Race “Dictator” Trent Swanson always seems to have something new up his sleeve, and this winter, it was The Winter Tour. The Winter Tour was similar to the Tour de Salisbury, except that it took place in December and January instead of June and July, and it included eight courses totaling about 50 miles instead of 12 totaling 75 (or 15 segments for 2023… if you count the extras).
Runners had two months to run the eight Strava segments whenever they wanted, and as many times as they wanted.
I’ve participated in and completed the Tour de Salisbury for the past four years — since it began in the summer of 2020. Sometimes I pick a course or two to run “fast,” but for me, it’s more about running in beautiful places and enjoying time with friends (which includes new friends if I meet anyone out there!).
I started out with a couple of the closest courses to my house.
Pemberton
The first leg of The Winter Tour I completed was Pemberton, on Dec. 3. I met up with my friend Veronica and we ran the 3.93-mile rooty course on trails. This course is at Pemberton Park, and Pemberton has been part of the summer Tour de Salisbury in the past, but not this year. Even though it’s different than the 3.1-mile Pemberton 24 course, I was still pretty familiar with this loop, and we completed the segment.
My time for this segment was 58:29, a 14:51/mile pace.
Winter SBY
I can easily run or walk to the Winter SBY course from my house, so that’s what I did on Dec. 15, when I ran this loop for the first time with Veronica. I’ve run the trails and roads that are part of this course many times, but I had not done this exact loop from this exact starting/ending spot before the Tour. This course takes runners through the main greenway (crushed stone path) of the Salisbury City Park and through residential areas around Schumaker Pond, then back into the park.
We ran a total of eight miles, but the segment time was 7.6 miles in 1:48:03, a 14:13/mile pace.
It’s so close to my house and I was looking for something about this length, and I decided to run it again solo Jan. 28. It was the only one I ran more than once this year, so I figured I’d try to run it faster. I ran the segment in 1:34:12, a 12:23/mile pace.
Gordon’s Pond
On Dec. 23, I headed to Gordon’s Pond, in Cape Henlopen State Park in Rehoboth Beach, with Diana and Diana to run that 4.56-mile segment. I’ve run on the Gordon’s Pond trail before during races (the Coastal Delaware Half Marathon goes up this path, for example), and it’s a beautiful trail. The segment had us come back on the beach. Normally, running in the sand is challenging, and not that it wasn’t, but the sand definitely felt better than it had at Assateague in the past. Part of this could have been the season, too.
My segment time was 1:08:32, a 15:01/mile pace. After our run, we had a delicious breakfast at Egg.
Winter Naylor Mill
I hit the halfway point of the Tour with a run of the Winter Naylor Mill segment on Dec. 24. Keely was meeting with a group as she did four different courses that day. I was just doing the one course, but I still arrived a little late and thought the start of the segment would be in the “usual” spot at the start of the trail. It had actually moved to include some more running around the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex before we got onto the trails. The Naylor Mill Forest Trail is singletrack, hilly and challenging.
I knew the runners in the group were faster than me (and they’d waited for me), but I didn’t know if they’d be slowing down because they’d already done some running. Even if they did, it wasn’t quite as slow as I felt comfortable going on these trails. After a 10:55 first mile, I knew I needed to slow down, so I had the group go ahead and completed the rest of the course on my own. I had a few spots where I had to stop and think, but I was proud of myself for navigating through the course and being able to end up with the segment. That doesn’t always happen at Naylor Mill!
I had 5.08 miles on my watch (GPS watches also seem to go crazy in here) for the run, but finished the 4.82-mile segment in 1:16:52, a 15:56/mile pace.
Assateague
Assateague, a 6.99-mile segment that includes a paved trail, bridge, sand and trail at Assateague Island, has always been part of the summer tour, but this was my first time running the route in the winter. Though the sand is always challenging to run on, I did think it was slightly better than in the summer, but I still needed to do some run-walk intervals. There was a large group that met for a 7 a.m. run Dec. 30.
I ended up doing the first part with or near Holly, Cathy and Janet, behind Lisa, Bob and Fergus the dog; then, wanting to continue the run-walk intervals, I headed back with Dawn, Geno, Deanna and Deanna’s dog. Deanna wasn’t officially participating in the Tour, so she headed back when we passed the visitor center and then I finished the course out with Dawn and Geno. It was nice to get to run with many different friends, and then I went to the Decatur Diner afterward with Holly, Cathy and Janet.
My time for the segment, which includes about three miles of running on the sand, was 1:39:54, a 14:16/mile pace — my second fastest for this course.
The South Pole
The morning of Jan. 6, I met up with a large group to run The South Pole, which was the name given to trails behind the YMCA in Pocomoke City. This was the only location of the Tour that I’d never been to at all, and although I had seen some deep water photos in the Facebook group, I was glad it was included, as I’d wanted to try running on these trails, which I had heard about. I didn’t even get very wet!
There was a lot of navigating and back-and-forth on these trails, and my smaller group within the group did try to avoid a few super wet sections, but we made it through and got the segment.
My time for this 3.95-mile segment was 1:20:41, a 20:25/mile pace. It felt a little faster than that!
Afterward, a group of us headed to Market Street Deli in Pocomoke, where we had a lot of fun and enjoyed a great breakfast.
Cherry Walk
The next day, I ran the Cherry Walk course in Quantico. This is a rural 10.2-mile loop that has been part of the summer Tour in the past. I didn’t really plan this out in advance and ended up starting my run at 12:47 p.m. and listening to an audiobook. I was interested in seeing where I was for a 10-miler, but it also wasn’t a race (for me). I wanted to give it a good effort and run my fastest time for this segment, but I also wanted to do run-walk intervals.
I was able to run 2:06:19, a 12:17 pace, for the segment, which was faster than the other three times I’ve run it. My previous fastest was 2:07:24, so it was pretty close.
Blackwater
I finished the Tour on Jan. 27 when I ran the 6.63-mile Blackwater segment, at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, with Diana and Diana. I’d made plans to go with friends the previous weekend, but potential ice scared me away, so I was glad Diana and Diana could go with me the day we headed up there. This course starts and ends at the visitor center, but the best part is Wildlife Drive, which is scenic and filled with, as the name suggests, wildlife, like birds.
My time for this segment was 1:43:45, a 15:39/mile pace, and afterward, we enjoyed a great breakfast at Black Water Bakery in Cambridge (and also had some time to shop a little beforehand while we waited for our table). I love the biscuits and gravy here!
After my redo of the Winter SBY course, my final time for the Winter Tour was 11:48:44.
The finisher item was a snowflake, and participants also received gloves. Runners and walkers also got a bib from DiCarlo Digital Copy Center to track completion of the legs. It was a fun experience and I hope it returns in the winter!
She Runs by the Seashore 