Not BPA Free

Susan and I took Friday off of work to run our first 20+ miler since December 2011. It was her week to pick the route, which she sent to me at 11pm on Thursday night. I looked at it quickly and noticed the dreaded BPA road. We ran BPA a few months ago: it is a long grueling hill, and Susan said we would not have to do it again. So I was wondering what I had done to make her hate me, 20 miles and BPA??? (Ann)

Susan models her new hydration pack on the collapsed bridge at the very end of Wildwood Trail.

I have to admit I'm a last-minute route planner. So when I took out my maps, mileage charts and trail lists late Thursday night, I went straight to the Germantown-Newberry side of Wildwood, which we hadn't run recently. A beautiful little loop stared back at me from Wildwood to Firelane 15 to Firelane 12 to BPA and back to Wildwood. After our previous <strikethrough>insane</strikethrough> intense experience with BPA, I wasn't pleased to include that trail, but I was certain it wouldn't be as bad as the lower part down to Highway 30.

Overall I was very pleased with this route. It didn't feel like 20 miles at all, and our new hydration packs held more than enough water and snacks that we didn't need to stop by the car, although we both took the opportunity to change into dry tops. Next time-- especially if it's not raining--  we can shed the pit stop. (Susan)

The top trailhead of the dreaded BPA Road at Skyline Blvd.

12 mi
WW Germantown Road (mm 24.63) to WW Newberry Road TH (mm 30.16)-- 5.53 mi total
WW Newberry Road TH (mm 30.16) to Firelane 15 (mm 28.63)-- 1.53 mi
Firelane 15 to Firelane 12-- .37 mi
Firelane 12 to BPA-- .51 mi
BPA to Skyline-- .71 mi
Skyline back to WW (mm 27.45)-- .46 mi
WW (mm 27.45) to WW Germantown (mm 24.63)-- 2.82 mi
total-- 11.93 mi


8 mi
Germantown down to Cannon-- .1 mi
Leif Germantown (mm 11.17) to Gas Line Rd./FL 7A (mm 8.03)-- 3.14 mi
FL 7A to WW (mm 19.96)-- .28 mi
WW (mm 19.96) to WW (mm 24.63)-- 4.67 mi
total-- 8.19