She Runs by the Seashore

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A couple weeks ago, I was in Wilmington, Delaware, for a meeting. Of course, while out of town, I had to run to check out some different scenery.

So, after the meeting, I changed into my running clothes and shoes and headed to the nearby Riverwalk. When I looked up the hotel where the meeting was being held, I’d seen it on the Google map. The path included different surfaces, including brick, concrete and boardwalk. It was a nice place to run, and much of it didn’t have cross streets where I had to stop for cars.

There were some “you are here”-type maps along the path, but I still turned on a bridge because I wasn’t expecting to have to cross a road. Even after I determined that wasn’t the path, I still kept running and then turned around because I didn’t mind adding the extra mileage.

It was a leisurely run, and I stopped to take a decent amount of photos since I was in a new place. I’d been to Wilmington before, but I’m not too familiar with the city. It was pretty hot out, and I found myself really wanting to see a water fountain somewhere. I didn’t see one, but I did find a bathroom when I returned to near where I’d started on the path. I actually got some water out of the sink there.

I wanted to go to the end of the Riverwalk. There was some construction going on along the path, so there was a detour, which I took. I kept running and ended up at a bridge, which led to the DuPont Environmental Education Center.

I went into the building looking for a water fountain, which I thankfully did find and enjoyed, but then I talked to a man working there who was able to tell me about the wildlife refuge below us, a freshwater marsh with cattails. There was a woman working there, too, and both of them were very friendly. She gave me a visitors guide to take with me when I stopped back in (and got some more water!) on my way out.

There was a boardwalk that went through some of the wildlife refuge, and although it was not long, I went down the stairs from where I’d entered the DuPont Environmental Education Center, did that loop and came back up before heading back to my car. The run turned out to be 4.6 miles.

It was fun exploring a new path!

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