On the evening of January 24, 2026, and through most of the day on the 25th, snow, sleet, and freezing rain hit the area. The original forecast was for 20 inches of snow. We ended up with 6 inches of compacted snow with at least 3 inches of solid ice on top. It took me until January 28 to chop the ice away from my car so I could get out. Temperatures never exceeded 32 degrees until the week of February 8, 2026.
I was scheduled to run a 4-mile race on February 14, 2026. By that date, some melting had occurred. Not enough for Stafford Parks to allow a race on its property. So, the race was postponed until February 22.
The race uses the YMCA on Butler Road as the start venue and runs on YMCA roads that connect to the Belmont-Ferry Farm Trail. The start line is 1000 meters from my house. For my run on February 14, I decided to run from my house, use the 4-mile course, and then home. I could see what the conditions would have been. I left my house at 8:20 and reached the start line around the advertised 8:30 start time.
At that time, temperatures were still below freezing. Within an hour, the temperature was expected to be in the high thirties, with sunny skies. I dressed appropriately for below-freezing temperatures. I planned to do a 30-pace run and a 60-pace walk pattern.
The start line was clear of snow and ice. Reaching the first turn, the next 50 meters were 4 to 6 inches of packed snow and ice. This section of the road is shaded most of the day. Without plowing, the melting is slow.
From there to the dirt connector path, the way was mostly clear, with a few patches of refrozen melt runoff. The dirt connector path was mostly runnable. Reaching the Belmont- Ferry Farm Trail, the path was plowed and clear. Unfortunately, Friday’s snowmelt runoff washed across the trail in many sections, creating wide slick patches that I had to bypass by going off-trail into the snow.
My first mile was 16:14. I reached the turnaround with a second mile in 14:44. By then, the temperature was above freezing. Some patches on the return had started to melt.
My third mile was a 14:15. The last mile still had many frozen patches and that long stretch of snowcrete near the finish. My fourth mile was a 15:41, bringing my total time to 60:55.
This week’s forecast calls for days above 60 and most overnight temperatures above freezing. Let’s see what melts by Saturday. I’ll try to do better.