Long, Hot Run On The D&L Trail

On Sunday I decided to check out the D&L Rail Trail for my long run of the week. I am registered to do the marathon there this fall, so I thought it would be good to get acquainted with it. The race starts where the Nor-Bath trail ends(see map) so I decided to start there to look for the trail. There was no D&L Trailhead there so I headed in the direction of the river and eventually found the Northampton Canal Park. I put my running shoes on and loaded up my Fuel Belt and Nathan hand-held water bottles and headed up the path. I needed to run for 1:30hrs today and it was very hot and humid. I also didn’t get on the trail until around 11:00AM which didn’t help either.

It didn’t take too long until I came to the end of the path in Canal Park. I saw the bridge over the Lehigh River just at the end of the road, so headed there and crossed the river. Immediately on the other side was the official trailhead for the D&L trail and a small parking area. Next time I will park there as the Canal Park didn’t really do much for me. Once on the trail I got into my normal cruising pace. The trail is extremely flat and has a crushed stone surface. Firm but yet still has some give for those with bad knees. I was testing out my new pair of New Balance Minimus Zero’s so having a more forgiving surface is probably a good thing. It didn’t take long before I was drenched in sweat. The trail is partially shaded, but there are a couple sections where it is pretty wide open. The middle of the day doesn’t help either.

I passed a few other people on the trail, mostly bikers, but I would not call it crowded by any means. I eventually reached the Laury’s Station trailhead which is another good option to get on the trail, especially if you want to head more north. My only two complaints about this trail is there is no toilets/porta-potties or sources of water. So if you are going to do a long run here, make sure you are fueled up and emptied out before you go.   The trail is opened for quite a ways up river so you could probably go all the way to White Haven if you wanted to.

I continued on to the overpass at the Cove Road trailhead. There were quite a few cars there and it looks like it is a popular put-in site for tubers and kayakers. There was also a little mound there that was the only real uphill I encountered. After a few chugs of water, I turned and headed back to the start. I went through 32 ounces of water before I go to the end. My shoes and shorts were totally soaked. It looked like I was swimming. I increased my pace a little on the way back just to do some negative splitting, but still kept my heart rate down in Zone 2. The trail was really nice but it would be a lot nicer if it was 70 degrees and low humidity. Should be prime for the D&L Marathon in the Fall!