What is it? Last summer, a running-related display at Snoopy's on East Whitaker Mill Road generated a lot of comments about having a social run at Snoopy's. A couple of months ago, we came up with the idea of a run from Snoopy's at Meredith College to Snoopy's downtown to Snoopy's East Whitaker Mill -- just over five miles and majority downhill! Now Mr. Snoopy is excited about it, so we're going to give it a try as something new and fun for a January Sunday afternoon when nothing else is planned! It's just a thing!

When? Sunday afternoon, January 22. We'll plan on meeting at Snoopy's on East Whitaker Mill Road at 2:00 p.m. to carpool over to Snoopy's at Meredith College (see below). The plan is to depart Snoopy's at Meredith College at 2:30 p.m. Hopefully we'll continue to get milder weather than normal; in case of a blizzard, though, we may delay a week.

Where? An easy route with only two turns -- from Snoopy's at Meredith College, run east on Hillsborough Street to Snoopy's downtown. Then turn left on Glenwood Avenue and run to Five Points; turn right on East Whitaker Mill Road and run to Snoopy's! Click here to see a map of the route. We'll have some water at Snoopy's downtown (almost halfway) and water and sports drink at the finish.

A couple of notes about the route: streets are not closed for this run; we will be running on the sidewalks the whole way. Please use particular care going around the Bell Tower roundabout and going through the Glenwood Avenue / Peace Street intersection. Because of the complexity of the Five Points intersection, the safest option might be to cross Glenwood Avenue at Snoopy's downtown and run on the east side of Glenwood so that you'll be on the correct side of the Five Points intersection when you get there. Also please use care when crossing all the cross-street intersections along the route.

How? Because it's a point-to-point social run, some extra logistics are required. The goal is to depart Snoopy's at Meredith College at 2:30 p.m., so we'll plan on congregating at Snoopy's at East Whitaker Mill at 2:00 p.m., where we will organize into some carpools to hopefully move everyone to the starting area. (Same kind of carpool plan that some of the point-to-point trail runs have used.) Hopefully, we can use half the cars to move people to the starting area, and after the race the other half can be used to take those drivers back to their cars.

Parking: Snoopy's has regular Sunday afternoon business, so please don't use up their parking spaces (or those of other businesses). At Snoopy's East Whitaker Mill, there is on-street parking on Fairfield Drive behind Snoopy's away from the intersection. At Snoopy's at Meredith College, there is on-street parking on Montgomery Street, Furches Street, and some parts of Clark Avenue (please check the signs). And yes, you ultra-runners can feel free to run yourselves back to the starting line. We'll plan to meet at 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot behind Snoopy's at Meredith College for announcements and to sign up for door prizes later on.

Cost? No charge for this social run, and everyone is welcome -- as long as you can cover the five-plus miles (no shorter fun-run planned). Even non-NCRC members are welcome, but we'll bring some membership brochures for you to review. Mr. Snoopy has agreed to provide some Snoopy's door prizes for us!

Who? It would help to have an estimate of how many runners to plan for, so please go to our Facebook event page and RSVP if you're coming!

Important! Sundays are $1.25 Hot Dog days! I'm not telling you how to use this information, but I was plenty hungry after finishing the five-mile run! Bring a few dollars if you'll need a snack before the run, during, or afterwards!!