The small clubhouse serves as the race headquarters.

Runners covered up for the chilly morning run.

The small race of about 220 runners was well organized.

The race started with a small climb up Grove Hill Road

Then down Woodbridge Road.

The bridge led into Mid-Lothian Mines Park, a 44-acre preserve.

Coal was discovered early in the 1700s. The earliest mining in the area took place in the 1730s.

The Mid-Lothian Coal Mining Company was chartered in 1835 on a 404 acre tract.

A railroad that took 200 tons of coal daily to the James River was completed in 1831. It was the first raiload in Virginia. It was powered by horses, mules and gravity. It was put out of business in 1850 when steam railroads took over.

Digging of the Grove Shaft began in 1836. Ultimately, it was more than 600 feet deep. The mine employed about 150 workers - whites, free blacks, black slaves and boys as young as eight years old.

A methane explosion in 1882 killed 32 workers. An effort in the 1920s to reopen the Grove Shaft proved unprofitable and led to its final closure. This was the last major mining operation in the area.

The area continues to grow.

The houses range in age and size.

Up we go....

The road seems to go in all directions.

The final stretch of the race was around a small pond.

Canada Geese in the pond.