My nephew and I met at 8:45 and he hopped in my car so we would only have to pay for one vehicle to go into the park ($4.00). Turns out the gatekeeper was taking out the trash when we pulled up and just waived us through, great way to start the day:) The run around the lake is up and down on a dirt path, about 2 miles. The 2nd mile is really steep with lots of roots that act as stairs. The root stairs are great going up but treacherous going down. I recommended we run in for 1 mile (1st mile is rootless), then run back out. My reasoning was because I have a race next weekend and don't need to twist my ankle now. We ran a slow warm-up mile into the woods and it was great talking with my nephew along the way. For the second mile out, I wanted to go faster than where I'm comfortable because we all know that you have to "run faster, before you can run faster". He told me to lead the way, so we ran back at a pace fluctuating between 9:00 - 9:15. I was surprised at how much easier it was to hold that pace when I had someone pushing it with me. My nephew was feeling the pace too. The 2nd time around I suggested we do the root run since it is his favorite part of the trail. I was thinking we did what I wanted for the first 2 miles so we will do what he wants on the next 2. I told him to take the lead which worked out really well for me because of all the spider webs :) We didn't have any twisted ankles and took it nice and comfortably slow. My nephew took a few walking breaks which was fine with me. It was so much fun running with my nephew. He wants to get back into running but has 2 little girls and he is a single dad...already. We plan to meet every saturday that his ex has the kids (she gets them every other weekend). Now I'm feeling the need for a banana protein shake! | 