She Runs by the Seashore

With the end of the month approaching, I needed somewhere new-to-me, yet close, to run in May. I’d considered checking out a new-to-me trail with a group, but I decided to stay close to home because I painted the living room last weekend and wanted to finish that project.

I decided on Powellville, where I checked out Adkins Mill Park, which I’d never been to. It was also Memorial Day, and after writing about wear blue: run to remember for RunWashington, I decided to run in honor of a fallen service person.

I wanted to learn the story of someone new, so I signed up to get a name sent to me, and I was given the name of U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. John A. Chapman, who was killed March 4, 2002.

Before I left my house, I wrote his name down on a piece of paper, and I ran with it during the run. I also read an article about his heroic, lifesaving actions.

For the run, I also wore a T-shirt that I actually got back in middle school in 2004 honoring the Fighting Checkmates (it’s tighter now, but it still fit). I was part of a group of eighth graders that had military pen pals stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. We got to take a trip to Virginia Beach toward the end of the school year, and although my pen pal was in Hawaii, it was a fun trip. The program was called Crewpals.

I started out at Adkins Mill Park, and I knew the trail wouldn’t be long, but I still figured it would be fun to visit. There was a grassy path, on which I spotted a turtle, and there was also a boardwalk section along Adkins Pond, which was cool.

I was surprised to see my friend Rick at the park. I’d driven about 15 or so minutes outside of Salisbury and wasn’t expecting to see anyone I knew — but that was a nice surprise.

I ran less than a mile in the park, so I decided to run some on the streets of the tiny community. There was plenty of farmland to be seen, and I also got some views of the pond from the road. I’d seen military equipment outside of the VFW on my drive to the park, and since it was Memorial Day, I ran up to that, then turned around and turned right before turning around again, heading back to the park and taking another run up the grassy path.

I ended the run with four miles.

I set a goal to travel to at least one new-to-me place for a run each month of 2019. Here are the other places I’ve traveled to for runs this year:

• April: Assawoman Wildlife Area
• March: Chapel Branch Nature Trail
• February: Mutton Hunk Fen Natural Area Preserve, Patuxent Research Refuge North Tract
• January: Mount Vernon Trail

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