Run 88. The Ovens river. 25/3/2020
Back to Wangaratta and even though I didn’t plan on running this many rural courses, they are beautiful. My parents house is only a few hundred meters from the Ovens river so I decided to follow it on a run. Easy run through Wang but had a little trouble finding the turn off onto the rail trail along the river bank. Towards the north of the city where the river has historically had flooding issues. But now a levee bank has been built and the running track is on top of the levee.
Very limited traffic out this way so social distancing is not an issue. Followed the old Hume Highway out to the Vine Hotel and the North Wangaratta football ground where I ran a lap around the outside. This is right next door to the sports rort Wangaratta rifle club. Turned around at the old road house (was big business back in the day before the bypass) and headed back to Wang.
Once back into the city I found a familiar sight – roadworks. Even in a rural location I seem destined to run into roadworks. Still, one of the more pleasant runs I have done and given I didn’t get any tall building interference, all the kilometers were the full length. My time of 1:48:38 probably reflected the tranquility and lack of urgency.
My Three Learnings
Running in remote places reduces traffic lights.
Rivers are tranquil places to run.
Running tracks can be hard to find – but worth the effort.