KING OF BEERS, QUEEN OF THE PARK

As some of you may know (and the rest of you really don’t give a hoot I’m sure) I am not a native Texan. Sure, I’ve called Big D my home for nigh on to 40 years (Cool! I’ve always wanted to use “nigh on” in a sentence…I’ve always wanted to use ‘whipper-snapper’, too, but I’ll save that for later), but my original digs were in St. Louis, MO. - specifically, University City, MO. I have been going back to the St. Louis area every year for the past thirty-odd years to visit my folks (not that my folks are odd, mind you), but I have never thought, even once, about moving back there. Do you know it snows there? And it’s cold? Did I mention the humidity? (Hmmm, but that is where the ‘King of Beers’ lives though…I’ll get back with you on the “moving” part later.)

            Anyway, when I go there I always find time to run, usually around my mother’s place (urban) or my dad’s place (suburban). My mother, bless her heart, is now in an assisted living center, so my running is limited to where my dad lives, Town And Country, MO. Strange name for a town, but it fits so well. Located about 12 miles west of St. Louis, in St. Louis County, Town And Country is a very wealthy community, not only in dollars and cents, but in nature as well. Town And Country boosts more deer per capita than any community in Missouri and the rolling hills would be a challenge for even the best of us black clay flatlanders.

            I had been running along the frontage roads of the highways in and around the Marsden homestead, but I recently discovered a County Park several miles from Dad’s place that just blew me away. Queeney Park ( www.stlouisco.com/park/queeney/ ) is 569 acres of rustic woods and trails that will transport you out of the concrete dominion and into primitive places less traveled. The park has corporate picnic areas, lakes, recreation center, a pool, tennis courts, ice skating rink (reference “cold” above) and the famous Dog Museum. But most of all, Queeney Park has trails!

            The trails are all well marked and range from 2 miles to 4 miles, some on blacktop, most on gravel and dirt. Now, I know some of you may not even bother to tie your shoes for four miles, but for this trail you will – through the woods, down gullies, up hills, across fields. And the cool thing is, the park is not fenced. Luxury homes skirt the perimeter allowing the neighbors, as well as critters, to enter and exit at will. The first time I ran there a deer ran out of the woods about 15 feet in front of me; then as I rounded a bend I almost stumbled on a big ol’ turtle taking his morning crawl. I heard some rustling a few more feet down the trail and a herd of chipmunks were foraging in the leaves…didn’t even give me a second look as I scooted on by.

            I was just up there a while back doing an early morning run. It was 25 degrees and a slight fog had settled amidst the trees. As I finished up and noticed the frost build-up on my sweatband I almost asked myself why the heck I was there freezing my south parts off, but then it hit me, “I am here because I have the freedom to do it and the health to do it with and no good excuse not to”.  If you are like me and try never to miss an opportunity to run when traveling then Queeney Park is definitely worth the stop if you are ever up north of the Red River (yes, Natives, there is a far-a-way land north of the Red River. You’ve heard of it before, it’s mythically referred to as ‘up yonder way’).  

- Steve Marsden