Mr. Nature & Mud Man
It started as a typical Monday morning run as Jim Musante and I headed out on the trails of Wekiva State Park just northwest of Orlando, FL. The weather was beautiful with blue skies, a temperature of around 60 degrees and light winds. We hoped to run 14 miles, though there are options to run only 10 or 12 miles. Jim was getting ready for his 28th straight Boston marathon. Conversation came easily and the next thing we knew it was time to stop for a drink at the water stop just past trail post thirteen. “I can’t believe we’ve already run 34 minutes,” said Jim. We both didn’t even remember long stretches of the trail we had just traversed.
A few minutes later we passed the 10 mile turnoff and headed toward the north edge of the park. After 5 ½ miles the trail turns roughly east and parallels the Rock Springs Run. It’s lower in elevation and gets muddy and wet after heavy rains. About ten days ago we had over four inches of rain and its effects were still noticeable. Our shoes were getting blacker and blacker as mud became the color du jour. Sometimes there was so much water that we were forced to stop and walk for short distances on the side of the path or slightly in the woods. Jeff Galloway would have been proud of our doing these unplanned run/walks.
There was no thought of turning back at the 12-mile turnaround, so Jim and I were committed to the 14-mile loop. One time the trail was very muddy and I tried to stop before we hit a section that was under water. I finally was able to stop after half a dozen slippery strides by bracing against a small tree at the side of the path. Jim was able to stop by running into me! There was a lot of laughter as we enjoyed nature. We saw vultures and butterflies while birds were chirping constantly.
After passing Camp Cozy, a primitive campground, we stopped at my favorite place on this trail – an area along the Rock Springs Run that I imagine looks the same as it did centuries ago when Native Americans hunted and fished for sustenance. During this part of the run we wouldn’t usually have any water to drink for over an hour, so I cupped my hands and had about ten handfuls of cool, spring-fed river water. We were running in the woods, getting covered with mud and drinking from streams. It’s amazing that civilization was only a few miles away!
The next primitive campground we ran through was Big Buck, though we thought today it could be Camp Tom Turkey, since a huge turkey was wandering about. Now we left the far reaches of the trail and headed into a more open stretch toward Sand Lake. Ten minutes later as we entered the parking area, Jim said loudly to no one in particular, “Here we come - Nature Boy and his sidekick, Mr. Mud!” We laughed as the endorphins were flowing and only a couple of miles remained.
We had a drink at our last water stop and ran in to the trailhead. Shoes were left on as we jumped into the cool spring waters. That helped clean the mud from our shoes which were merely a dirty white beforehand. It also cleaned the mud off of us! We commented afterward that this ended up being our most enjoyable run of the year.
For more running articles and essays by the same author, visit
. Gary has a 2:22 marathon PR and is the 2008 Disney Marathon Grandmasters champion.