from the folks farm.

Trails at St James Farm

Trails at St James Farm

Buildings and Signage at St James Farm

St James Farm

St James Farm

St James Farm

Trails at St James Farm

We had a busy day today;  early on I ran 6.2-miles in Danada Forest Preserve, and connected to Herrick Lake's trails from yesterdays run.

Re-visited Morton Arboretum for a nature art show mid-day.

Once evening hit, we saw and listened to Savoy Brown at the Brauerhouse in nearby Lombard, Illinois.

Rice Lake, Danada Forest Preserve

Rice Lake, Danada Forest Preserve

 Back in Herrick Forest Preserve, connecting the paths

Heroes Grove, Danada Forest Preserve

Jens Jensen and the Council Ring

The Council Ring

Gerald R. Weeks Grove Memorial Plaque

Gerald R. Weeks Grove

Savoy Brown in Concert!