Recently, I wrote about my awesome run exploring the US Naval Academy. I was only in Annapolis for three nights, but I was able to sneak in one other run while I was there. My hotel happened to be about a half mile from the US Naval Academy’s football stadium (which is separate from campus), so I headed in the direction of the stadium without any total distance in mind.

It was really humid, which made for hazy photos. Despite the humidity, I felt good and before long I arrived at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. I love college football, so I enjoy checking out the stadiums. And when it comes to the annual Army-Navy rivalry game, I’m always pulling for Navy.

The gates to the stadium were unlocked, so I let myself in. 🙂

No one was around to yell at me, so I went out onto the field to fully check out the stadium. Pretty neat!

From there, I headed back out and hopped on the walking trail that goes all the way around the stadium property. It was a nice path to run, and was just over a mile long. Along the way, I also got to check out a Blue Angels jet.

After I completed my loop around the stadium, I headed back up the road towards my hotel. Before heading out on my run, I had looked over Google Maps and had spotted a few short bike paths nearby. I decided to check them out during my run. The first one was Poplar Trail.

This trail ran through a residential area. I’m not sure how long it was. I was having such a good time running around that I completely forgot to pay attention to mileage. It was probably 1.5 miles, at most, and it dropped me off on a main road. I ran on the sidewalk along this road (stopping occasionally for traffic lights – boo) before turning towards another trail.

The next trail was shorter than Poplar Trail, and I think it was called the Spa Creek Trail. I ran by a box turtle and also ran under a hornets nest hanging above a bridge by the creek. Yikes!

This trail dumped me out close to my hotel and I arrived back there with just over 6 miles total. I still felt great though, and decided to continue on for a little more. I did another out and back on the Poplar Trail and finished my run with a little over 8 miles. Not too shabby for having no distance goal at the start of my run.

I’ll be back in Annapolis next May. I like exploring new places, but I also enjoy going somewhere I’ve been before where I know the lay of the land.