This week's run is at O'Fallon Park. The early group meets at 5:30pm; the main
group starts at 6:15pm.
Take C-470 to the Morrison exit, hwy 74. Go west, through Morrison, and continue
about 6mi past Lair of the Bear to just before Kittredge. The park entrance is
on the left, shortly before the intersection with Meyers Gulch Road. Go ~100m
down the dirt road, right across the stone bridge, and park. Additional parking
is available just across the bridge, before you get to the bridge, and ~1/4 down
the dirt road from the bridge. Meet by the bathrooms. A google map of the
parking lot location is at:
http://tinyurl.com/m5m8jl and a pdf map of the routes is at
http://tinyurl.com/OFallonroutes-pdf
Routes: Start by crossing the stone bridge, and going right on the dirt road
~300m to the lower lot. Near the start of the lot, go right across the foot
bridge and head up the trail. The groups will split up <1/2 mi up the trail.
Short (yellow line): Stay right at the first trail junction (1). Continue up to
join the main Bear Creek Trail (BCT) (2). Follow the BCT through several
junctions (6-7-8). At jct 8, you can add the option of staying left and running
out-and-back to the road, ~1.3mi each way (green arrow). Then head down via the
West Ridge Loop trail. At the Picnic Loop jct (9), either way will get you back,
the staying right is a much better trail to run.
Intermediate: At the first trail jct (1), go left up the the BCT (3). Here the
map is wrong. The lower Meadow View Loop Trail actually hits the BCT where the
upper trail does, at the red dot. Continue straight across BCT (watch for mtn
bikers) and up the steep, wider trail. At the top of the climb, you have the
option of adding a short run to the overlook (green arrow). Continue down the
very steep descent to meet back up with BCT (6). Go left on the BCT and follow
it around to jct 8. At jct 8, you can add the option of staying left and running
out-and-back to the road, ~1.3mi each way (green arrow). Then head down via the
West Ridge Loop trail. At the Picnic Loop jct (9), either way will get you back,
the staying right is a much better trail to run.
Long: At the first trail jct (1), go left up the the BCT (3). Here the map is
wrong. The lower Meadow View Loop Trail actually hits the BCT where the upper
trail does, at the red dot. Go left on the BCT for ~1mi to the next junction
(4). This can be easy to miss. It's on the right, just before the BCT starts
climbing again. The trail on the right can be overgrown, and thus hard to spot.
Go right up the trail that starts steep, then gets steeper. Continue over the
top and down to the Meadow View Loop Trail (5). Stay left, and start climbing
again. At the top of this second steep climb, you have the option of adding a
short run to the overlook (green arrow). Continue down the very steep descent to
meet back up with BCT (6). Go left on the BCT and follow it around to jct 8. At
jct 8, you can add the option of staying left and running out-and-back to the
road, ~1.3mi each way (green arrow). Then head down via the West Ridge Loop
trail. At the Picnic Loop jct (9), either way will get you back, the staying
right is a much better trail to run.
Extra Long: Depending on time, we may take a different, longer way back from jct
8.
If you are not familiar with the trails, please review the map in advance.
DTR runs are not races. We ask the faster runners to start slowly, to keep the
group together for the first 5-10 minutes. After that, we spread out and
naturally form smaller sub-groups. We ask experienced runners to wait at key
intersections to help guide newer runners.
We usually suggest several routes of different length at each run. The different
routes are designed so that runners of different abilities can start and finish
at about the same time. Please pick the appropriate route for you. Don't
necessarily follow the people in front of you. The sub-groups/routes are
approximately defined as follows:
Extra-Long: sub-40 10km (road race time, not the pace run at DTR runs)
Long: low-mid 40s 10km
Intermediate: mid 40s to low 50s 10km
Short: mid 50s+ 10km
Bring warm and dry clothing for after the run.
Everyone is invited to join us for dinner after the run. We will pick a nearby
restaurant at the end of the run.
Carpool: There's a regular carpool group for those of you who live or work near
downtown. Meet at the corner of 9th and Elati, by Denver West High School, at
5:25 each Thursday. We will alternate who drives.
The link below has a map.
http://tinyurl.com/5d35nb
Weather, cam and traffic links:
Hwy speed maps and traffic cams - http://cotrip.org/
Weather in
Kittredge (O'Fallon): http://tinyurl.com/lyohek