Danby Down & Dirty Results

Thank you to the 21 people (not counting myself) who ran the race course and submitted their information. I know several others not listed here also ran one or both of the courses during race week, and a few of you added "bonus mileage". If you ran and forgot to submit your time, you can still do so here and I'll update this page accordingly. Any corrections, contact me or comment below. Shout out to Nick Ruiz, who took a half day off from work to run the 10k on his 40th birthday! 

The Danby trails were uncharacteristically dry for this time of year—race day would have been great for some fast running. Nothing is certain, but I really hope that by fall 2021 I'll be organizing the in-person race once again under the guise of the Finger Lakes Runners Club. 

Place	Name	Gender	Age	Distance	Time
1	Eric Sambolec	Male	42	10k	0:48:12
2	Pete Kresock	Male	37	10k	0:54:47
3	Steven Folsom	Male	41	10k	0:59:08
4	Dave Kania	Male	40	10k	1:00:42
4	Adam Engst	Male	53	10k	1:00:42
4	Jay Hubisz	Male	-	10k	1:00:42
4	Sean Nicholson	Male	-	10k	1:00:42
8	Daniel Longaker	Male	50	10k	1:01:19
9	Bill King	Male	60	10k	1:02:00
10	Damien Steele	Male	44	10k	1:02:52
11	Sarah Ridenour	Female	35	10k	1:15:53
12	Nick Ruiz	Male	40	10k	1:16:03
13	Kristina Harrison	Female	45	10k	1:23:51
14	Robert Talda	Male	59	10k	1:26:37
15	Steve Savage	Male	47	10k	1:30:54
16	Holly Folsom	Female	40	10k	1:33:30
17	Joe Reynolds	Male	-	10k	2:46:00

Place	Name	Gender	Age	Distance	Time
1	Pete Kresock	Male	37	20k	1:56:53
2	Will Fox	Male	45	20k	2:18:14
3	Gabrielle Woo	Female	28	20k	2:18:55
4	Robert Talda	Male	59	20k	2:29:57
5	Lori Johnson	Female	56	20k	2:58:00
6	Dean Johnson	Male	60	20k	3:01:00

Danby Down & Dirty 2020 Virtual Edition

Virtual race results

Welcome to the Danby Down & Dirty 10k/20k Trail Runs 2020 Virtual Race. The Finger Lakes Runners Club and I elected to cancel the in-person race this year due to restrictions and concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. In keeping with the spirit of the race, trail runners are encouraged to run the course on their own. To make it feel more like a race, names and times

Hash House Hundred 100k Fat Ass

There's no question the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the ultrarunning world. I'll acknowledge that, when looking at the big picture, race cancellations, physical distancing guidelines, and wearing a face covering while running are all minor inconveniences. There's no need to say any more about the pandemic here, except that hardly anyone was surprised on July 19 when the Twisted Branch 100k race director announced his race would be cancelled this year. And to be sure, he made the right call. The race would lose its luster and all the things that make it special if forced to adhere to precautionary measures required by state and local governments. The competitive and social aspects of Twisted Branch would be largely absent if a limited field size, wave starts, and elimination of pre- and post-race festivities were required to hold the race. 

I spent most of the summer running reduced mileage and struggling to find the time and energy to get out the door at all. I had no doubt about completing Twisted Branch within the 20-hour time limit, but the run would have been a struggle. When Pete Dady, a fellow Finger Lakes Runners Club trail race RD, invited me via Strava comment to his 100k fat ass run, I was naturally drawn in. The run was the weekend following the cancelled Twisted date. My wife was agreeable to letting me run it while she took care of the babies since she'd previously agreed to watch them while I ran Twisted.

The fat ass run, which Pete D tentatively titled the Hash House Hundred, is a single 100-ish kilometer loop through several state forests and many tracts of privately owned land, comprising a total of only three trails—the main Finger Lakes Trail, the Finger Lakes Trail Onondaga Branch, and the Link Trail. According to Pete, an Upstate New York trail map connoisseur an expert on all things FLT, this is the only area within the Finger Lakes Trail system where such a large trail loop exists. The terrain varies in

Aravaipa Strong 100

As soon as the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic was known, races cancellation notices began popping up left and right. Every spring and early summer race of significance was either cancelled or postponed, and with good reason. Many virtual races started appearing, but there were very few large scale races that catered to the ultrarunning world. Enter the Aravaipa Strong. 

Jamil Coury and his team at Aravaipa Running, a for-profit trail and ultra event company based out of Phoenix, Arizona, quickly organized Aravaipa Strong. This was a virtual race that was open globally, comprising seven distances—5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, 50k, 50 miles, and 100 miles. Runners could sign up for a small registration fee and had from April 17 to April 26 to complete their chosen distances. As a virtual event, runners chose their own route, recorded their own times, and submitted the results for review. Unlike most virtual races, everyone's result was verified, official results were published, and awards were given to those with the fastest times. 

With 10 days to get it done, I decided I'd go for 100 miles or bust. I would've loved to run some epic route on the Finger Lakes Trail and complete the whole race in one day, but there was no way I'd have the time or bandwidth for such a monstrous effort. A week-long effort it was, then. 

To make this race fun and interesting, I set myself a couple of loose ground rules. I would do all of the miles on trails, with no repetition. That meant no multi-loop run or long out-and-backs, and no running in the same park or forest on more than one day. If I became short on time or energy, I'd make exceptions and even include neighborhood walks with the babies if it was the only

FLT Interloken Branch FKT Fail

With virtually every spring and summer race cancelled, Fastest Known Time runs have been all the rage these past few months. Ultrarunning media outlets are reporting en masse on FKTs, with loads of obscure new routes popping up and times falling on some of the more competitive FKTs.

Early this year I had the idea of establishing a baseline FKT on the Finger Lakes Trail's Interloken Branch in the Finger Lakes National Forest. This trail runs 11.2 miles north to south through the forest, connecting with the main FLT at the Interloken's southern terminus. It's mostly flat singletrack and notorious for it's copious volume of mud, especially on the sections where horseback riding is allowed. Anyone who's run a loop or three at the Finger Lakes 50s is familiar with the southern half of the Interloken. 

As of February there was no FKT listed at FastestKnownTime.com, so I figured I'd be the first to put it on the site. After running around in the FLNF on the final day of the Aravaipa Strong 100, I decided to commit to an Interloken Trail FKT attempt sometime later in the spring, once the trail had a chance to dry out. The plan was to run the full out-and-back, 22.4 miles, unsupported. I came home to check the official FKT Web site and found that Dana Wood, of Corning, New York, had beaten me to it only a few weeks earlier. He had run the out-and-back in 3:47:22 on April 5, starting and ending at the southern end. 

Operation Inspiration

This is next in a series of mini race reports for various virtual runs and races I'm doing while the COVID-19 pandemic has shut everything down.

One of the first of many virtual runs to pop up after the pandemic struck was iRunFar's Operation Inspiration Virtual Race. This was not a competitive race, but rather a global community run with the goal of bringing runners together, albeit virtually, while raising money for charity. Or as Meghan and Bryon state on the event's Web page:

Without these races and the inherent goals they allow us to work toward, our daily running might feel a bit rudderless. Not to mention, we’re missing the time spent with our community at these group events. The Operation Inspiration Virtual Race is, thus, meant to help give us a way to get our competitive juices flowing again and to gather around a communal physical effort.

The idea was to run any route you chose, for a minimum of one hour, on Saturday, April 4. The registration fees were donated to the WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund—a global effort that is working to fight the pandemic.

One facet of the event was to dedicate your run to a group or an individual. As I casually traversed part of the Cayuga Trails course at Robert Treman State Park, I thought of my current and former healthcare coworkers and former Rad Tech classmates. In many facilities, diagnostic imagining technologists are right up there on the front line caring for infected or potentially infected patients. While the direct patient interaction is less than that of nurses and physicians, imaging techs are still an integral part of

#RocOurShops Virtual Covid 19-Miler

This is next in a series of mini race reports for various virtual runs and races I'm doing while the COVID-19 pandemic has shut everything down.

Eric Eagan of #TrailsRoc set up this virtual run to benefit three Rochester-area running specialty stores. The concept, thought up by #TrailsRoc member Scott Parr, was simple and all-inclusive: register for $20 to run, walk, or hike one of three distances over three days, then submit your self-recorded time via a Google form. All proceeds were split evenly between Rochester Running Company, Medved Runing and Walking Outfitters, and Fleet Feet Rochester. A few names were drawn randomly to win shoes or other prizes from the stores.

Why sign up to help Rochester retailers when I live in Ithaca? Well, the Rochester trail running community has become like a second trail home to me over the past few years. I’ve met loads of great people at their events, and many #TrailsRoc-ers frequent Ithaca's trail races. 

The ROC community benefits greatly from these retail shops the same way Ithaca benefits from its own. On a more personal level, ever year Rochester Running Company sponsors the Final Countdown aid station at mile 35 of Many On the Genny. I've run this race twice, and after a loooonnng stretch in the woods it's always a godsend to see the trailside sign reading "You are 0.25 miles from Rochester Running Company." The volunteers at this stop always know how to get us runners going to finish strong over the final five miles. 

Another race I've run twice is the Mendon Trail Runs, which is sponsored by Medved. The hosts packet pickup and provides gift cards for overall and age-group winners. I'm thankful that Medved has played a part in keeping the Mendon race going since

Thom B Virtual Runs

This is next in a series of mini race reports for various virtual runs and races I'm doing while the COVID-19 pandemic has shut everything down.

Joel Cisne, race director for the Finger Lakes Runners Club's Thom B Trail Runs, decided to go virtual fat-ass style with his race after the club's board voted to cancel it. (With a race date of May 16, it likely would have been cancelled by the NYS DEC anyway.) Joel flagged the course and gave people a three-week window in which to run the 13k, 26k, or marathon and report back with their finish times.

I was hoping to run one or two 13k loops at this year's race, having only ever raced the marathon and the now-defunct 52k at the event. On the evening of May 1 I went up to Hammond Hill State Forest to take advantage of the marked route and hammer out a fast 13k loop.

Things started out okay on the initial climb and ensuing flat trails. It was a few miles before the recent rain muddied up the trails

I Run With Maud

Today I ran 2.23 miles in the cold rain around my neighborhood on an upset stomach. It was windy. I was tired. It wasn’t that much fun. But it’s much more comfortable than being an unarmed, innocent black man who is stalked and then murdered by armed, white vigilantes.

It's been eight years since the tragic death of Trayvon Martin and very little has changed.

It shouldn’t be a privilege to be able to run in any public neighborhood I want without fear of violence. It should be a basic right held by everyone in America. Sadly this is not the case.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to set out on a routine run only to realize I'm being followed. Followed by grown men whose skin color is different than mine. In a neighborhood where nearly all residents' skin color is different than mine.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to face these men in confrontation. Outnumbered, both of them pointing loaded firearms in my direction. Scared for my life.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to wrestle for control of a shotgun and feel at close range the muzzle's hot blast as a lead slug enters my body.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to collapse on the sidewalk while a second bullet makes its mark, taking my last breath in a mass of agony, confusion, horror.

All of this because I left my house on a routine run like I've done hundreds of times before.

Because I was born white I will never have a run end this way. I will always reasonably expect to arrive home safely, load my run to Strava, and continue with my life. Ahmaud Arbery was not so lucky as to be born with white skin.

No one should have to fear this happening to them. No one should lose their loved one in this manner.

#irunwithmaud

Winter Beast 2020

"Yeah, we know you can run 100 miles. You can run it through the hills of the highest mountains and through the heat of the sun in the desert valleys, but can you run it in the heart of winter? Through inches or feet of snow? Are you ready to unleash the beast inside of you and run 100 miles on the frigid, historic Erie Canal Towpath? Ladies and Gentlemen, throw away your razors for the New Year. This winter, you're going to need all the insulation you can muster!"

Thus reads the tagline on the Beast of Burden Ultramarathon's web site. After running the 50-mile option in reasonably good weather in 2016 and 2018, I was skeptical about the organizer's claims. Were winters on the canal ever remotely comparable to harsh, endless winters in the Finger Lakes or Southern Tier? Did snowstorms take the weekends off in those sleepy northern New York canal towns?

After clear trails and unseasonably warm weather for 2018 Winter Beast, I had it in my head that the 2020 race day weather and course conditions would be more of the same. I based my three months of training on this by running mostly on roads, rail trails, and bike paths, all free of snow and slush. I managed my first 100-mile training week and still felt pretty good after logging that last mile. I thought a sub-18-hour day was reasonable if the canal path was dry and the temperature kept above 20° F.

"If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have no luck at all." - Albert King, "Born Under a Bad Sign"

Race week rolled around and as luck would have it, Lockport, and most of Upstate New York for that matter, got hit with three days of snow mid-week.  This left the canal path from Lockport to Middleport covered in 8-10 inches and no chance of an 18-hour

Virtual Skunk Cabbage Half

I'm a weekend late so I don’t know if I’m DQ’ed or banned for life or what, but I ran a version of the Finger Lakes Runners Club's Virtual Skunk Cabbage Half Marathon this afternoon. I was signed up to run the half for the eight time until the COVID-19 pandemic caused it to be cancelled. The club decided to go virtual for those who didn't want a refund. I decided to try something different than the traditional Skunk course and run the distance on the flat but lumpy Stewart Park woodchip path near my house. My plan was to run loops at half marathon effort until my watch read 13.1.

Why this particular loop? For one, it’s a convenient three-minute walk from my house and usually not very crowded despite the location and ease of access. Second, because I wanted to get a taste of the hamster wheel courses that runners elsewhere around the world are confined to during the pandemic. I don’t have access to a treadmill or a track and wouldn’t go so far as to run 15-foot loops around my living room, so the woodchips it was. Picture an isosceles triangle with sides measuring 3-5-5; that’s the loop, complete with its three acute angles. Most importantly, the woods around the path are teeming with symplocarpus foetidus (commonly known as the titular skunk cabbage plants). Sadly, they were not in full bloom today despite permeating the