"Screw shoes" and beer bottles: just another Thursday run

It was just another Thursday for most of us - maybe you ran the Back Cove, or met up with your buddies for dinner. Maybe you caught The Office on TV or finished up some laundry. The point is, it's just Thursday.

But in collegeland, Thursday (particularly a sunny spring Thursday at the end of the semester) means two things: beers and beers.

The Reach the Beacon group tried something different last night and ran over to Baxter Woods off Stevens Ave. (in Portland, of course).

To get there, we ran across Forest Ave. onto Coyle St.

Not a block up the road we come upon some Thursday evening festivities (beer, of course, being the guest of honor). There were tables of beer bottles and a happy collection of coeds enjoying the mild temps (and the much-anticipated end of the semester).

As our group ran by, a few guys shouted out some "Woohoos." Then a few more. Then the applause started. And for no good reason whatsoever, our small running group started our trek to Baxter Woods with the kind of shouts and cheers I imagine only Olympic gold medalists ever really hear.

It was odd...but really cool.

I should have taken a picture. I told myself I'd take one on the way back - but I didn't. At the last minute I chickened out. Let's face it, I watch YouTube - those college kids scare me.

But this is essentially what it looked like:

When we got back, Ian Parlin from Trail Monsters gave us a chat about trail running. I'm going to give the trail thing a try one of these weekends - road running gets a little dull after a while. But more on that another time.

The big learning last night was the phrase "screw shoes."

If your mind is in the gutter with mine, or your maturity level hasn't grown appropriately with your age, you should have laughed.

But screw shoes aren't dirty...er, they ARE...but the real dirt kind of dirty. They're running shoes with screws (yes, screw screws) driven into the bottoms. Helps runners get traction when running on ice and snow.

Why are people are running on ice and snow? Beats me.