My friends and I love Christmas. Last December, we wanted to take one day a week during Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas) and do a nightly run to see neighborhood Christmas lights. We had an absolute blast. These runs had no pace goal and we kept our mileage to 5 or below. We held these on a Monday evenings to not conflict with our Tuesday/Thursday early morning runs. We stopped to take pictures and admired all the houses. We were able to laugh when it started sleeting one night (no one bothered to check the forecast, we just knew it was cold). We stopped a high school soccer practice so some guys could take our group picture another week (#adventrun). 
These were truly social runs and provided a much needed weekly break from all the hectic pre-Christmas planning. We weren’t particularly quiet or reflective when we ran; we were merry, excited, joyful, and relaxed. I truly believe we each went back to our homes in a good mood feeling grateful for each other and in awe of the many gifts the season brings each year.
If you’re local, please join us this coming season. And, if you find yourself on the American Tobacco Trail on a weekend, be sure you park at the Wimberly entrance and run toward White Oak (face the trial and go right- I have no idea if that’s N,S,E,W, and it’s entirely irrelevant, just run away from the road). Then about a mile up, you’ll see the fun pine tree decorated with a growing collection of ornaments!
