Anne Springs Close

Time: 81:22

Distance: 16.46k

Pace: 4:56

Map

Jenna Wrieden has always talked about how great Anne Springs Close is just over the border in South Carolina. I even got a recommendation from the Myers Park HS coach that it was the place to train near Charlotte. Well... maybe.

Meagan and I wanted to get on soft surfaces but also wanted a new venue for our long run. Really her long run that I was tagging along for. I tossed out the idea of heading to ASC and she was game. The drive took about 25 minutes from our house once we figured out the proper entrance to the park.

We started off on the Blue Star trail which took us to the Wild Azalea trail which took us to the Overgrown Ivy and Roots trail. I refused to take a map from the guy who took our money at the entrance because I wanted an adventure. We didn't really get an adventure, but we did get to run on half maintained trails that offered wildlife like: turtles, rabbits, squirrels, and frogs. There was never really a point where it felt like you could just relax and enjoy the winding terrain because some of the routes came to dead ends. We eventually found a better section of Blue Star that took us across Route 21 but then dumped us in a neighborhood about 25 minutes later. We ended the run coming back on the roads through Rock Hill which really wasn't what we were looking for.

I say we will probably return but under different circumstances as I'm sure we were just missing the best places to run. A big plus was being able to fill up on cheap SC gas before coming back to watch Djokovic vs. Nadal at Wimbledon.

Also, Mr. Garmin probably didn't accurately record the distance on this run with the tree coverage and sinuous trail.