I’m a long distance runner, (although not a very fast one,) and treadmills are a tough substitute for five or ten miles at Valley Forge or the Radnor Trail.  When the weather gets bad, I’m tempted to lace up my, sneak under the police tape, and head out before the trails are officially opened.  After all, the snow usually melts on the blacktop long before the trail is ‘officially’ reopened.  That’s not a great idea, though.

Much of the Radnor Trail is overhung by trees that have suffered as a result of the last four Nor’Easters.   Snow and icicles can fall from forty-feet in the air.  They’re also losing limbs, and some of them are falling wholesale, tearing up rootballs as a result of waterlogged soil.  So even if it looks like the trail is free of ice and snow, falling limbs and debris can cause serious injuries if you get out there before it’s safe.