Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Running through history



Yesterday I dropped off son #2 at a lacrosse recruiting camp at Gettysburg College. Since the middle of May, daughter and son have been either studying for exams, traveling to and from Richmond for lacrosse practice, or attending lacrosse tournaments and/or camps in Baltimore, Virginia Beach or Gettysburg. Mom has been either working, writing comments, or driving said children back and forth from their respective activities. And training has taken a well-timed back seat...but now it's time to get back at it!

After dropping off son #2 and making sure he and his roommate had plenty of Gatorade and water in the fridge, I was off. I had not run much in the month of June and was feeling itchy to do something new and cool...but I was also not psyched to run alone in the Catoctin Mountain woods or SNP on the way home...guess I just don't like looking over my shoulder for ax murderers or bears too much. But I was intrigued by the idea of running through the Gettysburg Battlefield (officially known as the "Gettysburg National Military Park") and was eager to get a history lesson along with my endorphin fix. I parked at the visitor's center, picked up a map, and noted the "trail" that wove in and out of the park---a horse trail used by the Gettysburg Equestrian Club and open to walkers and runners as well. Sweet!

Early on the the run I was overcome by the memorials to the various armies, infantries, and regiments.

 
Posted by Picasa


The weather was perfect---overcast, cool, and breezy. The gray sky added to the mystique of the day...I had heard about the "ghosts" of Gettysburg and it twas a bit spooky in places. The horse trail wound through fields and woods, and at one point passed a barn with a hole in the side of it---a hole caused by a Confederate cannon ball 150 years ago (according to the history marker in front). I ran by places with famous (to Civil War buffs) names such as Devils Den, Big Round Top, and Little Round Top. Nothing seems to have changed here, except for instead of tens of thousands of dead and wounded soldiers and animals, all that is left here are the (preserved) remains of houses and barns, many memorials, and the sound of the wind blowing across the fields.

 
Posted by Picasa


I ran the entire horse trail loop in about two hours, and saw one runner and one equestrienne. Both were polite and friendly. When I got back to the visitor center, I was rather pleased with my choice: instead of worrying about ax murderers and bears, I had plenty of reminders of the brave young men who died a century and a half ago... and I never felt alone.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cool, Sophie! What a unique experience.

jennifer Nichols said...

sounds like an amazing run! I would love to do this ( AND bull run run) I went to gettysburg when I was 12 with my parents one summer, and would love to re-visit as an adult. Glad you are happy, healthy and training! Have an amazing summer! see you in a couple of weeks!

jenny:o)

Sophie Speidel said...

Thanks, guys! I hope you read this post when the pics were up---for some strange reason the last two disappeared for awhile from the post, but I found them...spooky!

Rob French said...

I love the pics which added flavor to your special run. So cool that you did a solo 2 hour run yet never alone.....

Rick Gray said...

Funny how some education into our past can turn into a wonderful run. Certainly sounds like you are staying busy this summer. Continue to enjoy as it will be all too short.

Unknown said...

Sounds like a fun and different running experience. Thanks for the insight.

Ronda said...

What a cool run Sophie. Bill loves that place as he visits there often with work. He took Alex's Boy Scout Troop there last year.

This must mean that Son #2 is getting ready to graduate soon. Wow!