A red and green (and white!) run to end 2009

It’s so easy to stay inside.

I ran through Silver Spring wearing this, causing at least one passerby to say: “What the … “

If not for the promise of costumes at Pacers Silver Springs’ “red and green fun run” on Tuesday night, I may have done so.

I would have missed such a beautiful adventure!

We left from the store wearing Santa hats on our heads, jingle bells on our shoes and a variety of other interesting holiday fare in addition to our reflective vests and fleece jackets. We did the uber-hilly 5.1-mile Grubb Road Out-and-Back out-and-back, which I usually run in 41 minutes or less, in 44 minutes — and loved every minute of it. We dodged snow drifts as high as we were, slush piles as deep as our ankles and pedestrians trying to dodge these things themselves.

I giggled through the whole run, and I wasn’t the only one taking the “fun” part of this run seriously. The fastest runner in our group, who usually runs sub-7-minute miles on routes like this, turned around a few times to shepherd the gang along. Steve, who’s usually a good 30 seconds per mile faster than me, stuck with my group, running slowly enough to make sure his Santa hat stayed in place.

Best of all, the route took us past some of the most beautiful holiday scenes around: Rock Creek Park with a thick blanket of snow, the stark trees casting eerie moonshadows across the white. Christmas lights made soft-focus from a veil of snow in the bushes. Christmas trees glowing like beacons in the windows of beautiful, stately homes in the Colonial Village neighborhood. And finally, the Bishop’s House, a home on North Portal Road with more Christmas lights than you’ve ever seen in a single yard (trust me – you don’t know from Christmas lights until you’ve seen this baby).

It left me with a sense of peace I’m hoping to carry through the whole holiday season, not to mention 2010.

*Editor’s note: This will be my last blog post of 2009. I will return with running-specific New Year’s Resolutions, my 2010 race schedule and photos of my awesome, runner-friendly Christmas gifts ((crosses fingers)) in 2010.*