The area is marked by historic markers, some belonging to aviation pioneers and others just pertaining to local history.
One of those markers along the Great Miami River Trail belongs to the Wright Seaplane Base. Active from 1912-1914, the proximity to the Wright factory as well as the Miami River’s 2 bends in a short proximity allowed for aircraft to take off in 3 directions.
The Wright seaplanes started as pontoons put on the Wright Model B Flyer before becoming an entirely new design with the Model G.
The sign is under the base to final turn to runway 26 Moraine Air Park (I73). The air park is an interesting place to visit as well and has a fly in the first Sunday of May which brings many (some interesting) aircraft from the surrounding area.
I had a virtual half marathon to complete, and the distance screamed for taking the trail down to the site of the seaplane base.
It was a humid but chilly morning; I had on a jacket over a long sleeve shirt with 2 small water bottles as there are no fountains along this part of the trail. A solo run, I fell into 5:1 intervals, running for 5 minutes and walking for one minute. Due to the distance and time on my feet, supplemental nutrition in the form of blocks was used every 45 minutes.
The section of the Great Miami River Trail follows the Miami River from Carillon Park south to Moraine airpark and is part of a 77-mile-long trail.
As the day became warmer, my pace slowed. I’d dressed too warm and was paying the price; dressing for 15 degrees warmer to account for body temperature is a good rule of thumb.
Using the walk breaks to reset posture and consume electrolytes was helpful. A reset is reaching arms up over the head stretching out your back then return to normal running posture.
I was determined to get the mileage in that day as it was what my schedule allowed for but had not run that long of a distance in some time so was careful with pace and nutrition.
Recognizing personal signs for weather are imperative and come from experience. Slowing down pace and increasing the amount of liquid consumed are strategies for extending my useful performance window. Thankfully the run was close to the end and felt manageable.
To get my mileage in, I extended past the marker turning abeam the fuel pumps on the other side, below a tight midfield downwind. A lone Cessna 172 was doing take offs and landings in the pattern.
The Aviation Trail area consists of historic sites around aviation and the Wright Brothers in the Dayton area. A large majority of them can be reached by bike as the area has a well-documented trail system.
Having the goal of heading to the marker for the seaplane base made my run more enjoyable – finding a way to have airplanes in my running brain is always a good thing. I had intended to do this as a training run before going to Kitty Hawk in the spring but flooding along the trail changed the route drastically – this was the first time I had run this section of the trail and certainly will not be the last.
More Information:
Aviation trail https://www.aviationtrailinc.org/
Wright seaplane base http://www.wrightseaplanebaseinc.org/
Area trail maps https://www.miamivalleytrails.org/