Running around Great Bay once a year in early October has been an adopted tradition of mine, passed down by the late Bob Kennedy. He first created the Great Bay 55k back in 2020 to accompany our more well-known Great Bay 5K. For the 55k (34 mi), we both ran around the perimeter of Great Bay starting from the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. This run quickly became a tradition for us over the next 4 years until Bob’s passing last summer. This and last October, I’ve continued the tradition, running through the beauty of 7 different coastal towns and over 7 different tidal rivers.

Like many of you, this has been a strange season for us…..we’ve been spending less time doing programs and welcoming the public, and more time working outside, completing backlogged maintenance and exhibit work, and getting organized in general. In some ways it has been refreshing to get those things done that are always pushed to the bottom of the priority list during busy seasons, but the absence of people has been strange and a bit sad….we miss the eager students, the adventurous visitors, and our dedicated volunteers!