Southeastern Michigan runners will recognize this park, which Kevin Jones calls “the base of my running operations.” I follow Kevin, an advertising/marketing lawyer at Chrysler Group, over at Instagram, where he posts photos of running spots and races, favorite craft beer, and Michigan views that catch his attention. Kevin is kmjones234 on Instragram. Here he shares Shelby Township’s Stony Creek Metropark in all four seasons.
The park is around the corner from my house … it has a rolling, paved 6-mile loop around a lake and plenty of trails that wind through the woods. I can run it any time of year and appreciate that the loop is generally plowed even in the worst winter weather. I have taken a few punches from Old Man Winter this year, but have not gone down as I continue to prepare for my second Bayshore Marathon (and fourth 26.2 overall).
I started running in 2010 while we still lived in South Dakota just to see if I could. I spent the previous year losing over 80 pounds by fully committing to healthy eating and the P90X program. Running seemed like a great challenge. We moved to Michigan in mid-2010, and I kept running in the Rochester area. It was very easy to do with great trails and parks in our area. Fifty-four races later, and I am still going strong. I even ran my first three marathons last year and qualified for Marathon Maniac status by running Detroit and Indianapolis.
Most importantly, I continue to explore my beautiful corner of Michigan by getting out on the paths and trails and have made some really good friends (like Jeff Williams, the Detroit Runner) along the way.
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Where do you love to run? if you are interested in sharing a beloved Michigan running location, wherever it may be throughout lower Michigan or the Upper Peninsula, email a picture and a description of the area (and why you like running there so much) to: michiganrunnergirl [at] gmail [dot] com (Please try to keep your story/description to 300 words or less). I’d love to feature a variety of routes, from city landscapes, rocky or sandy shorelines, wide open hills and meadows, tree-lined trails…you get the picture. I can’t wait to see your running route!
