Magic Full Moon Run

With the end of Daylight Savings Time on Sunday morning, darkness now begins around 6:00. I rushed home Wednesday evening to do a long run under the full moon.  I planned on running 6.2 miles in Wekiwa Springs State Park as early as possible.  I grabbed my headlamp, a new 200 lumen mini-flashlight, my reflective belt, the Garmin GPS, and my park pass and headed out at 5:55.  As I entered the park, the canopy of oak trees made the road even darker and I was grateful for the pool of light from my headlamp on the road ahead of me. 

By the time I reached the base of the big hill at mile 1.3, it was quite dark.  Off to my right, a owl hooted to it's mate with no response.  As I approached the campground entrance, my light picked up tiny glittering green lights in the grass by the road's edge.  At first I thought it was dewsparkle but upon crouching in the gravel, I realized what I was seeing were the eyes of small ground spiders.  I soon reached the open area by the Sand Lake parking lot, which was bathed in the full moon's light.  I turned off my headlight and ran a short distance in the moonlight.  I turned it back on as I rounded the lot at 2.7 miles for the run back.  Glancing into the woods to my left, I was surprised by a pair of glowing eyes watching me, about 4 feet from the ground.  I flicked on my new flashlight and realized it was a deer watching me about 20 yards off the road.  Running back past the campground brought me the smell of woodsmoke and campfires visible through the trees. 

Leaving the park, I did a little additional mileage to finish my run at 6.23 miles with a time of 1:05 under the shining moon.  I grabbed my camera and took the photo above.  This was a lot of fun and I'll definitely do it again.