December 2021 challenge: American running

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While visiting my family in the US, I tried out some new routes and races to make my December running interesting. 

Fundraising for JCWI in 2021

This is the 12th recap post of my 2021 monthly running challenges. These challenges are part of my fundraiser for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). 



Recapping the horrors of UK immigration each month

As part of my fundraising efforts, I am also raising awareness about what's happening in the world of UK immigration each month.

I want people to understand just how much awfulness happens in 28 to 31 days. My recaps will be over on my Medium site.

Why American running

It's not a physical challenge like running every day or running a marathon was. But rather than stick to runs in the US I've done before, I tried to make sure I was running in new and exciting places.

I made sure to take a jumping photo at each location.

Washington DC

I aptly started off a month of American running with a run in Washington DC. I went down for a visit and couldn't not do a run through the National Mall.

It started off with a jump in front of the White House.
Me jumping in front of the White House.
White House jump.

Then I ran over to the Reflecting Pool, from the Washington Monument...
Washington Monument in early sunrise.

...to the Lincoln Memorial.
Lincoln Memorial lit up by the sun.

Alexa's Thunder Run (Kittatiny Valley State Park)

I ran my first trail half marathon at Kittatiny Valley State Park in New Jersey. 

I've already recapped this race on my blog. 


The highlight from this race was walking away with 2 medals: one for finishing and one for being the 2nd place aged 25 to 29 female finisher.
Me holding two medals at the end of the race.
2 medal finisher.

Patriots' Path

Patriots' Path is over 70 miles of trail in northern New Jersey. I ran a 5 mile stretch of it.
Me jumping in the air in the woods.
Trail jump.

For a path that looked flat, the first 3 miles had this slight incline I found exhausting.
A leaf-covered trail.
A tiring slight incline.

The last 2 miles passed along marshland.
Mashland behind tree branches.

Right before the end, I passed a tree decorated with ornaments.
A pine tree with ornaments hanging off the branches.
A different sort of Christmas tree.

Morris Canal Park

Morris Canal Park was a surprising delight! I saw a pond on the map, so I thought I'd just run around that.
A pond with a bench and dock in the foreground.

But there were great trails behind it that gave me a proper adventure run feeling.
A leaf-covered trail.
From pond to trails.

Me jumping in the middle of a trail.
Trail jumping again.

There was even a stream that I had to cross over without falling in. 
A stream crossing through the trail.
Successful stream traversing. 

NJ Winter Trail Series (Lewis Morris Park)

Another race, this time a 10k, already recapped on this blog.


Nice trails, but it was a rainy, muddy, and hilly race that exhausted me.
Me jumping in the air in my race shirt before the 10k.
Pre-race jump.

Skylands Lakes

I traded the trails for lakeside running 2 days after the exhausting race.

It was downhill to get there, gently undulating around the lake, and an awful hill on the way back. So bad I even had to walk a bit of it. 

Still, it was nice to explore a new place near where I was staying but that I had never ventured to before.
The lake through trees.

Me jumping in front of the lake.

The lake from a sandy beach.

A damn connecting the 2 lakes.

Hedden Park

My trail run at Hedden Park ended up being more like a trail obstacle course where my main goal was to survive and not get lost or slip and fall.

The park started off with a very pretty pond, but sadly you could only run along one side of it.
The pond at Hedden Park.

The end of the pond flowing into a river.

A river surrounded by trails.
The river flowing into the pond.

I then ventured into the trails, unprepared for just how hilly they were. I was basically climbing a mountain.
Me jumping along the trail up the hill.
Smiling but very tired jumping.

When venturing back down, I chose the trail called 'Mountain Trail', which was the wrong trail to choose. 

It was incredibly steep and full of rocks. I couldn't run down it. 
A leaf-covered trail up a mountain.
Not sure how to run down this...

The path then leveled out along a river, but it became even worse and still unrunnable. While I could see color markings on trees denoting the path, there wasn't really a paved-out stretch of ground to follow.
A rocky river in the middle of the trails.
From mountain to river trail.

It was like running through the middle of the woods.
The trail along the river that didn't look like a trail.
Where is the path?

I could see on the map if I just followed the river I would get out. I did eventually, but I was disappointed I didn't get to do much running on these trails. 

It was really pretty, though.
A waterfall in the middle of the river.
Pretty waterfall.

Lake Hopatcong

This is the lake I spent my childhood summers on and did a 5k race at the day after I arrived in the US.


So I have previously run the lake before, but I ran a different bit with this run on Christmas Eve.

It had snowed the night before, so I was in for snowy, icy lake views.
Snow and ice covering the lake.

Me jumping on a snow-covered dock with the lake behind me.
Snow lake jump.

The icy lake with the sun trying to shine through the clouds.

Running reflections

Hail the trail

I'm very grateful lockdown in 2020 allowed me to connect with trail running and that it's something I enjoy now.

It expanded my running opportunities while visiting the US this trip, especially for the 2 trail races I did. 

The majority of road races in New Jersey I saw online were only 5k's. The longer distance races were trails.

Trails also felt like a safer place to run. I don't remember there being such a lack of sidewalks in NJ, but there are. Trails were a chance to both run in a pretty place and avoid running alongside cars. 

Lakes are great

I can't mention my appreciation for trails without giving a shout-out to lakes. 

When racing in the UK, I always prefer a flat and coastal course. But really I'm a fresh-water fan, so the chance to run around lakes in the US felt very homelike and comforting.

My lake runs are a lot more hilly than the coastal races I'm used to. That's okay. I can do hills.

Speaking of homelike feelings, I'll be back in the UK, the place I now call home, in less than a week. 

I wish the UK didn't make immigrants go through hell to make it our home, but thankfully, there are organizations like JCWI trying to make the experience more humane.

So, for the final challenge of the year, please consider donating to my JCWI fundraiser.

Next recap

My 2021 challenges are done, but I'll be writing a reflective post about how it all went, to be published on December 31.

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