She Runs by the Seashore

I’d been wanting to check out the Blades trails since I learned about them. I didn’t make it to last year’s Blades Trail Race, but I was able to make it to a training run set up by race organizers two weeks ago and enjoyed checking out the trails with a group.

This year’s Blades Trail Race is happening March 15 and offers 20-miler and 10-miler options. It’s sold out, but there’s a wait list.

Although there was a pin drop to use to find the location of the trails, as long as you turn onto Blades Road from Route 113 (it’s a right if you’re coming from Snow Hill), you can’t miss it. Once you get onto Blades Road, you just continue straight. I saw the other cars there and parked on the side of the road.

It’s between Snow Hill and Pocomoke City on Route 13, and the address that shows up on Google Maps is in Stockton. The trails are part of the Pocomoke State Forest and are across the Pocomoke River from where the Algonquin 50K is held. I volunteered at that race last weekend.

I’m not super knowledgeable about telling apart different plants, but there were definitely some plants that looked different from what I’ve seen on other trails. Even in the winter, there was lots of green, including what looked like moss. The trails were for the most part pretty wide, aside from a single-track section.

The trails were more technical than the crushed stone type of trail you’d find at the Salisbury City Park, but they were not super rooty. I was running with a group that had Colette on a bike (with large tires — I wouldn’t bring just any bike out there) letting us know where to turn. There were multiple places where there was more than one option for a turn, so it would be a good idea to have a map with you.

Toward the end of the 10-mile group run, we ran out toward the river and then back to the cars.

I wanted to get in 16 miles for marathon training, and I would have run more on the trails, but I had to go to the bathroom and I was also starting to run low on time before a meeting, so I decided to run the remaining six miles on roads in Snow Hill, which I’d come through on the way to the Blades trails. Although the Blades trails weren’t the most technical, I could run at about the same effort at a faster pace on the roads.

During my run, I saw a sign outside The Daily Brew Coffeehouse about National Eat Ice Cream For Breakfast Day. I actually had already both seen something and been texted about this holiday. Once I saw the sign, I knew I needed to stop there after my run.

Just barely before noon, I stopped in to the coffee house and got an iced coffee and some red velvet ice cream in a waffle cone, which was delicious! The total was also only $5-something for both, which was a great value.

Definitely check out the Blades trails if you have a chance! They are just over 30 minutes from Salisbury — not a bad drive at all.