Andrew Schrauben

One of the highlights of Lowell is the Kent County Fairgrounds. The main event each year is the Kent County Youth Fair, but this beautiful site at the corner of the Flat River and Grand River has numerous other uses. There are annual events such as the Bluegrass Festival, Pow Wow, and even a hovercraft club convened on the grounds. The fairgrounds also host facilities for the high school crew team, youth football and t-ball, and your basic camping, boating and fishing. I often visit the fairgrounds, but usually not for the above reasons - instead, you'll find me running on the dirt track around the football field.

Whenever a major event is in town, the fairgrounds are packed with people. However, during the week the place is quite empty and if I feel like doing some speed training, the track is a great escape. It's not a spiffy, rubber-surfaced track like at most high schools; rather, it's just a 1/4-mile ring of hard-packed dirt with weeds growing on the front stretch. Best of all, it's just a mile from my house!

All day at work I was in quite the antsy running mood - I felt like burning some energy. It didn't help that the world's premeir adventure race, the Primal Quest, is going on right now. I kept checking the leaderboard and tried to imagine what it would feel like to experience such an epic physical and mental challenge. Alas, I was spectating from the vantage point of my drab beige cubicle, so I was more than ready to run when I got home.

It was a good point in my training routine for some speed work. Haven absolutely LOVES to go running with me, so I laced up my shoes and leashed up my dog and out the door we went. Our one-mile warm up jog took us through historic downtown Lowell. Haven is obedient enough now that I was able to let her off leash, especially having the entire track to ourselves. I started off by running one fast lap and Haven simply kept pace just a foot behind my left heel. Next lap was a slow recovery jog so Haven took the liberty to explore our surroundings a bit. But each time I ran a fast lap, she stuck to my heel all the way around the loop.

After a few laps Haven started getting hot and tried to linger in any shade she could find. One time she ignored my whistled command to "come" just long enough to grab a drink from the nearby river! So we rested five minutes in the shade, then began doing wind sprints (well, as much of a "sprint" as I could muster) at which point Amanda arrived with Beacon. While Beacon does enjoy running, he's not nearly in love with it as Haven. Beacon's thing is frisbee fetch.

Amanda waited with Beacon on leash while I finished my last couple sprints and another fast lap around the track with Haven. Haven and I then gulped down some much needed water before putting the leash on Haven and setting Beacon free. Yes, we brought his frisbee and we played fetch with him until he was desperate for water, too. Now that everyone was exhausted, we ordered a $5 pizza to pick up for dinner on the way home. Both dogs have been sleeping ever since!