Fit-to-Fat-to-Fit Blog: Eastern Shore Trail

Taken from a park in Fairhope, Alabama while running the Eastern Shore Trail.

This morning, I ran on part of the 32-mile-long Eastern Shore Trail.  It’s a multipurpose trail that traces the banks of Mobile Bay in Baldwin County, Alabama. If you start at the U.S.S. Alabama Battleship Park you can head to to the Weeks Bay Reserve on Highway 98 and it connects many of the bayside communities along the way.  This morning, I started in Point Clear (where I was staying) and ran north to Fairhope and then back.  The trail is asphalt and has a nice, slight grade. It’s also shaded (thankfully) from the hot Alabama sun.  In Fairhope, it runs through a beautiful little park. I would have liked to have run more miles on the trail, but since I decided to visit during the heaviest non-tropical rain event in the history of the area (15 inches yesterday and probably over 5 today), my time out of the trail was limited (yesterday I nearly got drowned during a tropical downpour that caught me two miles away from home.  Today, I barely made it home before a brutal severe storm rocked the area and left my hotel without power.)

Started in 1995 by a group calling themselves the Baldwin County Trailblazers, the trail is a huge addition to the quality of life in an area that already is known for an excellent quality of life. I passed several cyclists and runners yesterday and today (On Friday, my son and I ran along the path that ran in front of several the very expensive beachfront homes in the area.  I told him to enjoy the view — that it was as close as he’d get.)

I look forward to my next stay in the area and plan on bringing my running shoes. I’d like to run on past Fairhope to the Daphne area for a really long run. And who knows, maybe I’ll even make it to the battleship.  (only if I can call a cab home when I get there.)

I highly recommend the trail if you’re a runner, walker or biker and are vacationing in the area.

Today’s run 4.25 miles — cut short by an approaching severe thunderstorm.