The Broad Running Broad

I think I might have found the best way to sign off of April: a weekend road trip to West Virginia.

This past December I was daydreaming about spring racing, specifically returning to Canaan Valley, nestled right in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia.

I knew the half was out of the question, since the one I ran two years prior took a lot out of me and my training for those hills just wasn’t up to snuff – then or now. But thankfully for me, the past weekend was the Canaan Valley Half Marathon, 10k and 5k. A 10k is more my speed, so I decided to register for that instead.

I also have spent the past two years talking about Canaan Valley and West Virginia to anyone who will listen. One of those people is my mom, who had never stayed in West Virginia before. I told her I was reserving a room with two queen beds at the Canaan Valley Resort and if she wanted to come along, I would love to have her with me so she could see one my favorite places on Earth.

And so it began …

We drove down on Friday, Mom commandeering the wheel of a red Ford Mustang, me reading off the GPS and arguing with Waze (IMO: Google Maps is superior to Waze.) The fastest route from Columbus is Route 33 to Route 50, then once in West Virginia picking up I-79 southbound to 33 and 32 east. We grabbed Arby’s in Athens and gassed up in Clarksburg, with plenty of commentary on the beauty of the hills around us. And construction commentary. There were plenty of orange barrels throughout our drive. I recognized most of the construction zones as being the same ones getting worked on when I was driving down there in 2022. Hopefully they weren’t the same projects.

After five-ish hours in the car we got to the lodge and got checked in. I booked us the Queen Balcony, which might have been one of my best ideas yet. Looking outside at the mountains from our room on the fourth floor was breathtaking.

Friday night consisted of dinner at the lodge, picking up my bib at the expo and taking a short walk to find the selfie station at the Balsam Swamp Overlook. Then it was an early bedtime for the 10k the next morning.

The Canaan Valley 10k

It turns out the 10k distance was one of my better choices.

Since it was a shorter race there isn’t too much to say. The hill during the first mile was still as treacherous as I remember, although as they like to say: for every uphill there is a downhill. The 10k course had some smaller hills and elevation changes that didn’t take too much out of me, and I figured with the hilly terrain I would run a 12-minute mile. My final time was 1:16:42, with a pace of 12:12. I’m happy with that.

Blackwater Falls State Park

About 15 minutes up the road from the lodge is Blackwater Falls State Park, home of Blackwater Falls, where the river of the same name leaves its calm course in Canaan Valley and enters the sprawling Blackwater Canyon. Mom and I got to the park a little after noon and first stopped at the falls trailhead, where we walked down the stairs and boardwalk to observe the falls.

After taking in the beauty of the falls, we hopped back in the car to drive to the other side of the park, where the Blackwater Falls Lodge is located. From across the canyon we saw an observation deck, and I didn’t go there when I was last visiting, so we decided to head over there on our way to the Lindy Point trailhead.

Located southwest of the waterfalls, the Lindy Point trailhead is tucked back a little ways. Mom and I were able to find a spot in the limited parking area and took the short hike to the observation deck overlooking the canyon. Pictures simply don’t do the canyon justice.

Saturday afternoon and evening in the lodge was a lazy night in for us, since we had the journey back on Sunday.

Sunday

We decided to take a different route back home, heading north of Canaan Valley and taking some state routes to pick up I-79 into Pennsylvania and I-70 back to Columbus.

The good news: the ride back was just as scenic with far less construction and traffic.

The scary news: Google Maps took us through a pretty remote, one-lane road in the mountains that made me super nervous. I felt better once we got on the interstate.

So Reader-Friends, it’s Monday and I am home, looking through the pictures on my phone, soaking in the past weekend and ultimately feeling grateful I got to go back to Canaan Valley and take Mom with me. Everything about this past weekend was damn near perfect, and majestic, and spiritual.

I couldn’t have asked for a better time, or a better way to end April.

I hope you all enjoy your week ahead and appreciate you stopping by my corner of the internet.

Yours in writing and life,

Allison