Zombie Run on for this Saturday!

This year's Zombie Run is only four days away! Make sure to be there this year for another great day of running in our Metro Parks of Summit County trails! Starting time is 8:00a.m. and will take place at Munroe Falls Park off South River Rd. in Munroe Falls. Dress up if you have the Halloween Spirit! See you there! See below for driving directions. I will have some copies of the hiking spree form for those who want credit for this year's hiking spree requirements. Don't forget to support the CVNP by purchasing a calendar for just $9.50 (retail value is $13). ALL money goes to the National Park.

Zombie Run No. 8 - 2012 Edition!

The Zombie Run No. 8 will take place on Saturday Ocober 27th, starting at Munroe Falls Metro Park at 8:00 a.m. This has become a very popular run and one you will not want to miss. We will be doing all the requirements for the Metro Parks of Summit County Hiking Spree all in one morning. We will do eight different trails totaling approximately 13.2 miles. We will finish up at Furnace Run park in Richfield and then wrap up with lunch at the Winking Lizard immediatly after. Calendars for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park will again be available for the discounted rate of only $9.50. Please support our beautiful National Park! Hope to see you there! Driving Directions below: Zombie Run No.8 – Driving Directions – Sat. 10/27/12 – 8:00a.m. • We will be starting at Munroe Falls Metro Park (521 S. River Rd.) in Munroe Falls. The entrance to the park is off of South River Rd., which runs east off Darrow Rd. (SR 91). You will turn into the park and travel on the park road towards the back to the trail entrance. We will be doing the Indian Spring Trail. • Leaving the park turn left back onto South River Rd. and travel to Darrow Rd./North Ave. (SR 91). Turn right at stop sign heading north. At the light at Munroe Falls Ave. turn left. Continue on Munroe Fall Ave. into Cuyahoga Falls till Broad Blvd. At light, turn right, cross railroad tracks and go under SR 8 and go to light at Front St. and turn left. Continue on Front St. for approx. one mile and turn right into Gorge Metro Park (1160 Front St.) parking lot. We will be doing the Glens Trail. • Leaving the park turn left back onto Front St. Turn left onto Chestnut Blvd. Continue on Chestnut until reaching the intersection of Sackett, here you will veer left onto Sackett until you reach Cuyahoga St. Turn right at light and continue north for approximately one mile before turning left into the parking lot for Cascade Valley – Schumacher Trail (1690 Cuyahoga St.). We will be doing the Schumacher Trail. • Leaving the park, turn left back onto Cuyahoga St. Continue on Cuyahoga St. until you reach Portage Trail Ext. Turn left and take Portage Path Ext. to bottom of the hill turning left at the light onto Portage Path. Continue south on Portage Path until you reach Treaty Line Rd. at the top of the hill. Take Treaty Line Rd. to parking lot entrance on the left (995 Treaty Line Rd.). We will be doing the Parcours Trail. • Leave the park the same way you came in. Take Treaty Line back to Portage Path and veer to right heading north. Continue on Portage Path (turns into Akron-Peninsula Rd.). Continue on Akron-Peninsula Rd. and turn right into Hampton Hills Park (2925 Akron-Peninsula Rd.). We will be doing the Adam Run Trail. • Leaving the park turn right back onto Akron-Peninsula Rd. Continue north till you reach Ira Rd. Turn left onto Ira and then turn right onto Riverview Rd. Take Riverview north turning right into Deep Lock Quarry parking lot (5779 Riverview Rd.). We will be doing the Quarry Trail. • Leaving the park road turn right back onto Riverview Rd. and continue north to SR 303. At light turn left and take SR 303 out to Brecksville Road turning right at the light. Take Brecksville Rd. north turning left onto Townsend Rd. Take Townsend Rd. to entrance of park (4955 Townsend Rd.) and turn right. We will be doing both the Rock Creek Trail and the Old Mill Trails. • Congratulations! You have just completed the 2012 Zombie Run No. 8! We will then meet as a group for our lunch celebration at the Winking Lizard in Peninsula. Leaving the park, turn left back onto Townsend and continue south to Brecksville turning right. Take Brecksville to light turning left back onto SR 303. Take SR 303 back into Peninsula where the Winking Lizard is on the left just over the railroad tracks. See you there! I will again be selling calendars for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park at the discounted rate of only $9.50. Please support the park we all love to run in! Thanks!

14th Annual New Year's Day Run

It's time again for the New Year's Day Group Run from Boston Store. Sunday January 1st at 8:00 a.m., meet on the porch of the Boston Store and we will do a scenic loop taking in Brandywine Falls. Bring some leftover goodies from the holidays to share or something to drink for after the run and start the New Year off right with a run in our beautiful National Park. Spread the word - we are official this year! Enjoy the Holiday's and hope to see you there.

Happy Trails - Ed

2011 Zombie Pictures

Here are a few shots of the 2011 Zombie Run. Thanks to all for coming out and running these great trails of the Summit County Metro Park system. Don't forget the Annual New Year's Day run. More info to come.

See you all soon - Ed

Zombie Run Update

We are just under two weeks until the Zombie Run. Just a few updates, we will start at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning the 30th of october from Munroe Falls Metro Park in the back at the Indian Springs Trail Parking Lot. A large group is again expected this year - please do your part in trying to car pool. We fill up many parking lots just on our own, so car pooling is highly recommended. Also, dress up if you are in the Holloween Spirit! It makes the event a little more fun. One more thing, I will again be selling calendars for the CVNP (Cuyahoga Valley National Park) at just $8.00 each. As in years past, I sell them to help raise money for the park - ALL money goes back and for the park. Help support the park that is in our own backyard and where many of us run on a regular basis.

Thanks and see you all on the 30th!

Zombie Run No. 7 - Driving Directions

Zombie Run No.7 – Driving Directions

• We will be starting at Munroe Falls Metro Park (521 S. River Rd.) in Munroe Falls. The entrance to the park is off of South River Rd., which runs east off Darrow Rd. (SR 91). You will turn into the park and travel on the park road towards the back to the trail entrance. We will be doing the Indian Spring Trail.
• Leaving the park turn left back onto South River Rd. and travel to Darrow Rd./North Ave. (SR 91). Turn left at stop sign heading south. At the light at Northmoreland turn left into the new park road for the Tallmadge Meadows Area (1088 North Ave.). Parking is at the top of the small hill, we will be doing the Meadows Trail.
• Leaving the park turn right back onto Darrow/North (SR 91) and continue to the light at Munroe Falls Ave. Turn left at light and continue on Munroe Fall Ave. into Cuyahoga Falls till Broad Blvd. At light, turn right, cross railroad tracks and go under SR 8 and go to light at Front St. and turn left. Continue on Front St. for approx. one mile and turn right into Gorge Metro Park (1160 Front St.) parking lot. We will be doing the Glens Trail.
• Leaving the park turn right back onto Front St. At light, turn right onto Cuyahoga Falls Ave. Continue till reaching Tallmadge Rd. turning right. At light, turn right onto Cuyahoga St. Continue on Cuyahoga St. until reaching Park entrance for Cascade Valley Chuckery Area (837 Cuyahoga St.). Follow park road to parking lot. We will be doing the Chuckery Trail.
• Leaving the park, turn right back onto Cuyahoga St. Continue on Cuyahoga St. until you reach Portage Trail Ext. Turn left and take Portage Path Ext. to bottom of the hill turning left at the light onto Portage Path. Continue south to Sand Run Parkway and turn right. Continue on Sand Run Pkwy. Following signs for trail (3rd parking lot in from Portage Path – 1400 Sand Run Pkwy.). We will be doing the Dogwood Trail.
• Leave the park the same way you came in. Follow Sand Run Pkwy. And turn left back onto Portage Path, continue north - where Portage Path changes into Akron Peninsula Rd. Continue on Akron-Peninsula Rd. and turn right into Hampton Hills Park (2925 Akron-Peninsula Rd.). We will be doing the Spring Hollow Trail.
• Leaving the park turn right back onto Akron-Peninsula Rd. Continue north till you reach Ira Rd. Turn left, stay on Ira and cross Riverview Rd. At bend in road turn left onto Martin Rd. and take Martin up the hill to the park entrance for O’Neil Woods Park (2550 Martin Rd.). We will be doing the Deer Run Trail.
• Leaving the park road turn right back onto Martin Rd. and continue down to Ira like you came. At Ira turn right and then at stop sign turn left onto Riverview Rd. and continue north till you reach the park entrance for Deep Lock Quarry (5779 Riverview Rd.). We will be doing the Quarry Trail.
• Congratulations! You have just completed the 2011 Zombie Run No. 7! We will then meet as a group for our lunch celebration at the Winking Lizard in Peninsula. Leaving the park, turn right back onto Riverview and continue north to light at SR 303. Turn right at light and the Winking Lizard is on your left just over the railroad tracks. See you there!

Zombie Run No. 7 - Sunday, October 30th

It's that time of year to start planning for this year's edition of the Zombie Run. This year will be year seven and as in the past, we will be doing the Summit County Metro Parks Hiking Spree in one day! Eight different trails, at eight different parks, totalling approximately 15 miles. We will start at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday October 30th, car pool from trail to trail and afterwards meet as a group for a post run lunch celebration. Costumes are encouraged - it makes the event even better! This is a group run, not a race, so please come out and enjoy the Metro Parks with a morning of trail running! More info to follow. Check back soon for this years list of trails and driving directions. Mark your calendars now - hope to see you there!

Happy Trails - Ed

NEW YEAR'S DAY UPDATE

********************************LAST MINUTE UPDATE******************************

Sorry for the confusion, but due to circumstances beyond my control, the regular non-event run will be moved to a new location. We will NOT BE meeting at Boston Store at 8:00 am. Instead we will be meeting at Sand Run Park at Portage Path and Sand Run Parkway at 8:00 am. Same plan as usual, we will take a group picture and then head out for an out and back on the trail. After the run, we will meet in the pavilion behind the restrooms for drinks and snacks. Hope everyone can still make it. It will be a great way to start the New Year!

Happy Trails - Ed

13th Annual New Years Day Run

Please join in for the 13th Annual 'Run with Ed' New Years Day Run from Boston Store @ 8:00 a.m. Start the New Year out right, with a run in our beautiful National Park. The run is approximately seven miles and will take in a great view of Brandywine Falls. Stay after to talk to your friends and enjoy drinks and whatever else you want to bring to share on the porch of the store. Don't be late - you will not want to miss the group picture before we start. Happy Holidays!

Ed

PS - Just a few more CVNP calendars remain at $8 each. Once they are gone - they are gone!

Zombie Run a Sucess!

Great day for the sixth annual Zombie Run! We had another great turnout and a nice cool and dry day to run. Thanks for coming out and getting to know your Summit County Metro Parks. The runners really seem to enjoy this run and is the reason why I continue to do it. Fun and challenging - hope you all had a great time. Many of the runners will be travelling to Columbus next weekend for the Ohio State High School XC Championships either with thier own children or the teams they help coach. Best of luck to all the teams - we have a great representation from NE Ohio. I will post pictures as soon as I can get a spare few minutes. Check back soon.

And don't forget - mark you calendars - the Annual New Year's Day run will again take place from Boston Store at 8:00 a.m. We run a nice seven mile loop to Brandywine Falls and enjoy conversation and food after on the porch of the store. Bring down your leftover cookies and start the New Year off right - with a run! See you all soon.

Ed

Zombie Run After Party!

Once we have completed the Zombie Run No. 6 we will depart the parking lot For Bellacino's Restaraunt for a post run celebration. Turn right onto Darrow Rd. (SR 91) and head north to Kent Rd. (SR 59). Turn right at the light heading east. Take Kent Rd. past the shopping areas and turn left at the light onto Fishcreek Rd.. You will turn right a few hundred feet from the intersection into Bellacino's Restaurant. They have awesome Grinder Sandwiches, Pizza, Salads and pasta. Oh yeah, they will also be serving ice cold beer after 12:00! Hope to see you there for the post run celebration. We always have a hungry crowd when we are done, so plan on joining your fellow Zombie's! Also, I will have some of the new 2011 CVNP calendars for sale and once again at the discount price of only $8.00 compared to the $12.95 list price. All money goes to our National Park in which we all love to run.

Thanks and see you on Halloween day!

Don't forget to dress accordinly - costumes that is!

Zombie Run Driving Directions

Here are the driving directions for this year's Zombie Run, Stay tuned for additional information. Hope to see you then. Ed

Zombie Run No.6 Driving Directions

· We will be starting at Furnace Run Metro Park (4955 Townsend Rd.) in Richfield Township. The entrance to the park is off of Townsend Rd., which runs northwest off Brecksville Rd. (SR 21).
· Leaving the park turn left heading back to Brecksville Rd. (SR 21). Turn right onto Brecksville and then turn left at the light at Streetsboro Rd. (SR 303). Head east into Peninsula and at the light at Riverview Rd. turn right. Continue on Riverview for approx one mile and at bottom of small hill turn left into parking lot for Deep Lock Quarry (5779 Riverview Rd.).
· Leaving the park, turn left back onto Riverview Rd. Continue south on Riverview Rd. to Ira Rd. Turn right onto Ira, cross Railroad tracks and veer to the left onto Martin Rd. (be sure to yield to traffic on Ira). Continue on Martin up the hill and at bend in road at the top turn left into the drive for O’Neil Woods (2550 Martin Rd.)
· Leaving the park, turn right onto Martin Rd. and continue back the way you came down to Ira Rd. At Ira Rd. turn right, cross railroad tracks and go straight at stop sign at Riverview Rd. Ira dead ends at Akron-Peninsula Rd., turn right heading south. Take Akron-Peninsula Rd. to light at Portage Trail Extension. Turn left and go up hill on Portage Trail until you reach the light at Northampton Rd. (gas station on the left). Turn right onto Northampton Rd. Northampton turns into Cuyahoga St. in Akron. Continue on Cuyahoga until you come to Valley View Golf Course (on right). Cascade Valley Oxbow area (1061 Cuyahoga St.) is directly across from the golf course on the left. Follow the drive to the sledding hill (veers to left) and park at the end of the drive.
· Leaving the park, turn right onto Cuyahoga St. Head north, at top of hill, turn right onto Sackett Rd. at blinking light. Continue on Sackett until it merges into Chestnut Rd. Veering to right take Chestnut until you reach Second St. At light, turn right and head south where Second merges into Front St. Continue on Front for about a half a mile and turn right at light into parking lot for Gorge Park (1160 Front St.) We will be doing two trails from this park, the Gorge trail and the Glenn’s trail.
· Leaving the park turn left at the light exiting the park and head north on Front St. Take Front St. to Broad Blvd. (by the Sheraton Suites). Turn right at light, travel under SR 8 and turn left at light at Newberry St. Stay on Newberry going straight across Portage Trail. Newberry changes name to Munroe Falls Ave. Continue on Munroe Falls Ave. all the way into Munroe Falls at light at Main St (SR 91) in Munroe Falls. Turn right at light and then turn left onto South River Rd. Continue on South River Rd. until you come to Munroe Falls Park (521 S. River Rd.) entrance on the right. Take park road to the back of park to trail entrance.
· Leaving the park turn left onto South River Rd. and go back the way you came in. At Main St. (SR 91), turn right and head north across railroad tracks and bridge at Cuyahoga River. Turn right into Hike and Bike parking lot (130 N. Main St.) on north side of river. Congratulations, this is our last trail of the day! Please join us for lunch afterwards for a post run celebration. (Place TBD)

Zombie Run No. 6 - October 31st

Get ready for the Zombie Run No. 6 to be held Halloween Day, Sunday October 31st. This is one of the most unique and well attended runs of the year and this year will be no different. Please join us as we complete the Metro Parks Hiking Spree - all in one morning. Total distance for this years edition will be fifteen miles. Exact details will be forth coming including starting time and place and order of trails to be run. Don't forget, afterwards we will be doing a group lunch at a place TBD. Put it on your calendars and keep watching for updates. Also, check out some of the pictures from last year posted on the site.

See you all then!
Ed

Post Spring Marathon Wrap-Up

All the hard training through the long winter paid off for me as I ran my fastest marathon since the Fall of 2005 at Boston in 2:58:10. As I near my 48th Birthday in June, I am most pleased with getting back under the 3:00 mark. It was Boston that robbed me of my sub 3:00 streak in 2007 and it is back at Boston that I begin a new streak! Miles have been much higher than years past and I am feeling well and recharged. Plans for the rest of the year include the Eighth Akron Marathon of my resume along with my tune-up half, The Buckeye Half one month prior. The Saturday runs in the Valley were a huge part of my success and I plan to keep doing them going. Great group of runners and great terrain to train. My goal for the fall is to better my Boston time and to hopefully run sub 2:55. My fastest days may be behind me, but I do have a renewed excitement to run well again. Hope to see you all out there. Don' forget the date - Halloween Day - Sunday, October 31st - Zombie Run No.6! More details will be coming. hope to see you all out there.

Ed

Shamrock Sunday

What a great day to run the Shamrock races in the CVNP! We were treated to a beautiful day of sunshine and mild temp's. Congrat's to all of you (Many runner's out there today) who took part.
Hope to see you all out there soon.

Ed

Saturday Run's & Shamrock 15K

The big group run has been scheduled for Saturday's as of late. Many options for distance and pace, as there are many runner's meeting here. See you all at 7:30 a.m. SHARP! Don't forget the Summit Athletic Running Club's Shamrock 15 K to be held Sunday March 7th at Noon. Challenging course - you won't want to miss it!

Stay Warm - Run Hard!

Ed

New Year's Day 2010

Zombie Run & New Year's Day Pictures

Sorry for the delay, group pictures for the Zombie Run are finally being posted. I am trying to get used to all this high tech stuff! Thanks for participating in this event and look forward to seeing you all out there next year on Halloween Sunday, October 31st!

ED

12th Annual New Year's Morning Run

Don't forget the 12th annual New Year's morning run from the Boston Store at 8:00 a.m. Friday the 1st day of 2010. We will again be doing our regular loop heading up to Brandywine Falls and back via Brandywine Rd. and the Hike & Bike trail over to Boston Mills Rd.. Bring something to eat or drink afterwards for the 'social' part of the event. Start the New Year out right with a run in our beautiful National Park and with your fellow runners. I was able to get a few more CVNP Calendars that I will be selling for just $8.00 each (please try to have exact amount). All money goes right back to the CVNP Association. Hope to see you then. Happy Holidays!

Ed

Sunday December 6th

We will be running from the Cuyahoga Falls Nat at 7:00 a.m. A one hour loop is planned, more after if you would like. Hope to see you there.

Ed