The 24th annual Wring Out the Old, Ring In The New trail event included a combination of 11 runners and walkers who came together to bid farewell to 2023 and help usher in the new year at the Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area in nearby Maryland.

CRR Jennifer Pyle (the day’s “stealth participant”) was first on the course, alternating between walking briskly and running slowly. Lynn Knothe (right in photo), Emily Rose (left in photo), and Karen Rose started a bit later at a quick walking pace. Unfortunately, the women had left ahead of the group photo.

Wring Out the Old veteran CRR Bruce Hubbard, no longer running, walked a portion of the loop, and snapped the event photos shown here. Thanks!

CRR Bob Opila (pictured here), CRR David James, and CRR Bill Rose started running shortly after the official 9:00 starting time. They ran together for the first three miles, at which point James detoured to add more mileage to his morning, having also jogged some before the run.

The mild weather made for a fairly comfortable run. 

Area senior standout runners Greg Cauller, Tom Steenkamer, and Dave Wiechecki (pictured above) were there and did their own trail run, in all likelihood a much longer one than the 7.5km course. Thus, the relaxing walk at the end.

Everyone congratulated UD professor Bob Opila on his upcoming retirement on January 16—only a semi-retirement, since he plans to stay research-active and teach a course at the university.

All gathered at the Black Bridge Road parking lot afterward for refreshments and to catch up with one another. Once again Bill Rose (shown here with wife, Karen) did a fine job organizing this event.

We’ll go again on December 31st.

See you then!