Author Archives: nicholaskemper

Chinook Middle School Run Time: 66:19 + 2:30 kick This is my second, possibly third time running on this middle school track. It is an open, unfenced, well-kept shared space. On this day, I shared it with a youth baseball team practice on the field above the track, some middle-school football players practicing on theContinue reading “Kennewick, WA”

Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail Run Time: 66:18 + 2:30 kick Liberty Lake is a suburb of Spokane, on the east side. It is related to freedom, obviously. At least for the white settlers who cleared out the Native Americans like trees in an old-growth forest. My hotel was not far from the lake,Continue reading “Liberty Lake, WA”

Lewis & Clark Middle School Run Time: 65:59 + 2:30 kick I passed this middle school about half-mile from the hotel, and I could see the empty track, so that took the research out of it, which is sometimes half the work for me. It was a beautiful day, and as usual, I was starving,Continue reading “Meridian, ID”

Charly Weston Bike Trail/Charles City High School Run Time: 65:54 + 2:30 kick More serendipity. I saw the bike trail on my way through town to the hotel, and then it crossed the main drive only a quarter-mile or so away from the hotel. It crossed a bridge, wound through a patch of forest, andContinue reading “Charles City, IA”

Jordan Creek Parkway Trail Run Time: 65:53 + 2:30 kick What a beautiful, warm spring day, so beautiful that I changed my mind when I got to the hotel and opted for a run instead of a nap. Two long drives, from Sioux Falls to Omaha, then from Omaha to Des Moines, and then itContinue reading “West Des Moines, IA”

Sioux Falls Bike Trail Run Time: 65:52 + 2:30 kick This was not my first run down the old Sioux Falls Bike Trail. I was here last year and stayed at the same Holiday Inn Express and made the same walk across the same strip mall to the same river bank. This time I ranContinue reading “Sioux Falls, SD”

Key Stadium Run Time: 65:35 + 2:30 kick A windy, tired day, but this track was less than a mile away. Sometimes you have to ignore everything except fortune. So glad I did. The sun made up for the wind and the coolness, and my brain woke up from the fog of driving. Indy isContinue reading “Indianapolis, IN”

Greenfell Bike Trail 65:33 run + 2:30 kick It was a long, cold winter. We had a temporary pause in work travel. My trip schedule for this year is smaller, so there will be fewer opportunities to run and to write. I will do my best to run as often as possible. Right now myContinue reading “Decatur, IL”

Country Roads Run Time: 65:16 + 2:30 kick A cool, clear night just after the time change. It was actually after sundown when I checked into the hotel across the street from the Bellingham International Airport, but it was going to be the only non-rainy day of the work trip. I had gotten up atContinue reading “Bellingham, WA”

The Pointe Nature Preserve Run Time: 65:43 + 2-minute kick I am behind in my blogging. This run took place more than two weeks ago. I almost forgot what I wanted to write about. The run was beautiful. It was hot. Most of it was a gravel path, which took me almost to the veryContinue reading “Dakota Dunes, SD”