A Singular Satisfaction

A Fast Run

Cattle Chute

William Frederick Hayden Green Mountain Park sits on the western edge of Lakewood, a Denver suburb, and has much too long a name. The Hayden family, local ranchers and landowners donated the property for the park which explains the name-perhaps an effort to avoid confusion with Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, the legendary surveyor and geologist from the early history of the American West (easy mistake). Regardless, the centerpiece of the park, a flat topped hill (it would be a mountain anywhere else) laced with rolling trails, attracts mountain bikers, dog-walkers, and runners. For the scheduled 30-minute-long run I chose a 3 mile loop that wound to the top ridge. On the way up I had one of the singular satisfactions you can have as a runner: passing a mountain biker. I bike ride as well so I’m happy to share the trails, but it does feel  good to pass a cyclist once in a while as opposed to the usual-cyclists passing me. I’ve done it only twice. Upon reaching the ridgeline, the trail dipped to the east, and a westerly mountain breeze helped nudge me towards the finish. Once I passed the summit radio tower and a section of rough cobbled trail, the descent passed really quickly over hard-packed dirt. The ranch-land turned park-land made for a great short run and also has additional trails for longer runs in the future.