It’s one of those long weeks. Such is life.

On a happier note, I got to run in a new town this evening: Farmville. And no, I’m not talking about this Farmville:

I’m talking about this one:

My co-worker told me about a state park trail that runs through town called the High Bridge Trail State Park, so I checked it out after work this evening. It was so hot and humid when I headed out for my run- 90 degrees and I’m pretty sure I could cut the air with a knife. I adjusted my pace accordingly, and got in 6 easy miles with three water stops.

This trail is very similar to the New River Trail State Park where I often do my long runs. Which makes sense since they are both rail trails. The New River Trail has many trestle bridges, but the High Bridge Trail has a “High Bridge” that is 125 feet above the Appomattox River. Of course I had to check this out, so that’s what I spent the first four miles of my run doing.

The bridge is a half mile long so you can’t actually see the other side. There was a point while crossing it where I could look in front of me and only see bridge and look behind me and only see bridge. Another cool perk is there was a bridge attendant as I entered the bridge. He had a table set up with pamphlets about the High Bridge. As I ran by he said “Welcome to High Bridge!”.

View from the other side

As I came back across the bridge the following conversation took place:

Me: “Long bridge”
Attendant: “And quite high. Thanks for stopping by!”
Me: “Thanks!”
Attendant: “Have a great run”

How cool would it be if this was your usual running spot? You would have someone to welcome you to the bridge and later tell you to have a good run every day!

The bridge has some roots in civil war history. If that’s something you’re interested in, you can read about the Battle of High Bridge HERE. It has some pretty neat history. This bird’s eye view of the bridge shows where the old train trestle was, along the brick pillars.

After visiting the high bridge, I ran another mile on the part of the trail that goes through Farmville and ran by the train station.



Sorry about the sun. I’m sure I drive photographers nuts. After five miles on the trail I decided to run my last mile around town. Most of the shops were closed, I guess since the colleges (Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College) are finished with spring semester and summer semester hasn’t started yet.

I also had the genius idea to call a local restaurant and put in a to go order 2 miles from the end of my run. I felt like ultrarunner Dean Karnazes ordering my food while out on a run. Once I finished up I drove over to the restaurant, picked up my dinner, and headed back to my hotel.

Did you ever play Farmville on Facebook?
Nope. Never got into that.

What do you think of the High Bridge Trail?

Any history buffs out there?

Have you ever ordered food while out on a run/ride/walk?