Quite a bit has changed in the last week since we did this run and it’s looking like this will be last group adventure run for a little bit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before all the social distancing and work from home orders, I joined Adam Aldridge, Matt Johnson, and Jonathan Newton for a Saturday morning run at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
With Adam and Matt training for the Georgia Death Race, we had made the trip out to KeMo a few times in recent weeks for long runs with some good vertical gain. Unfortunately for those guys, GDR has since been postponed – rightfully so – but this run was scheduled to be their last big day before the race. They had 20 miles and 4,000 feet of vertical gain planned. I myself, in the throes of marathon training, needed to get 17 and figured it was better to suffer through some extra climbing than run solo. Jonathan was up for the miles coming off of running the Dirty Spokes 50k at Ft. Yargo and the Publix Atlanta Marathon.
We started the run from the overflow parking lot and made our way up to the visitor’s center. From there we traced the edge of the park boundary down to Camp Brumby. The last few times we had done this run, we did loops taking this trail and then cutting over to run up the back side of little Kennesaw, and then over and down Kennesaw. We hiked that back side trail, so I prodded the guys into staying on the main park loop a little longer and hitting up some of the more runnable terrain.
The crew obliged and we crossed Burnt Hickory Road into the middle section of the park. We rolled through the trails there for a bit before working our way back up to the Pigeon Hill trailhead and then began the climb. The rock garden on Pigeon Hill and the backside of little Kennesaw mountain are not my wheel house but they’re definitely good spots to get your heart rate up.
Jonathan and I picked our way through the rocks and then began the steep climb to where the trail crosses the summit road (Kennesaw Mountain Drive). We re-grouped there and tagged the summit of Kennesaw Mountain – all 1,808 feet of it – and then headed down the main trail back to the visitor center to complete loop one. We all agreed that we enjoyed the added section of more runnable trail and decided to hit it again for a second loop.
This Saturday was at the start of when people started talking about social distancing and if I’m being honest, I don’t think people were taking things as seriously as they should gave. Given that I was there too, I’m just as guilty. The park was really starting to get busy when we embarked on our second lap. Other than the couple times I’d been out in recent weeks with this crew, I had not been to Kennesaw for a couple of years and had forgotten how busy it gets. I think we were a little spoiled in previous weeks because it was cold and early when we started. This day was one of the first nice days and that brought everyone out. We also started about 45 minutes later than normal due to daylight savings.
It was a little nerve-wracking to see all the people in the parking lot and visitors center and I don’t think the meaning of social distancing really sank in until that point. Fortunately, once we got about a half mile from the main entrance everyone was much more spread out. In retrospect we probably should have started this run earlier and gone with headlamps for a bit, but I don’t think any of us expected such a crowd.
We traced our steps from the first loop and as per usual I waited too long to take any kind of nutrition so was starting to fade a little bit on some of the rolling hills. In my defense, I did do an 11 mile tempo run the day before so my legs were a little sluggish after the first up and over.
I was struggling a little on the second trip up and over but managed to make it through the second lap in one piece. When we got back to the visitors center, we were at 16-ish miles and Jonathan decided to call it a day. I debated adding on by linking up some of the other trails or heading out on the road for a bit but Adam and Matt convinced me to do another summit with them.
This time we took the main trail straight up to the summit, tagged the marker and then ran back down. At the bottom, I was at 18 for the day but again they persuaded me into another summit trip. Not that it took that much prodding. I figured since we did some hiking the extra miles wouldn’t kill me. They’d only make me stronger for the marathon…right?
We finished with 20.20 miles (that’s fun) and 4,106 ft of elevation gain. It was most definitely my biggest single run since the 19 miles that Reynolds and I did two summers ago. This one didn’t seem as rugged, probably because I was prepared to run 17-18 and the run with Reynolds was supposed to be 10-12. Either way, it was a good solid long day out. It also had the added benefit of wiping me out, so Amanda and I didn’t leave the house for rest of the weekend save for an easy shakeout run on Sunday.
As great as it was to get out and get a fun day on the trails with the guys, in all seriousness, the crowd really was a wake up call. We skipped trivia that week after my office closed on Thursday afternoon for a deep cleaning. I felt like I had been keeping up with the news but seeing all of those people out really opened my eyes. It’s pivotal for us all to take this seriously.
The “let’s wait until it’s bad before we take action” attitude that some people have is really scary. I recognize that I was part of that problem. Even though I approached it as us being a small group that kept our distance from others and each other, it’s going to take everyone realizing their role in preventing the spread of COVID-19. It was a bit of a tough pill to swallow but it’s the truth.
I don’t know what the next adventure of the week will look like but it’ll probably be solo. Best case it’ll be a very small group running six feet apart from each other. While I’m on the topic, I came across this article from Backcountry the other day when I was questioning whether it’s okay for me to be going out to run at all and it seems like a good set of guidelines.
Wash your hands and stay safe out there.
Certified Rollers 