Exercising to the Beat of the Street

     It was a great night for an evening run on April 27 at the sixth annual Twilight 5K Run in Havertown.  Temps were in the the high 60s and over 200 runners, along with many walkers, were gathered at Haverford High School.  The school's jazz band entertained the crowd before the race, which benefited the Haverford Education Foundation.  For the second time this season, my sister Kim joined me in the race along with her fiance Johnny.  It's always more fun to run with someone. Visit Twilight Run to watch video of the race.      After the 1-mile Kids Run, we lined up on Mill Road in front of the school.  When I ran the race two years ago, I remembered how much fun it was.  Heading down Mill Road, we turned right onto Darby Road.  Even though I feel stronger running in the morning, this night run was different and I headed out at a quicker pace.  Once we reach E. Benedict Avenue, we turned around and...

   Brutal!  That's all I was thinking running the Cougar Crawl 5K on April 14 in Springfield.  I knew the route would be hill, but I didn't think it would be THAT steep!  Heading out to Springfield High School, it was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid-50s.  Money raised benefited the Springfield High School Girls Lacrosse Team.  Visit Cougar Crawl to watch video of the race.      Lining up in the school parking lot, we turned left onto Lownes Lane and then a left at Orchard Road.  The flock of runners thinned out quickly as we made a right on W. Leamy Ave., left on Spring Valley Road before turning right on Kerr Lane and the first big hill of the day.  Taking it slow, I ran down the hill before going back up and making a right on Duncan Lane.  Thinking it would be the toughest hill of the run would later turn out to be true, but there were a first steep climbs which weren't far behind.   ...