Wednesday, March 18, 2009

18 March 2009 Tallahassee 100-Mile Race Calendar

This is the Tallahassee vicinity road-race schedule for 18 March 2009. If that's more than a week ago, the latest schedule is always available via this link:


This is a listing of upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida, roughly the area in the map below. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it.

Map

Here are some upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it. An updated version of this schedule is posted to http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/ every Wednesday, except when it isn't.

21 MARCH 2009
  • Student Dietetic Association National Nutrition Month 5K. 10:00 am ET. Woodward Avenue Statue, Florida State University, North Woodward Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32304 (about 0.2 miles south of West Tennessee Street (US 90)). Registration form and flyer.
  • SouthWoodstock 5K & one mile. 4:30 pm ET one mile / 5:00 pm ET 5K. Terrebonne Drive and Grove Park Drive, Tallahassee, FL. Race web site. Registration form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
  • Wild Chicken Run 5K and one mile. 8:00 am ET 5K / 8:30 am ET one mile. South Main Street and West Magnolia Street, Fitzgerald, GA 31750. Registration form and flyer.
  • Torreya State Park 5K. 9:00 am ET. Torreya State Park, 2576 NW Torreya Park Road, Bristol, FL 32321. Susan Chafin (850) 643-2415. Online registration at active.com.
  • Leprechaun Chase 5K Trail Run. 9:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Race web page.
  • Caring Hands, Caring Heart 5K. 8:00 am CT. Middlebrook Park, Banfill Avenue, Bonifay, FL 32425. Event web page. Entry form and flyer.
  • Pilot Fun Run for Brain-Related Disorders 5K and one mile. 7:00 am CT. Frank Brown Park, 16200 Panama City Beach Parkway, Panama City Beach, FL 32407. Online registration at active.com.
  • Kiwanis Club Annual 5K and one mile. 8:30 am ET 5K / 8:40 am ET one mile. Memorial Stadium, Massee Post Road, Adel, Georgia 31620. Registration form and flyer.
22 MARCH 2009
  • Race Judicata 5K. 8:00am ET. Florida State University College of Law, 425 W. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301. USATF certified course FL02044DL. Registration form and flyer.
28 MARCH 2009
  • 34th Annual Springtime 10K, Publix 5K & Fun Station 1-Miler. 8:00am ET. Leon County Courthouse, 301 S Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32301. Event web site. Online registration at active.com. USATF certified course FL96048DL (10 km).
  • 2nd Annual A.R. Inspirational 5K. 9:00 am ET. Bainbridge High School, 1301 E College Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Mandi O'Mara 229-400-3750 or omara@dcboe.com
  • Fire Ant Festival 5K. 8:00 am ET. Turner County Special Services School, College Avenue and Gilmore Street, Ashburn, GA 31714. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
4 APRIL 2009
  • FAMU-FSU Engineers Without Borders Spring 5K. 9:00 am ET. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32310. Entry form and flyer.
  • Draggin’ Tail Ultra Trail Challenge 25K / 50K. 8:30 am ET. Torreya State Park, 2576 NW Torreya Park Road, Bristol, FL 32321. Registration form and flyer.
  • 5-A-Day 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.
11 APRIL 2009
  • 35th Annual Palace Saloon 5 km. 8:00am ET. James Messer Fields Park, Jackson Bluff Road and Dupree Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304. USATF certified course FL99027DL. Registration form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
  • Freedom Sports "Run For Reina." 8:00 am CT. Pier Park, 16150 Front Beach Road
    Panama City Beach, FL 32413. Online registration at active.com.
18 APRIL 2009
  • Autism Research 5K and one mile. 8:00 am ET 5K / 9:00 am ET one mile. Southwood Commerce Center, Merchant's Row Blvd at Four Oaks Blvd, Tallahassee, FL. veronica.jones@med.fsu.edu
  • Planting New Hope 5K. 9:00 am ET. Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL. Event web site. Entry form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
  • 3rd Annual Hahira United Methodist Church Hope and Faith 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run. Hahira United Methodist Church, 100 East Stanfill Street, Hahira, GA 31632.
  • Mayhaw Festival 5K. 8:30 am ET. Colquitt, GA.
  • Festival on the Rivers 5 Mile. 7:30 am CT. Geneva High School, 505 Panther Dr, Geneva, AL 36340. Event web page.
25 APRIL 2009
  • 32nd Annual Rose City Run 10K and one mile kids' run. 8:00 am ET 10K / 9:30 am ET one mile. North Broad Street and Monroe Street, Thomsaville, GA. USATF certified course GA92011WN (10K). Entry form. Event web site.
  • Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.

1 MAY 2009
  • 22nd Annual Gnat Days 5K. 7:00 pm ET. Courthouse Square Park, Camilla, Georgia. Entry form and flyer.
2 MAY 2009
  • Tails & Trails 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 8:30 am ET. Animal Service Center, 1125 Easterwood Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32311. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
  • Moultrie Technical College Classic 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 7:30 am ET 5K & 10K, 9:00 am ET 1 mile. Packer Park, 343 Darbyshire Rd, Moultrie, GA 31768. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
  • 24th Annual Race Judicata 5K. 8:00 am CT. Bay County Courthouse, 300 East 4th Street, Panama City, FL 32401. Online registration at active.com.
  • Downtown Endurance 5K. 8:00 am CT. First Baptist Church Family Life Center, 300 West Main Street, Dothan, AL 36301. 334-792-3217 or bjones@fbcdothan.org
8 MAY 2009
  • River Town Days 5K. 8:00 am ET. Earle May Boat Basin, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Blaine Palmer 229-400-3674
9 MAY 2009
  • 6th Annual Marzuq Shrine Mothers Day 5K. 8:00 am ET. Maclay Gardens State Park, 3540 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32309. Keiff Lindsey, (850) 212-2926 or romanroch@hotmail.com
16 MAY 2009
  • Run for Wakulla Springs 5K Trail Run and 1 Mile Fun Run. 8:00 am ET (one mile), 8:30 am ET (5K). Wakulla Springs State Park, 550 Wakulla Park Drive, Wakulla Springs, FL 32327. Entry form and flyer.
  • 3rd Annual Missionette 5K / 10K Extraordinary Run. 8:00 am ET. Family Worship Center of Cairo, 1400 South Broad Street, Cairo, GA 39828. USATF certified course GA09001WC (10K) and GA09002WC (5K). Entry form and flyer. Katina Stewart 229-378-0970.
  • Army 10-Miler. 7:00 am CT. Fort Rucker, Alabama. Event web page. 334-255-3794
23 MAY 2009
  • Dothan Fire Department / Dothan Runners Club “Fit to Fight” 5K / 10K. 8:00 am CT. Dothan Fire Department Station #1, 600 Columbia Highway, Dothan, AL 36301. Entry form and flyer.
25 MAY 2009
  • 3rd Annual Memorial Day 5K Night Race. 7:00 pm ET. 1500 East Shotwell Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Entry form and flyer. Mandi O'Mara 229-400-3750 or omara@dcboe.com
  • Cordele Kiwanis Memorial Day 8K. 7:59 am ET. Crisp County Middle School, 1116 24th Avenue East, Cordele, GA 31015. USATF certified course #GA07012WC. Entry form and flyer.
13 JUNE 2009
  • Potluck Bash 4-Mile Run. 6:00 pm ET. Forestmeadows Athletic Center, 4750 N Meridian Rd, Tallahassee, FL. David Yon, 850-425-6671 or david@radeylaw.com
20 JUNE 2009
  • Big Bend Victim Assistance Coalition “Run for One, Run for All” 5K. 8:00 am ET. Southwood State Office Complex on Esplanade Way, Tallahassee, FL. Erica Higgins, (850) 922-3498 or HigginsE@leoncountyfl.gov
  • Melon Run 5K. Old Jefferson County High School gym, Monticello, FL. USATF certified course #FL06044DL.
27 JUNE 2009
  • Hot Trot 5K. 7:30 am CT. Washington-Holmes Technical Center, 757 Hoyt Street, Chipley, FL 32428. Stan Owens 850-547-2244
  • Summer Sizzler 5K. 6:00 pm ET. St. George Island, FL. USATF certifed course #FL99035DL. Hobson Fulmer, 850-927-2510 or hobson@fairpoint.net
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Dutch & Faye Trail, Ebro, Florida

The Dutch & Faye Trail is located just south of Ebro in the Sand Pond Recreation area of the Pine Log State Forest. The Pine Log State Forest was established in 1936 as Florida's first state forest, but apparently did not require a park ranger until 1978, when Edgar "Dutch" Tiemann stepped into the job. Before retiring in 1992, "Dutch" laid out the campground and the original trail system in the Sand Creek Recreation Area. When I first visited the recreation area several years ago, the large loop trail was named the "Dutch Tiemann Trail" in his honor. Since then, the name has changed to the "Dutch & Faye Trail" to include Mrs. Tiemann.

To get to the trail head, turn west onto (unpaved) Environmental Road off of Highway 79, 1.4 miles south of the intersection of state road 20 and state road 79. (This turn was a bit hard to find on the day of our visit because of construction on Highway 79. ) Make the first right onto Longleaf Road. Drive past two ponds, one on the left and one on the right. Trail head parking will be one the left, near an elaborate picnic pavilion (stone fireplace, sunken floor, ceiling fans...yeah, it's elaborate). The information board and trail head for the Dutch & Faye Trail will be to the right of the picnic pavilion, next to one of the ponds. Two other trails pass by here--the red-blazed Campground Boardwalk Trail and the orange-blazed Florida National Scenic Trail. The Dutch & Faye Trail is marked with blue blazes and blue metal arrow signs. Most of the trail is in fact very well marked.

We did the trail clockwise, so we took the blue-blazed trail to the right. We were immediately in a forest dominated by pines, which does not change during the 5-3/4 mile length of the trail, except for a few plunges into swamp titi. Even if you don't look up, you'll notice changes in the species of pine by the size and shape of pine cones littering the path.

Soon after starting, at 0.14 miles the trail passes a open area with picnic shelters on the right. After that we were alone in the woods, with only an occasional glimpse of Crews Lake Road on the left to spoil the illusion of wilderness. Well, that and the fact that the pines seemed to be planted in rows, and that the forest has been well-managed with regular prescribed burns. We crossed a forest road at 0.42 miles and reached a bench on the left side of the trail at 0.91 miles. By now the trail was taking us south along state road 79, and you could make out cars through the trees behind the bench. Farther along, the trail and the highway angled apart for a while, so that the traffic was no longer visible from the trail even if it was still audible.

At 1.12 miles a side trail on the right goes first to the red-blazed Campground Boardwalk Trail and then crosses it to go to the campground. Past the side trail, the trail crosses a rough blacktop road at 1.27 miles, followed by some rare downhill. Most of the Dutch & Faye Trail is extremely flat, so any sort of uphill or downhill is unusual, and the slopes that do exist are barely noticeable.

The trail makes a very close approach to state road 79 around a mile and a half, running next to the highway right-of-way. This may not have been the case until recently, when work to four-lane highway started. The trail hurriedly turns away from the road and heads onto a foot bridge over a small creek. After the bridge the trail is going through a swampy area, and gravel has been added to the path to keep it from becoming muddy. This is not so bad for foot traffic, but can't be fun for the off-road bicycles that also use the trail. Pitcher plants grow along the trail here.

At 1.75 miles the trail crosses Enviromental Road near its intersection with state road 79. South of Environmental Road the trail skirts some depressions that look like they may have been borrow pits for the highway. Whatever their origin, they must make things more interesting for the cyclists. Past the pits, a bench is on the right side of the trail at 1.89 miles. Here the trail turns a bit to the west and away from state road 79. At 1.99 miles the trail crosses the orange-blazed Florida National Scenic Trail, which seemed somewhat overgrown on the day of our visit. After crossing the Florida Trail, the Dutch & Faye Trail went over another small footbridge at 2.02 miles. To the left of the trail there is a thick wall of swamp titi indicating the margins of Pine Log Creek.

At 2.48 miles the trail crosses Longleaf Road. Leaving the trail and turning left onto the road will take you to a primitive camp site on Pine Log Creek. Forging ahead on the trail takes you to an annoyingly pointless series of curves taking the trail away from the creek. If there was an appreciable slope here, I'd call these switchbacks and praise them, but the change in elevation here is too subtle to require switchbacks. Were the curves added to entertain bicyclists? To add extra distance to the trail? I can think of other possible reasons, but I lack the imagination to come up with a good reason.

The trail eventually straightens out, though, and at 3.01 miles you go over a very long bridge over a small tributary to Pine Log Creek. Coming off the bridge, the trail turns left into a recently logged area. In this clear area, the trail passes three short lengths of fence, or Fences Of No Obvious Utility. The first two F.O.N.O.U.s are two upright posts connected with two horizontal rails. The third is larger, with three upright posts. They are not old, nor do they appear to have ever been part of a larger structure. They are a mystery.

After the third F.O.N.O.U., at 3.21 miles the trail crosses a forest road and leaves the area that was logged. Once again the trail is a path with trees on either side, and remains so until 3.47 miles where it intersects with another forest road. This time the arrows direct you to turn left and head south on the forest road. At 3.65 miles the trail turns right off the road and back into the woods, but if you continue a short distance farther south on the road you'll reach primitive camp site #3 on Pine Log Creek. Camp site #3 features a picnic table, a charcoal grill, a fire ring, and Pine Log Creek.

Back in the woods, the trail continues west for a short ways and then turns to the north. At 3.87 miles the trail crosses a short footbridge and reaches a bench on the left side of the road at 3.96 miles, the first bench for over two miles. This bench had been staked out by a family of carpenter bees, one of which buzzed around our heads menacingly. However, his threats were empty--male carpenter bees have no sting, and any females were inside the bench, chewing out new tunnels and laying eggs. The rest of the benches on the trail were similarly inhabited.

Heading north, the trail runs along a creek, as evidenced by the thick growth of swamp titi to the left. Pines remain dominant, but there are a few magnolias sprinkled through the forest here. At 4.28 miles a forest road intersects the trail on the right, on the left it disappears into the titi. The trail crosses another small foot bridge at 4.52 miles, followed by a bench at 4.89 miles. The vegetation seems more upland on this stretch with more scrub and less palmetto. The wall of swamp titi has faded off into the distance. Too soon for another rest, the trail passes the last bench at 5.15 miles. At 5.26 miles the trail crosses a wide, dirt road, Environmental Road. By now you are headed northeast, almost straight toward the trail head.

Before you get back to the trail head you cross the Florida Trail again at 5.67 miles. The red-blazed Campground Boardwalk Trail also runs nearby, and you may notice hikers on it. At 5.75 miles the trail arrives back at the information board and trail head; the loop is complete.

The Dutch & Faye Trail is an easy hike, and would make for a relatively tame trail run. As mentioned earlier, the trail is also open to off-road bicycles, and any sort of fat-tire bike would do well here. As on any shared-use trail, pedal traffic needs to watch out for foot traffic and vice versa. Portions of the trail run through a part of the Pine Log Wildlife Management Area, that is open to bow-hunting, so everyone needs to look out for archers during bow-hunting season. A few miles away, the Crooked Creek Trail offers a 4-1/2 mile option and a nine-mile option to off-road bicycles as well as foot traffic. None of these trails is open to horse-riding, but the 12.5-mile Crooked Creek Trail has been established for equestrian use. If you're trying to earn a patch by collecting ten trails in the Florida Division of Forestry's Trailwalker Program, the Dutch & Faye Trail will count toward your total, as will the Campground Boardwalk Trail and the Crooked Creek Trail. Visitors to the Sand Pond Recreation Area are required to pay a day-use fee of $2.00 per person (as of 1 March 2009), or hold an Annual Day-Use Permit which the Division of Forestry issues for $30.00. The Annual Permit should be displayed in a car windshield and covers the driver and up to seven passengers--it's not a bad deal for regular visitors to Florida State Forests.

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Monday, March 16, 2009

Fort Braden Trails (Central Loop) Tallahassee, Florida

Having discussed the West Loop of the Fort Braden Trails, let's move on to the Central Loop. Like the West Loop, I'll describe a clockwise circuit of the loop.

At 2.98 miles, the Central Loop is the shortest of the three hiking loops at the Fort Braden Trails. The trail head is the same as that for the West Loop, a wooden gate north and a little west of the Fort Braden Trails parking area. However, a few feet past the trail head, at the first fork in the path, you need to take the right fork to follow the Central Loop. You're still sharing treadway with the West Loop, but you're on the Central Loop. Don't worry if I haven't made this clear--just make sure to take the right fork. Starting off, the trail heads downhill in a wood of mostly young oaks seasoned with a few southern magnolias. As the trail gets lower, the trees increase in size and a stream appears on the right, which the trail crosses at 0.16 miles. 200 yards farther on, the trail passes a small steephead on the left.

At 0.34 miles the trail arrives at another intersection. The left fork takes you across a bridge and counter-clockwise around the West Loop, so you'll want to avoid the bridge and take the right fork to continue clockwise around the Central Loop. Some signs on the bridge explain this, but confuse matters by mentioning the East Loop.

At 0.51 miles a small footbridge takes the trail over a stream, after which the terrain becomes mostly flat. There is still some elevation to lose before the trail arrives at the banks of Lake Talquin, but the downhill isn't noticeable. The trail crosses another footbridge at 0.66 miles. At 0.74 miles a larger, meandering stream appears on the left. As the trail runs along this stream, you cross the pink-blazed horseback-riding trail, which crosses the stream at a ford here. After that, the hiking trail moves away from the stream and crosses a footbridge over a smaller stream at 0.79 miles.

The going is still mostly flat when the trail intersects the pink-blazed horse trail again at 0.90 miles. A little bit farther on, just past the end of the first mile, you can start to make out Lake Talquin through the trees. The trail turns to the right to follow the lake shore, which will be on your left. At 1.1 miles the hiking trail's orange blazes are joined by the riding trail's pink blazes, and the trails share a treadway along the lake front for a while. Traffic isn't so heavy on the trails that you're likely to run into any horses, but it's possible.

Still sharing a treadway with the horse trail, the trail crosses a forest road at 1.16 miles, then emerges into an open, grassy area, a kind of park on the shore of Lake Talquin. There is a shelter here with picnic tables, a charcoal grill, a couple of benches with a view of the lake, and hitching rails for horses. This is not a bad place to stop and have a drink, a snack, lunch, or a look at Lake Talquin.

The trail exits on the other side of the picnic area, still sharing a treadway with the horse trail. About a hundred yards farther on, you pass a "MILE 4" sign. You haven't gone four miles; this is a mile marker for hikers doing the nine-mile loop that combines parts of all three loops. Your actual progress up to this point is about 1.24 miles. A little farther on, at 1.29 miles, the shared treadway ends, and the horse trail continues along the lake while the hiking trail heads to the right and inland. A little later, the trail heads back to the left and the lakeshore, crossing the horse trail at 1.39 miles. From here, the hiking trail has the view of the lake while the horse trail goes farther inland. To the best of my knowledge, no horse has ever said anything positive about the view of the lake, anyway.

Around a mile and a half, the trail heads away from the lake briefly and uphill to skirt the mouth of a creek flowing into the lake. Looking to your left, you can see where the creek meets Lake Talquin, and below the trail you can see a steephead spring that feeds into the creek. At 1.57 mile you make a bridgeless crossing of the creek, then turn left back toward the lake. As the trail regain the lake shore, at 1.60 miles you come upon a sign and blue blazes leading to a primitive campsite. Amenities are limited to a fire ring and a great view of Lake Talquin. Campers are required to have a Forest Use Permit, available at the Florida Division of Forestry offices at 865 Geddie Road. Shortly after the primitive campsite, the trail turns to the right and heads away from Lake Talquin for good. At 1.70 miles the trail crosses a north-south forest road, giving you one of your last views of Lake Talquin to the left.

At 2.02 miles a foot bridge takes the trail over a small stream. There's another sign for a primitive camping area on the right side of the trail at 2.12 miles, but this one is not as easy to find. A small arrow on the signpost points west; follow it if you want to visit the campsite. This will take you uphill and onto an east-west running forest road. The road is easy enough to follow, but there are no blazes to assure you that you're going the right way. After over 100 yards of trudging uphill, you arrive at the campsite. This is the one referred to on the maps of the Fort Braden Trails as the group campsite; it includes a picnic table, charcoal grill, fire ring, and a lot of hitching rails for horses.

Back on the Central Loop, the trail drops after the primitive camping area sign to cross a small stream on a foot bridge. Climbing away from the stream, the trail arrives at an intersection with the East Loop at 2.17 miles. Go right here, following the signs directing you back to the trail head. The trail crosses the pink-blazed horse trail, after which there will be a ravine on your right and a ridgetop to your left. That would be a small ravine and a small ridge; this is not the Appalachian Trail. Shortly the trail arrives at another intersection with the East Loop. Once again follow the sign directing you to the trail head and turn right, down into the ravine. At the bottom of the ravine the trail crosses a small stream on a foot bridge at 2.39 miles, then turns left to climb out of the ravine.

Once out of the ravine, the trail once again crosses the pink-blazed riding trail. After passing a stand of recently-planted longleaf pines, you descend into another small ravine. At the bottom of the ravine, at 2.60 miles you once again cross a small stream on a foot bridge. Shortly after that you cross the last foot bridge of the Central Loop and climb out of the ravine. At 2.75 miles you reach the top of the climb and an intersection, follow the orange blazes and turn left here. At 2.79 miles the trail makes another left to follow a torturously sandy road for about 60 yards. After the loose sand, though, the trail returns to a firm-surfaced path in the woods. A sign along the path proclaims "MILE 9," but that's for the combined loop, not the Central Loop. Just around the corner from the sign is a wooden gate marking the end of the loop (but not the same gate you started at). Go through the gate and turn left to return to the parking area. You might also want to check yourself for ticks; at times the Fort Braden Trails have been plagued with them.


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Friday, March 13, 2009

Fort Braden Trails (West Loop) Tallahassee, Florida

photo of signAnother good trail experience in the Tallahassee area is the Fort Braden Trails, 8.7 miles west of Capital Circle (SR 263) on the Blountstown Highway (SR 20).

The trails are located on the Fort Braden Tract of the Lake Talquin State Forest. The forest was established in 1977, mostly on land the State of Florida acquired from the Florida Power Corporation. Florida Power had held land in the area since 1929, when (as the West Florida Power Company) they constructed the Lake Talquin Dam on the Ochlockonee River to generate hydroelectric power.

The Fort Braden Tract itself is one of the few areas in the Lake Talquin State Forest that is closed to hunting, having been set aside for hiking and horseback riding. There are over nine miles of orange-blazed hiking trails, and over eleven miles of pink-blazed horse-riding trails. The hiking trails are closed to all but foot traffic. Foot traffic is allowed on the horse trails, but let's be fair and leave them to the riders. Anyway, large portions of the riding trails go through deep sand, and all of the water crossings are fords rather than bridges. Apparently, horses have not found an effective way to complain about poor footing or wet hooves. Both trail systems are closed to bicycles, although bikes are allowed on the tracts small network of forest roads. However, a better option for cyclists would be to head farther west to the Lines Tract of the Lake Talquin State Forest, which has a dedicated bicycle trail. The entire tract is closed to motor vehicles outside of the parking area.

Toilet photoThe parking area is quite spacious, or spacious enough to accomodate trucks pulling horse trailers. There's a picnic pavilion with a charcoal grill next to the parking area. A toilet is nearby but no water; make sure you bring everything you need to drink. Just north of the parking area are the trail heads.

There are three hiking loops; these are rather uninspiredly named the west loop, the central loop, and the east loop. These can be combined to form a single nine-mile loop; the mile markers on the trails are for this nine-mile loop. The individual loops range in distance from three miles up to about five miles. The trails are part of the Florida Division of Forestry's Trailwalker program; hiking any one of the three loops will satisfy the programs's requirements. The horse trails, by the way, are part of the Division of Forestry's Trailtrotter program. There is no Trailbiker program; bicyclists get the dirty end of the stick again.

The trail surface is good for walking and somewhat acceptable for running. Runners used to the roads will be put off by the roots, dips, and turns, while hardened trail runners will find the area a bit tame. I'd rather hike at Fort Braden and do my running somewhere else, but it's a matter of taste.

We've got to start somewhere, so let's start with the West Loop. The trail head for the West Loop is north and a tiny bit west of the parking area, through a wooden gate. The gate is supposed to keep all but foot traffic off the trail, but it's more of a reminder than a barrier. This is also the trail head for the Central Loop, which you'll notice almost immediately when you pass a sign directing you to go left for the West Loop and right for the Central Loop. The sign also lists the length of the West Loop as 2.9 miles--don't believe it. You actually pass a three-mile marker while you're still on the loop, and I've measure the entire loop at 3.37 miles.

From the sign you walk down to cross a small stream on a foot bridge at 0.11 miles, the first of many such crossings. The next is at 0.33 miles, after which the trail makes a hard left. Leaving the stream, the trail emerges from the trees and turns left to follow the edge of a field, crossing a forest road at 0.45 miles. A short distance later the trail returns to the trees, a wood of young oaks.

At 0.65 miles the trail crosses another forest road, this one the pink-blazed horseback-riding trail. This is not the last you'll see of the horse trail; the two networks intersect frequently. The trail crosses a third forest road at 0.86 miles; to the left you can see the north end of the road at the Blountstown Highway. Moving ahead, the trail passes a sign reading "MILE 1." This is for the nine-mile loop, but because the nine-mile loop starts with the West Loop, it's also the mileage for the West Loop. From the mile marker, the trail starts a descent to a small stream. Crossing the stream on a foot bridge at 1.03 miles, the trail then turns right to follow the stream as it flows down to Lake Talquin.

At 1.09 miles, the trail intersects with a blue-blazed trail on the left, the Eagle Scout Spur Trail. this is a short trail that connects the loop to a trail head at the back of Fort Braden Park, a Leon County recreation facility. There are rest rooms and water at the front of the park. The West Loop, however, continues on to recross the stream at 1.15 miles, and then turn left to follow the east bank of the stream. As the trail gets closer to Lake Talquin, it angles away from the stream. By one-and-a-half miles, you'll have caught your first glimpses of the lake through the trees. The trail makes gentle turns to the right to follow the shoreline.

By 1.56 miles, though, the trail is turning right again to leave the lake shore. Don't worry; there are more and better views of Lake Talquin up ahead. At 1.59 miles the trail crosses a pink-blazed horse trail and starts to follow a stream on the left. Eventually, the trail turns to the left to cross the stream on a foot bridge at 1.67 miles. Beyond the stream, the trail climbs to an intersection with a forest road at 1.80 miles, pink blazed to indicate that it's part of the horse-trail system. The trail drops to a foot bridge at 1.93 miles, followed by over half a mile of hill-free walking. The "MILE 2" sign is on this flat stretch, as is another stream crossing at 2.09 miles. At 2.23 miles the trail is back at the shores of Lake Talquin, and turns right to follow the water. Just past that, at 2.31 miles, is another intersection with the pink-blazed riding trail. At this point the two trails have a shared treadway, so it's possible that you might run into a horse. With so many miles of trails it's not particularly likely, but on a run one afternoon where I was the only person on the hiking trails, I met the only rider on the horse trails here. I stepped off the trail; there is no point in doing anything that might make a 1,500-pound animal nervous.

At 2.39 miles a sign on the left side of the road indicates a primitive campsite. "Primitive" means no plumbing and no electricity; nothing, in fact, other than a fire ring and a great view. Camping here requires a forest use permit, available at the Division of Forestry's office at 865 Geddie Road, Tallahassee, FL 32304. Whether you're camping or not, it's worth detouring a few feet to the campsite for an unobstructed view of the lake. Unless the weather is foul, you're likely to see boaters on the lake. Small islands peek out of the water, the tops of ridges and bluffs that were submerged when the Ochlockonee River was dammed 80 years ago. Turtles, ducks, and leaping fish may be visible on the surface. Overhead you may see hawks, cormorants, herons, egrets, or even bald eagles.

After leaving the campground, the hiking trail and the horse trail separate at 2.46 miles, the hiking trail going to the right and starting to climb up away from Lake Talquin. It's not a steep climb, nor an uninterrupted one, but you still have to pay back the elevation that you dropped while descending from the trail head to the lake shore. Near the "MILE 3" sign, a shallow trench runs on the left side of the trail. It runs straight enough to be some kind of earthwork, but it's too short to be a firebreak. Beyond the "MILE 3" sign, the trail makes a short drop to a bridge. After crossing a bridge, you come to a fork. Left will take you on the Central Loop and the rest of the nine-mile hike. To finish the West Loop, though, turn right and follow the shared treadway of the two loops up toward the parking area. A sign informs you that this is 0.3 miles away.

At 3.21 miles the trail dips to cross a stream on a small foot bridge, the last such crossing on the West Loop. From here it's an uninterrupted climb back up to the trail head. The trail passes the first fork and at 3.37 miles arrives back where it started.

The Fort Braden Tract is a fee area, by the way. As of 2 March 2009, there is a $2.00 per person charge for visiting the Fort Braden Trails. An annual pass good for all state forest lands is available through the Division of Forestry; this costs $30.00 and covers the driver of a vehicle and up to seven passengers. This could be your best deal if you're going to make several visits to the Fort Braden Trails. After you're first visit I'm willing to bet you'll want to make many more.


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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Running Rules of Thumb

While reading Bart Yasso's My Life on the Run, I came across his predictor for marathon times, "Yasso 800s." Yasso was in the habit of doing a 10 x 800m track workout; his rest in between each item was a 400m jog. He noticed that his average 800m time (in minutes and seconds) in one of these workouts in the weeks leading up to a marathon was about the same as his marathon time (in hours and minutes). For example, if he averaged about 2:50 in a 10 x 800m workout five weeks before the marathon, he was in shape to run a 2:50:00 marathon. Yasso used this predictor in his own training, and there it would have stayed, but he mentioned it to Amby Burfoot. Burfoot asked around and confirmed that this seemed to be a good predictor for other runners as well. Burfoot wrote up this rule-of-thumb in Runner's World, chistened the 10 x 800m workout "Yasso 800s," and history was made.

Yasso is quick to point out that running a good 10 x 800m workout is not the only requisite to running a good marathon. You still have to do all the usual marathon preparation--long runs, repeat miles, more long runs, etc. In the language of statistics, there is a correlation between the 800m average and the marathon time, but no causal relationship. Most likely both a good 800m average and a good marathon time result from the same underlying cause of good marathon fitness. But it's a good way of testing what kind of marathon you are ready to run without actually running a marathon. Average 3:10 for your 800s in the weeks before the marathon, and you know to pace yourself for a 3:10:00 marathon on race day. Trying to run a 2:40:00 marathon? If you can't average 2:40 in your 10 x 800m workout, you're not ready.

Now, I don't know how good a predictor this is. Burfoot doesn't seem to have done any statistical analysis, or even any research other than asking a few running buddies about their workouts and marathon times. So we really can't say how strong a correlation this is. I'm also certain that there are a few outliers--for instance, Marcus Trigg, one one of my running partners in college, once said, "If 10 x 800m were an Olympic event, I'd be a gold medalist!" Marcus ran some good marathons, but not Olympic-champion good.

Still, it's a rule-of-thumb, and a nice quantitative rule-of-thumb at that. It made me wonder what other running rules-of-thumbs were out there. There are a few.

The Ten-Percent Rule

I had this one quoted at me when I was making yet another attempt to get back in shape: never increase your weekly mileage by more than ten percent. Any larger increase puts you at risk for an overuse injury. This was a casual conversation, though, so of course I wasn't given a source. Like Yasso 800s, it goes back to Runnner's World and Amby Burfoot. You can read one of his articles about it here.

Naturally, I hate this one. Who wants to patiently increase ones training only ten percent each week? Additionally, a logical consequence of the Ten-Percent Rule is that non-runners can never start running--ten percent of nothing is nothing. It's also hard to see how this could ever be tested experimentally, which would be key to determining if the actual maximum rate of increase was 8%, or perhaps 13.6%. If nothing else, it's nearly impossible to find two runners who agree on how mileage should be counted.

But it's a rule of thumb. And if it's a rule of thumb that keeps runners from getting strained muscles or inflamed tendons, then it's a good rule of thumb.

Gavuzzi's Law of Training ("Three hours slow is better than two hours fast.")

Pete Gavuzzi keeps popping up in the history of North American distance running. Born in Liverpool, he became a great marathoner at an early age, but is omitted from the history of British athletics for the sin of having run as a professional. Gavuzzi ran in both of C. C. Pyle's races across America in 1928 and 1929, won professional distance races on both sides of the Atlantic, and coached several Boston Marathon winners during the 1930s and 1940s. He shows up as a coach in the biographies of marathon greats such as Gerard Cote, Pat Dengis, "Jock" Semple, and Walter Young. One consistent bit of training advice he gave was that "three hours slow is better than two hours fast." That is, long training runs at a gentle pace were more effective than shorter runs of greater intensity in preparing for a marathon. This was revived in the 1960s as the "Long Slow Distance" school of training.

Faul's Rule

As a collegiate runner I'd occasionally get injured (possibly from having ignored the Ten-Percent Rule). Hope springs eternal, so we'd always trek to the training room when we were hurt. The trainers at Florida State University were good, but they were used to football injuries--crushed bones, fractured skulls, and those sorts of things. Injuries that you put a little tape on and then you're back in the game a play later. Hurt distance runners puzzled them. We were up and walking, we weren't bleeding, and no jagged ends of bone were sticking out of our flesh--how could we be injured? Still, Don Fauls, the head trainer, understood our pain and frustration at not being able to work out. "You lose fitness about four times as fast as you get it," he pointed out. Now, that's probably impossible to measure, but the numbers sounded good to me, so I've repeated it ever since.

Kilometers to Miles and Back

Multiply miles by 1.6 to get kilometers. Divide kilometers by 1.6 to get miles. Now, this arithmetic might be a bit unwieldy to do during a long run if you're not the Rain Man, so do it this way.

Miles to kilometers: start with the number of miles. Double it. Double it again. Double it a third time. Double it a fourth time. Now move the decimal point one place to the left. You've got kilometers.

Kilometers to miles: start with the number of kilometers. Move the decimal point one place to the right. Halve the number. Halve it again. Halve it a third time. Halve it a fourth time. You've got miles.

Metric Conversions

During my NCAA running career in the Bronze Age, there were quite a few 440-yard tracks left. It was easy enough to figure what three-mile time a given 440-yard split would give you, but what about that odd fraction of a lap you had to cover to make 5,000 meters? Our rule of thumb was that you covered this in 30 seconds. That is, add thirty seconds to a three-mile time to get a 5,000-meter time, subtract 30 seconds from a 5,000-meter time to get a three-mile time. This was a very rough approximation because we made no adjustment for pace. In fact, for the 10,000 meters, we just doubled the 30 seconds to one minute for a similar rule of thumb. Still, it let you get rough answers about pace when you needed them quickly (such as during a race). It also worked for road races, which even today are paradoxically marked off in miles in spite of the fact that all the distances are metric.

I don't remember any agreement about a similar rule-of-thumb for the 1,500 meters and the mile. Several runners on the team added 18 seconds to a 1,500 time to get a mile time. I used to add 20 (I was either more conservative or just slower). Either way, I was (and still am) a big fan of Sullivan's Law: A 1,500-meter time is not a mile time.

Strangely enough, none of these metric conversion rules of thumb seem to work for me anymore. Perhaps the laws of arithmetic have changed in the past thirty years?

The Gate-to-Gate Predictor

The Eglin Air Force Base Gate-to-Gate Memorial Day Run is an odd distance, 4.4 miles. Well, that's the distance from one gate of the base to another, so that's how far the race is. Of course, no one knows what kind of time they should be running for 4.4 miles. I was discussing this after the race one year, and came up with this. Take a recent 5K time (not your PR, but something that you could have run the day of the Gate-to-Gate race) and increase it by a half. There's your predicted time for Gate-to-Gate. For example, if you ran 19:00 three weeks ago, half of that is 9:30, so you should be able to shoot for 19:00 + 9:30 = 28:30 for Gate-to-Gate.

This rule-of-thumb seemed to work for the first three people I talked to, so I declared it a Law of Nature. Never mind that at least half of the people I subsequently discussed it with felt that it was at total odds with reality. Admittedly, there are a lot of variables. The weather, for one. And who really knows what kind of 5K time one is capable of running on any given day, let alone Memorial Day? To make matters worse, the course for the Gate-to-Gate Run has since been changed. It's still the same odd distance, but not the same hills and shade-free roads. In spite of that, if I'm ever at the start of the Gate-to-Gate run again, and some young runner wonders aloud what kind of time he should try to run, I'll know exactly what answer to give him.

That's it for the running rules-of-thumb that I've run across over several mis-spent decades. If you have any others, please pass them along.

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

11 March 2009 Tallahassee 100-Mile Race Calendar

This is the Tallahassee vicinity road-race schedule for 11 March 2009. If that's more than a week ago, the latest schedule is always available via this link:


This is a listing of upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida, roughly the area in the map below. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it.

Map

Here are some upcoming races within 100 miles of Tallahassee, Florida. If a race isn't listed, I probably haven't heard of it, so post a comment and let me know about it.

14 MARCH 2009
  • 31st Annual Winston Howell 10,000 Meter Road Race. 9:00 am CT. National Guard Armory, Highway 52 and 167, Hartford, AL 36344. USATF certified course #AL96005JD. Event web site. Registration form and flyer.
  • Azalea 5K & One-Mile Fun Run/Walk. 8:00am ET fun run / 8:30am ET 5K. VSU Recreation Center, 1500 Sustella Ave, Valdosta, GA 31698. Event web site. Registration form and flyer.
  • Southern Oaks 5K & one mile. 8:00 am ET one mile / 8:30 am ET 5K. Southern Oaks Drive, Tallahassee, FL. Entry form and flyer.
21 MARCH 2009
  • Student Dietetic Association National Nutrition Month 5K. 10:00 am ET. Woodward Avenue Statue, Florida State University, North Woodward Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32304 (about 0.2 miles south of West Tennessee Street (US 90)). Registration form and flyer.
  • SouthWoodstock 5K & one mile. 4:30 pm ET one mile / 5:00 pm ET 5K. Terrebonne Drive and Grove Park Drive, Tallahassee, FL. Race web site. Registration form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
  • Wild Chicken Run 5K and one mile. 8:00 am ET 5K / 8:30 am ET one mile. South Main Street and West Magnolia Street, Fitzgerald, GA 31750. Registration form and flyer.
  • Torreya State Park 5K. 9:00 am ET. Torreya State Park, 2576 NW Torreya Park Road, Bristol, FL 32321. Susan Chafin (850) 643-2415. Online registration at active.com.
  • Leprechaun Chase 5K Trail Run. 9:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Race web page.
  • Caring Hands, Caring Heart 5K. 8:00 am CT. Middlebrook Park, Banfill Avenue, Bonifay, FL 32425. Event web page. Entry form and flyer.
  • Pilot Fun Run for Brain-Related Disorders 5K and one mile. 7:00 am CT. Frank Brown Park, 16200 Panama City Beach Parkway, Panama City Beach, FL 32407. Online registration at active.com.
  • Kiwanis Club Annual 5K and one mile. 8:30 am ET 5K / 8:40 am ET one mile. Memorial Stadium, Massee Post Road, Adel, Georgia 31620. Registration form and flyer.
22 MARCH 2009
  • Race Judicata 5K. 8:00am ET. Florida State University College of Law, 425 W. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301. USATF certified course FL02044DL. Registration form and flyer.
28 MARCH 2009
  • 34th Annual Springtime 10K, Publix 5K & Fun Station 1-Miler. 8:00am ET. Leon County Courthouse, 301 S Monroe St, Tallahassee, FL 32301. Event web site. Online registration at active.com. USATF certified course FL96048DL (10 km).
  • 2nd Annual A.R. Inspirational 5K. 9:00 am ET. Bainbridge High School, 1301 E College Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Mandi O'Mara 229-400-3750 or omara@dcboe.com
  • Fire Ant Festival 5K. 8:00 am ET. Turner County Special Services School, College Avenue and Gilmore Street, Ashburn, GA 31714. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
4 APRIL 2009
  • FAMU-FSU Engineers Without Borders Spring 5K. 9:00 am ET. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32310. Entry form and flyer.
  • Draggin’ Tail Ultra Trail Challenge 25K / 50K. 8:30 am ET. Torreya State Park, 2576 NW Torreya Park Road, Bristol, FL 32321. Registration form and flyer.
  • 5-A-Day 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.
11 APRIL 2009
  • 35th Annual Palace Saloon 5 km. 8:00am ET. James Messer Fields Park, Jackson Bluff Road and Dupree Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304. USATF certified course FL99027DL. Registration form and flyer. Online registration at active.com.
  • Freedom Sports "Run For Reina." 8:00 am CT. Pier Park, 16150 Front Beach Road
    Panama City Beach, FL 32413. Online registration at active.com.
18 APRIL 2009
  • Autism Research 5K and one mile. 8:00 am ET 5K / 9:00 am ET one mile. Southwood Commerce Center, Merchant's Row Blvd at Four Oaks Blvd, Tallahassee, FL. veronica.jones@med.fsu.edu
  • Planting New Hope 5K. 9:00 am ET. Tom Brown Park, Tallahassee, FL. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
  • 3rd Annual Hahira United Methodist Church Hope and Faith 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run. Hahira United Methodist Church, 100 East Stanfill Street, Hahira, GA 31632.
  • Mayhaw Festival 5K. 8:30 am ET. Colquitt, GA.
  • Festival on the Rivers 5 Mile. 7:30 am CT. Geneva High School, 505 Panther Dr, Geneva, AL 36340. Event web page.
25 APRIL 2009
  • 32nd Annual Rose City Run 10K and one mile kids' run. 8:00 am ET 10K / 9:30 am ET one mile. North Broad Street and Monroe Street, Thomsaville, GA. USATF certified course GA92011WN (10K). Entry form. Event web site.
  • Brian Dowling Memorial 5K Trail Run. 8:00 am CT. Westgate Park, 801 Recreation Road, Dothan, AL 36303. Event web page.

1 MAY 2009
  • 22nd Annual Gnat Days 5K. 7:00 pm ET. Courthouse Square Park, Camilla, Georgia. Entry form and flyer.
2 MAY 2009
  • Tails & Trails 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 8:30 am ET. Animal Service Center, 1125 Easterwood Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32311. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
  • Moultrie Technical College Classic 5K / 10K / 1 Mile. 7:30 am ET 5K & 10K, 9:00 am ET 1 mile. Packer Park, 343 Darbyshire Rd, Moultrie, GA 31768. Event web site. Entry form and flyer.
  • 24th Annual Race Judicata 5K. 8:00 am CT. Bay County Courthouse, 300 East 4th Street, Panama City, FL 32401. Online registration at active.com.
  • Downtown Endurance 5K. 8:00 am CT. First Baptist Church Family Life Center, 300 West Main Street, Dothan, AL 36301. 334-792-3217 or bjones@fbcdothan.org
8 MAY 2009
  • River Town Days 5K. 8:00 am ET. Earle May Boat Basin, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Blaine Palmer 229-400-3674
9 MAY 2009
  • 6th Annual Marzuq Shrine Mothers Day 5K. 8:00 am ET. Maclay Gardens State Park, 3540 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32309. Keiff Lindsey, (850) 212-2926 or romanroch@hotmail.com
16 MAY 2009
  • Run for Wakulla Springs 5K Trail Run and 1 Mile Fun Run. 8:00 am ET (one mile), 8:30 am ET (5K). Wakulla Springs State Park, 550 Wakulla Park Drive, Wakulla Springs, FL 32327. Entry form and flyer.
  • 3rd Annual Missionette 5K / 10K Extraordinary Run. 8:00 am ET. Family Worship Center of Cairo, 1400 South Broad Street, Cairo, GA 39828. USATF certified course GA09001WC (10K) and GA09002WC (5K). Entry form and flyer. Katina Stewart 229-378-0970.
  • Army 10-Miler. 7:00 am CT. Fort Rucker, Alabama. 334-255-3794
23 MAY 2009
  • Dothan Fire Department / Dothan Runners Club “Fit to Fight” 5K / 10K. 8:00 am CT. Dothan Fire Department Station #1, 600 Columbia Highway, Dothan, AL 36301. Entry form and flyer.
25 MAY 2009
  • 3rd Annual Memorial Day 5K Night Race. 7:00 pm ET. 1500 East Shotwell Street, Bainbridge, GA 39819. Entry form and flyer. Mandi O'Mara 229-400-3750 or omara@dcboe.com
  • Cordele Kiwanis Memorial Day 8K. 7:59 am ET. Crisp County Middle School, 1116 24th Avenue East, Cordele, GA 31015. USATF certified course #GA07012WC. Entry form and flyer.
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Monday, March 9, 2009

Lake Elberta Park, Tallahassee, Florida

Park pictureIn 1922 the Elberta Crate & Box Company expanded their operations by building a factory in Tallahassee between the Florida, Georgia, and Alabama railroad tracks and Lake Bradford Road. The factory was Tallahassee's largest industrial employer until it shut its doors in 1977, combining operations with an existing Elberta facility in Bainbridge, Georgia. The site was empty for many years until it was converted into a stormwater retention pond. The maintenance road around the rim of the pond was not a bad place to run, if a bit rugged. Rather than fencing off the site, the city of Tallahassee put up a sign declaring that it was Lake Elberta Park, and began developing it.

Trail photoLake Elberta Park is located behind a row of young live oaks at 1339 Lake Bradford Road, with a parking area opposite the intersection of Daniel Street and Lake Bradford Road. The parking area is small, with room for maybe ten cars. There is a portable toilet on site, but no drinking water. There's a small but attractive picnic pavillion next to the parking area, but the jewel of the park facilities is the Lake Elberta Park trail.

GeeseThe trail makes a complete circuit of the lake shore, and consists of two ten-foot wide "lanes." The inner "lane" is a ten-foot wide asphalt strip a bit less than 3800 feet long, while the outer "lane" is a ten-foot wide dirt strip a bit more than 3800 feet long. At the time of my last visit (7 March 2009), the unpaved strip was graded smooth and excellent for walking or running, but one rainstorm could change that. The entire trail gives you a view of the lake and the bird life it hosts--just casually glancing around, I saw american egrets, mallards, turkey vultures, herring gulls, red-winged blackbirds, american coots, and several other species. Oh, and some aggressive canadian geese. Aggressive and noisy. Aggressive, noisy, and messy--watch where you're stepping. On the east side of the loop some construction activity was visible along an old rail grade, perhaps work on an additional park entrance, a connection with the St Marks Trail, or a connection with the FSU campus and the Stadium Drive Bike Path.

Campbell Stadium PhotoYou won't mistake the trail for a path in the wilderness, however. The lake, after all, is really a holding pond. Commercial property is visible all around you. Freight trains regularly rumble by the southern boundary of the park, and the bulk of FSU's Campbell Stadium and the University Center loom to the north. Still, this is good use of open space in an urban area. There is no reason that Lake Elberta couldn't become as popular as Lake Ella, as the city of Tallahassee seems to be hoping.

The Tallahassee running community is already making some use of Lake Elberta Park. Runners from FSU head south from campus to do a few laps around the park, and Godby High School coach Chris Sumner has hosted some 3 km time trials on the trail around the lake. As long as the path isn't crowded, it's a good length for interval-type workouts, and I'd be surprised if no one has used it for that yet. The Tallahassee Marathon currently runs by the Lake Elberta Park on its way to and from the St Marks Trail, future expansion of the trail may see the course tweaked to run through the park.

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