Earliest Sunset

Today is a good day.  This is the earliest sunset we get in New England.  Sunset is at 4:11 and will stay at 4:11 until December 14^th.  Then we start getting a minute later sunset.  By the end of the month sunset will be at 4:21.  That is just about the time Dan and I finish our afternoon “Woods Run”.  Life is good and I love sunshine!

 

 

Sunset today - 4:11 PM

Today is an important day for runners in New England, it is the earliest sunset!  Today the sun will set at 4:11 PM.  Although we are 17 days away from the “shortest” day today is much more important (if you run after work as I do).  For the next 10 days the sunset remains at 4:11, and then we start gaining back at the end of the day.  By the end December we’ve gained 10 minutes and have sunset at 4:21. That gives me and Dan plenty of time for our afternoon run on the Andover trails.  We’ll stick with the trails until the snow flies.

Be careful out there!

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php

Earliest Sunset

We still have another week until the “shortest day” but as of today we start having a later sunset!  Yesterday’s sunset was at its earliest (4:10 PM) which it had been since December 6^th, the daylight hours were shorter because of a later sunrise.  Since I run well before sunrise I don’t really care about what time sunrise is but running in the woods after work means paying attention to sunset times (it is also a well known fact that Zombie activity is much higher during nighttime hours and my opposition to Zombies is well documented).

So here’s to the later sunsets!  By December 31 the sunset will be 10 minutes later (4:20 PM) which at current running pace means an extra mile (or so) of running.

Sunrise/sunset calculator: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php

 

Sunset

Although today is not the shortest day of the year (Dec 21 - First day of winter), today does mark the earliest sunset for Andover, MA. Since Dan and I are running by 3:30 and only doing 6 miles it really hasn't been a concern, but on dark and dreary days it does get a bit tricky running in the woods. By the end of the month we'll have gotten back 8-9 minutes for sunset. That gives us another mile or so of running in daylight :-)

Be careful out there!