2022 FLRC 100k Ultra Challenge

The FLRC Challenge was such a success in 2021 that the Finger Lakes Runners Club decided to bring it back in '22 with a brand new set of courses. Naturally, that meant the return of the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge. And of course it meant I'd have to get down to business and tick this one off sometime over the summer. 

So what's the FLRC Challenge? In brief, it's a 4-month-long virtual race series comprising ten specific courses around Tompkins County. The courses range from 1 mile to 13.1 miles on various surfaces, including roads, track, rail trails, singletrack trails, and cross country trails. The main goal is to run each of the courses at least once during the 4 months the Challenge is open to be counted as a finisher. Various competitive elements, such as overall and age-graded scoring systems, are outlined on the Challenge Web page. The event includes a dynamic leaderboard that is updated in real time whenever someone logs an effort on any of the courses using a specified smartphone app.

The FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge involves running all ten courses, a total of 63.8 miles, within 24 hours. What makes it stand out from a normal 100k race is that the the 24-hour cutoff includes the time it takes to get from one course to the next. You can run the ten in whatever order you choose, allowing for maximum efficiency. At the start and finish of each course, there's a metal sign

FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge Redux

I'd originally hoped to give the 100K Ultra Challenge a second attempt on December 21st, the Winter Solstice. My first run was on the Summer Solstice, June 21st, exactly six months earlier. I figured running in minimum daylight would close out the FLRC Challenge with a degree of symmetry. Neither date has any special meaning to me. Both happened to meet my own criteria of possible days for an Ultra Challenge attempt—two consecutive days when I'm off from work and my kids are in daycare. Ultimately I chickened out on December 21st when I saw how cold it would be with the likelihood of light snow. It also meant I'd be done running for the year so I'd essentially be throwing in the towel in the Most Miles contest. I decided to put the run off until the 30th. I also considered a midnight start on December 31st so I could end the Ultra Challenge with the Waterfront 5k group run in the evening, but I didn't trust myself to stay awake while driving all night between courses. 

So what's the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge? The rules and details are all on the race Web site. Basically, it involves completed ten specific virtual race courses in under 24 hours, with a cumulative distance of 65.3 miles. Run a course. Drive to the next. Repeat x 9. You can start whatever day and time you want and choose what order to run them. The courses vary in distance from 1 mile to a half marathon and include 4 singletrack trail courses and 6 on asphalt or rail trails. The Ultra Challenge is part of the FLRC Challenge, a larger, year-long virtual series organized by the Finger Lakes Runners Club. 

The weather actually looked pretty good for December 30th. Word around town was that the trail courses were super sloppy and slushy, but passable. I decided to knock them out first, in the daylight and on fresh legs, knowing if I could finish Frolic and Thom B

Just the "Fun Run" at FL50s

“And I feel so much depends on the weather.” - Stone Temple Pilots, “Plush”

July 4th weekend can only mean one thing for Upstate New York trail runners—the Finger Lakes 50s and its notoriously nasty weather. The Finger Lakes Runners Club resurrected this race after a hiatus in the Year of the ‘Rona with Forest Frolic race directors Peter Dady and Mike Stone now at the helm. 

The race’s 16.5-mile loop is quite fast when the trails are dry. Problem is, they’re never dry. Some combination of gooey mud, slick mud, wet leaves, and flooded trails always seems to hinder the whole lot of us at this race, year after year. 

This time I opted in for the 25k "fun run" to avoid burnout after beating up my body at the Cayuga Trails 50-mile at the end of May and running the FLRC Ultra Challenge two weeks before the FL50s. That made it my first time running this race in a distance

Solo Trail Racing Through the Pandemic

After feeling worn out and miserable for most of the summer, I got back in the game with a non-race effort at the Hash House Hundred Fast-Ass 100k in late August. That left me wanting to get back into racing trail races and ultramarathons, but of course autumn in 2020 brought another slew of race cancellations courtesy of la 'rona. Throughout the summer I was expecting as much, and came up with a creative way to get in some quality mileage and satiate the trail racing bug.

The project involved attempting a PR on as many of the local trail race courses as I could. For some races, this meant running each of the different distances offered for the event, i.e. the 13k, 26k, and marathon on the Thom B course. Many of these races I'd run at less than 100% effort during the buildup to various ultras. Some, like the FL50s 25k and 50k distances, I'd never raced at all. With a few exceptions, I chose race courses 16 miles and shorter and within a half hour drive of Ithaca. I ran all of them on my own, unsupported or self-supported, following the courses from memory. 

Although the first three listed aren't race courses, I've included them because they're established and noteworthy routes. A few notable courses, like Forge the Gorge, the traditional Lucifer's Crossing course, the Monster Marathon at Treman, and my usual

Back to Racing!

It had been way too long.

America and the entire world are now a full year into the Covid-19 pandemic. Although I've missed in-person races and running events as much as anyone, most organizers that opted to cancel events out of precaution made the right call and I respect race directors' decisions to do what they think is best. Given all that's been going on, some races that did take place weren't events I was comfortable running. And of those I was comfortable with, some went off just fine at a time I was in no shape to run them (i.e. 2020 Cayuga Trails) due to the cumulative stress of trying to train while stay-at-home parenting twin babies. All the local sub-marathon races I may have considered running were cancelled, leaving me no organized in-person race since the Beast of Burden Winter 100 in early February 2020. 

Almost a year to the day since my last race of any kind, I made it up to Hammond Hill State Forest for the Finger Lakes Runners Club's Super Frosty Loomis Snowshoe Race. With a field limited to 40 runners across two distances, separate start times for each distance, mask and social distance requirements, and a bare minimum of volunteers and spectators, the club determined it

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

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

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

A Few More Loops at the Thom B, 'Cuz Why Not?

The Finger Lakes runner's Club's Thom B Trail Runs is local, low-key race around Hammond Hill State Forest. The marathon comprises three singletrack loops, plus a mini loop at the end to even out the distance. The event also has one-loop 13k and two-loop 26k options. The small field size and 20-minute drive from my house made the marathon ideal for a final long effort even though I was a week into my three-week taper for the MMT 100. I'd run this race twice before, in 2014 and 2017 when the longest distance was a four-loop 52k instead of the marathon, and I've run the main loop dozens of times in training.

The Thom B is small enough that I thought I had a shot at winning—or at least winning the men's race. That is, until Ian Golden showed up at the start as a last-minute entry. Ian's been running well as of late, and in March he took the win at the inaugural Castle to River 50k against a pretty solid field. I also didn't expect to keep up with Ellie Pell, though I knew she's in training mode for the Buffalo Marathon later in May. I'd been running pretty well myself this year at the smaller, local trail races, and have learned enjoy and feed off of a competitive mindset, even if a race only has a few dozen starters. I also hoped to score some big points in an attempt to win the FLRC 2019 Stonehead series.

From the gun, Ian quickly took off up the rocky dirt road and vanished in the fog as he turned onto the trail. I expected to never see him again. I wanted to run the race at about 90% effort, and even at 110% I knew I'd have no business trying to hang with

Snowshoe Racing Debutante

Wintertime in Upstate New York can be conducive to a number of outdoor activities. Cross-country and downhill skiing are abound, along with winter hiking. With the volume of snow dumped across the region this winter, one thing that became difficult is trail running. With that in mind, I signed up to race in snowshoes for the first time.

The Finger Lakes Runners Club holds a snowshoe race on Hammond Hill annually, always the day before the Super Bowl. The Super Frosty Loomis Snowshoe Race 10k course is essentially the FLRC's Thom B course run in reverse, minus a 1.5-ish mile section of red-blazed singletrack on the forest's southeast side. The event has a 5k race concurrently with the 10k. At 1,700 to 2,100 feet elevation, Hammond Hill always has more snow than the surrounding valley at this time of year.

I was originally hoping to run Goose AR's Cast-a-Shadow 6-Hour race on this day instead, thinking there might be little enough snow west of Rochester that it would become a trail race sans snowshoes. (As it was when I ran Cast-a-Shadow in 2017.) But nope—it was full-on snowshoe season this year at CAS and I was unable to find a pair to rent or borrow on short notice. I instead

The Monster Marathon 2018

I just can't get enough of the Finger Lakes Runners Club's Monster Marathon. The timing usually works out that the race can serve as a long, supported training run on close-to-home trails. There's also a bit of nostalgia factor; the accompanying half marathon (run on the old course in Kennedy State Forest) was one of my first trail races back in 2011.

The marathon course is a double out-and-back that snakes its way around Treman State Park in a slippery S-pattern. (Half marathoners run a single out-and-back of the same route.) Runners receive handicap starts based on age and gender. This means people who are older and/or female had a head start over the final starting wave. At age 35, I'm still considered a young buck and was rewarded with an 8:00 a.m. start time in the final wave of runners. Standings are based on the order in which runners cross the finish line, rather than their time spent running. Essentially, it meant I was starting off tied for last place overall

Thom B 52k Trail Run 2017

With Cayuga Trails 50 just over the horizon, I signed myself up for the Thom B Trail Runs 52k. The small, local race is a four-looper around Hammond Hill State Forest. It would serve as a supported long run three weeks out from CT50, giving me a chance to test out gear and fueling in a race situation. One week prior to the Thom B, I committed to throwing caution to the wind and actually racing the 52k rather than running it leisurely. Hayley and I were leaving the next day for a week's vacation in the Pacific Northwest. I figured I wouldn't be running much during the R&R and would have plenty of time to recover from a harder 31-mile effort.

With that in mind, I find myself at the starting line on a drizzly Saturday morning, staring up a rutted-out, mud-soaked dirt road with the goal of running under 5:00.

T-minus two minutes to liftoff, and all of the sudden RD Joel,comes roaring up Hammond Hill Road in a rented box truck. He hops out the cab way too cheerfully for someone who's getting soaked in the rain at 6:58 a.m. and has already been setting up aid stations for the past hour. Joel—alter ego Mr. Hector, har har—hollers some pre-race announcements about how all us mild-mannered trail runners become fools the second we pin on a race bib, and reminds us not to do anything foolish like getting lost in the forest. Our main job is to ensure that the Search and Rescue team stays bored all morning.

On Monsters and Devils

The Monster 

 

You really can't find a better marathon for $35. No fancy swag, shiny medals, or chip timing. Just 4,000 feet of gain over singletrack and some park roads with some good people and good food at the finish. Welcome to The Monster Marathon.

The original Monster course was a double out-and-back on the Finger Lakes Trail at Kennedy State Forest in Virgil. For logistical reasons, including some trail rerouting and the closing of Gatherings Restaurant and Event Center where the race was staged, the race was relocated in 2015 to Robert Treman State Park in Ithaca. Despite the new location, the original race format remains the same - a double out-and-back, (or single out-and-back for the accompanying half marathon), low entry fees, and handicap start times. These attributes are what gives the Finger Lakes Runners Club's only marathon a unique flavor, setting The Monster apart from most other trail races.

With the age and gender-graded start times, runners start off in waves. Older athletes start earlier and the ladies go before the men. Some sort of mathematical formula is used to calculate each runner's head start over the "open field," with start times calculated down to the minute. This creates competition between older and younger runners. Final standings are

2016 Symplocarpus Foetidus Half Marathon

The 35th annual Skunk Cabbage Classic 10K and Half Marathon is one of the biggest and oldest races in the Ithaca area. Held this past weekend over open roads and rolling hills, it seemed like a good opportunity to help build some speed and maybe nab a half marathon PR.

Shortly before the start I found myself torn between what to wear during the run. At 9:45 am, the sun was out and the temperature was something in the low twenties after windchill. Not exactly traditional weather fare for mid-April around here. After some internal debate I opted for warmer clothing - an Under Armour long sleeve compression shirt with another long sleeve tech tee over it, some compression tights over my lightweight running shorts, some light gloves, and my FLRTC beanie. The shirt and pants were skin tight and did a solid job of keeping my core and appendages comfortably warm.

The air horn sounded and runners took off.  I hoped to maintain a 6:50-7:00 pace for the first half, then pick it up in the second half if I felt up to the challenge. I'd been running track repeats and tempo runs once or twice a week to work on building some speed and improving leg turnover. (One of the advantages of an unusually warm Upstate winter is the ability

What It Means to Be An Ambassador

Earlier this week, I renewed my contract as an ambassador for Finger Lakes Running & Triathlon Company as part of Team FLRTC. I joined the team last year after moving to Ithaca in the hopes of meeting people with similar interests. I made some new friends through Team FLRTC, and being a member of the team helped make it easier to transition to life in a new city surrounded by new people and places. Needless to say, toward the end of 2014 I was excited to have the opportunity to run with this team again in the new year. Since attending last weekend's meeting and listening to store manager/team organizer Lisa explain what is expected of us and what to expect in return, I've been thinking a lot about what it really means to be an ambassador.

Anyone who follows media coverage of professional running has undoubtedly seen or heard the words "Runner X is an ambassador for brand Y," or something of the sort. In this context, an ambassadorship simply means that athlete X has a contract with brand Y to help promote the brand, it's products, and its values in exchange for free gear, money, or comped expenses related to racing. While I've never had a sponsorship like that and likely never will, I've come to realize that acting as

Fall Recap: A Wedding, a Fat-Ass, and a Six Second PR

So 2014 has come to a close, and with it, the sudden realization that I haven't posted anything on this blog for nearly three months. While in the past few months I haven't been keeping up the mileage quite so much since Green Lakes, that isn't to say I haven't been keeping busy. The highlight of the fall is not running related, but it wouldn't be right not to mention that Hayley and I got married in early September. Wedding preparations, followed by a honeymoon, caused me to take a running break for a few weeks, and subsequently a blogging break ensued. (Bonus link: Strava GPS data for my flight from Philadelphia to the Dominican Republic.)

The first running-related highlight of the fall season was volunteering at the Virgil Crest Ultras. The day before the 50M and 100M trail races, my friend Rusty and I had the pleasure of checking the already-placed course markings on VCU's south half, AKA the alpine section. This entailed running/hiking up and down the ski slopes of Greek Peak in three different places, then running along the singletrack and dirt roads to The Rock Pile - an aid station at the 25 mile mark of the VCU that marks the turn-around point for the out and back. (50 milers run the out-and-back once, 100 milers

A Tale of Two Races

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I recently ran a 15K. Then a week later, I ran another, yielding a slower time but much better result. Both races consisted of putting one foot in front of the other with the goal of traveling from point A to point B as fast as possible. However, the two events could not be more different.The purpose of this post is not to write another race recap, but to attempt to explain the vast differences between trail racing and road racing, as well as the pros and cons of each.

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Held annually in Utica, NY, since 1978, the Boilermaker 15K Road Race is one of the largest 15K races in the United States. The race has become so popular than online registratrion, capped at 14,000, sold out in about an hour and a half. The 15K attracts runners from all over the world, and its sizable purse brings in East African elite runners who usually end up taking the top places.

Every second weekend on July, the entire city of Utica, (population 60,000) becomes encapsulated in Boilermaker fever. The weekend includes a large expo the day before the race, a National Distance

Keeping the Cows In: A Finger Lakes 50s Race Report

I collapsed into my foldout camping chair with a huge sigh, immediately clawing at my mud soaked shoes. Trying to undo the laces would sap a sizable amount of my remaining energy, but I felt I had no choice. I forcefully sprayed some warm, stale water from my bottle onto the laces to clear away the mud. This allowed me to nimbly pick at the knots and eventually yank both mud ravaged shoes free, tear off my soaking socks, and finally dry my feet. Aaahhh, instant bliss.

After 33 muddy miles on foot, the race offered reprieve in the form of hot food, cold beer, and a respectable 6:10 50K finish. The trail gods gave me a choice: I could simply call it a day here and bask in the sweet summer shade for the remainder of the afternoon, or I could force myself afoot and run/walk/hobble through another 17 miles during the hottest part of the day. So why, then, did I choose the latter? After glancing across the campground to make eye contact with my pacer, it was clear I had unfinished business. Ignoring the Sirens' calls of cold drinks and hot eats, I shoved clean socks and the muddy Kinvaras back onto my feet and Adam and I hit the trail. It was time to get the Hell out of Dodge before common sense set it.

The Finger Lakes 50s consists of three different distances, each distance one to three laps around the Finger Lakes National Forest. Located in the southeast corner of  the Finger Lakes region, The FLNF is the only national forest in New York State. The 16,000 acre forest boasts 30 miles of hiking trails,