For the E Streeters, as regular readers of this blog know, it's also a time for soup.
In an annual tradition almost as world-renown as the dropping of the crystal ball in Times Square, we gather together in Westford every New Year's Day for our first running excursion of the year, a workout that always ends with the Great American Soup-Off, courtesy of SouperWoman extraordinaire, Karen Cambray.
We were missing some of our stalwart runners for this year's outing, but worry not, we ate their share.
The Founder of the Feast chose to avoid the camera this year, most likely for fear of having her chicken spinach stew recipe pirated by the North Korean regime. But make no mistake, Karen still wields the Mighty Ladle.
While the New Year's run is always an event, the course isn't always as forgiving as Kim Jong Un, throwing some of the steeper hills that we'll see all year at us. The course also includes the most competitive and one of the more challenging Town Line races of the entire year.
This year, John went to great lengths to provide us with multiple options of courses, using the technology that he wields as heftily as Karen does her Mighty Ladle.
Knowing how much time and effort it took to chart those courses, I'll confess to a slight pang of guilt when I called an audible and asked that we instead run trails to take advantage to the warm weather and the ability to still run trails in January before Old Man Winter leaves his mark on them.
And luckily, John's back yard provides immediate access to a series of trails, complete with a motion-activated Wildlife Cam.
With that, we were off!
Mean Pat and Mean Carlos, running the Mean Trails
For the recreational runners who are readers of this blog, if you haven't experienced trail running, there truly isn't anything that compares, on the running front at least. As you can see below, you need to allow some space between one another to ramble over the rocks, fallen trees and brooks, but it's a different workout, it's easier on the knees, and seriously, how can you not just bask in the opportunity to run among such a gorgeous landscape, all while notching some great exercise?
Barry takes the hill with a smile!
Trail running requires you to pay attention to every footfall. And occasionally, to work some different muscles to fjord the streams! Andrew takes them with ease!
Time to hit the streets for a connecting link
The Soup Run provides a perfect opportunity for these brothers-in-law to catch up
Running into the sun, but I'm running behind....
Thankfully, Westford takes great care to let us know where its trails are.
Carlos stops to give a shoutout to his pride and joy
After a brief pounding of the pavement, it's time to hit the trails again at Misery Meadow!
Thanks to Scott for venturing into the marshes for the bridge shot!
And heading into the homestretch, we're once again blessed by the Westford Trailmarkers. Good thing, because otherwise, Scott might not have known where to go.
And finally, after a hardy 6.5 mile loop, we're back at Dunstable Road, for the reason we run. Well, that sounds fairly pathetic, so let's just say the reason we run at 11 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. on New Year's Day! Soup!
This year's offerings from Karen: chicken spinach stew and her specialty, pasta fagioli!
Every year, all runners sample both and vote, a democratic process that usually splits the choice right down the middle. Not this year. For the first time in history, the choice was unanimous: the chicken spinach stew won in a landslide!
Thanks again for hosting, Karen and John! You won't have to contend with all of us darkening your doorway for another 365 days!
Happy New Year to all the followers of this blog's exploits. Thankful we're all still together and healthy enough to log the miles and spend some quality time with a loyal group of friends.
Oh, and soup too, always thankful for that.
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