The Hellbender Half Marathon (and an associated 5K) is held in Weiser State Forest in Central Pennsylvania to raise funds for the Roaring Creek Valley Conservation Association, which promotes clean water in the state forest and the surrounding Roaring Creek Valley, thus the name of the race.

At exactly 8:30 we lined up at the starting line and were off, running through the woods on a wide dirt path. Bill and I decided to run together in this race. Our speedy friend was out of sight in no time.

The path we were on was fairly flat at some places and gently rolling in others. Bill and I both thought there were more downhills than uphills for the first miles of the race, and I made a mental note to save something for the end of the out-and-back course, reasoning the end of the race would be mostly uphill.

One very nice feature of the course was that it was 90% shaded, a much-needed perk on this very hot and humid morning.

To read the rest of the race report please go here:
https://meditationsinmotion.wordpress.com/2019/08/25/the-hellbender-half-marathon/