Okay Pete, here it is.

Durham NC is the home to some pretty big tobacco companies - Liggett and Myers, P. Lorillard, R. J. Reynolds and the American Tobacco Company (check out some history here). Though no longer in business, they left quite a legacy especially with regard to the giant warehouses downtown, many of which are now residential and commercial buildings, and the famous Lucky Strike smoke stack.


Another remnant of the tobacco industry is the American Tobacco Trail (ATT). As the name indicates, the American Tobacco Company is involved. Their processing plants and warehouses were connected by rail lines built at the turn of the 20th century. In the 1980s the Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy (TRTC) was formed to preserve the corridor as a multi-use trail. The ATT is still a work in progress, so though it claims to be a 22 mile stretch, it's pretty broken up and "volunteer-maintained" in many parts. When it's totally finished though, it will be awesome.

So, the point of all this was to say that I ran on the ATT yesterday. I did a six mile run in the morning. It is a super pleasant path to run on (biking too) because most of it is shaded by trees so it's much cooler. In fact, when running into the sunny patches I could swear the temperature increases by at least 10 degrees, at least. I really do have to start getting up earlier because July and August are going to be rough no matter how much shade I can find.

*Photo from http://www.everywheremag.com/places/1813.