Don’t let the spandex fool you.  Sometimes it can be in the 40s out there and it can be rather cold on the legs.  I don’t mind running in the stuff and it’s not bad once you get going.  I used to enjoy running along the Katy Trail in Missouri, a 200-mile trail that used to be part of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad.  Granted, I haven’t run all 200 miles.  One of my favorite sections of this trail is between Marthasville and Trelor.  That’s a distance of about 16 miles.  This area is perfect for those who go tempo running.  It is flat.  It can be soft (if you like rock surfaces—actually ground-up gravel).  There are places where it can be a bit muddy.  I used to like that, but when you do your own laundry, you want to keep it as clean as possible.  Plus, you take good care of your running clothes.  They can be expensive.

I don’t mind running on the Katy and I have done that for a few miles.  What I like to do on the trail is actually hike.  There are so many things to see on the trail, including trees, rock formations (most of the trail runs along the Missouri River Valley).  There are times where I have carried a backpack, but not a walking stick.  Somehow, I don’t need one.  The Katy Trail is wide enough that you don’t literally run into anything.  The best time to hike is in December, January or February, if the weather holds up.  There are times where I ran in Marthasville and there was snow on the ground and snow coming down.  It didn’t help my feet, but it helped in getting the miles in before the end of the year.  Running in snow is quite a challenge.  You keep moving and the most important thing is to focus on the distance.  Make sure you bundle up a little bit, but allow some of the cold air to get inside your running clothes do you don’t overheat.  You also don’t want to overdress, either.  Probably one of the best hiking trails I like  is along the Big Sugar Creek trail located at Cuivre River State Park, on Route 47 east of Troy, Missouri.  It’s about a 3 to 3 ½ mile loop with a wide trailhead.  But it is also a horse trail for about the first ¾ mile. Although you could run it and it’s been used for many a cross-country trail run for many, I do not run this trail.  It’s for strictly hiking, no running.  I like to be careful of the rocks, fallen trees, tree stumps or other obstacles that are very close by on this trail.  Not only that, but there is quite a beautiful view of the Big Sugar Creek from a cliff.  I would not want to run along this particular cliff.  The last time, the cliff eroded enough that you literally have to hold onto the trees just to stay on the trail. 

I don't mind running on a track.  I enjoy running on tracks.  There's nothing better than a good 400-meter oval at a high school or college somewhere. 

The great thing about running has been running on the asphalt—on the streets!  I don’t recommend anyone running out in the middle of the street in open traffic.  But if you are in a race, such as the Bix-7 in Davenport, Iowa or even a local race such as the Flat Five in August, the Grace Lutheran Chapel 5K in September in Bellefontaine Neighbors, the Academy of the Sacred Heart 5K in Frenchtown in October or even the McNair Park Cross Country 5K in St. Charles in November, running is a time to clear your mind.  But the races are the challenges.  The real running is out on the streets, alone, concentrating on the pavement and the distance.  One of the best times is either in the early morning or at night.  But I wouldn’t recommend running in total darkness.  I have done that silly thing a few times.  Once, I did that along the Great River Road in Alton.  It was total darkness and I had to literally feel my way and hope I didn’t run into any low branches along the pavement specifically designed for bicycles and runners.  The last time I ran in total darkness, I fell into a ditch and separated my shoulder.  I stopped running in dark places.  I usually find well-lit neighborhoods if night running is to take place.

My father got me interested in ham radio back in the 1970s.  It’s quite a fascinating hobby.  Originally, I thought it was just a bunch of men (and women) talking to each other and that was that.  Well, that’s part of the hobby.  Ham radio is more than just communicating with someone someplace else on the planet. 

I really didn’t know the importance of the hobby until 1980, when my father and I visited the National Weather Service office originally located in St. Peters, Missouri.  On the last full weekend in June of 1980, there was a cluster of severe thunderstorms hit Missouri and Illinois, including the Field Day site which we were supposed to go to.  But the Field Day was shut down due to the lightning in the air.  But we were busy tracking weather and confirming severe conditions at the National Weather Service.  We were the service’s eyes and ears at one point when lightning struck the radar dome and the power briefly went out, causing the computers at that time to go down.  We were just entering digital mode in 1980 and some of the equipment then was relatively new.  But we were learning to become storm watchers.  We aren’t the ones who go out in trucks and start chasing tornadoes.  That’s for the more daring ones.  Wherever you were with a 2-meter hand-held or a portable transceiver, you were there to observe the sky and to report what you were experiencing.  It was rather cool and it was the first contribution to public service.

Pictured is a Chinese D117-K4 straight key, military issue by the People's Army of China.  They are decommissioned now and usually found in ham shacks in many places around the world, including the United States.

I depended on my father, who was licensed (known for many years as WBØCLD).  He was licensed in 1970.  His big thing was the Morse Code, which he can do quite well at 20 words a minute (all on a straight key).  I was usually the relay station and the relief when he was tired or had to take a break.  It wasn’t until 2006 that I finally took the class and took the test and my call sign became KCØWWD.  Originally, I wanted to get a vanity call and get something that was easy to send in code using a telegraph key.  But the call sign I received was just fine.  I could send that.  Primarily, I’m on 2 meters at my house.  But when I’m participating in a contest or participate in Field Day (as you see from the pictures), I’m talking to many people across North America and potentially the world.

Usually we’re in our basements, garages, sheds (sometimes known as Ham Shacks) and in some places, living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms or some place around the house and we’re enjoying a conversation with someone on the radio in some other location.  But there are times when we’re under tents and on location and we get involved in either a contest or even a communications emergency and we’re busy communicating with others.  Field Day is a national communications exercise which is a learning experience to new hams and a practice for the experienced hams.  Usually, it’s someone with a radio and a microphone.  But sometimes, it’s someone using a telegraph key (or paddles something similar) and making contacts.  It can become and sometimes is a race.  But patience and courtesy can sometimes give you that magic contact that you sometimes covet.

Ham radio is a wonderful hobby and even with the equipment getting smaller and more digitized compared to decades ago, there’s plenty of opportunity for everyone.  Most of us have cell phones.  But ham radio is a wonderful hobby.  But it is also works when other communication systems fail.