WakeMed Soccer Park

The WakeMed Soccer Park is another great place to train. There is a trail that basically runs around the perimeter of the complex. It is marked off in both kilometer and mile increments (this is kind of cool... never thought about marking a 5k in km... but it makes sense). A lot of local cross country races are held here. The course is basically a figure-8 (with a smaller first loop and a longer second loop). It starts off downhill, and does a small loop (you'll hit the mile mark) before heading back up the hill it started on (this is not so fun... the 2000m mark is about halfway up the hill). Then, the course levels off for a bit before hitting two smaller, steeper hills (the 2-mile mark is at the top of the second). The next bit of the course is downhill or flat, which is nice. Slightly past the 4k mark, it heads back up the starting hill (this is definitely not fun... I think the worst is seeing the 3-mile mark... it's a "long 0.1 miles" to the finish). The course is challenging to say the least, but it is a great surface to run on and good for doing intervals / hill repeats. #20