Running Inside Out Podcast — Guest #100

I had a great time as a guest on episode 100 of my friend Chris O’Brien’s podcast Running Inside Out. On the episode we discuss ultramarathons around the northeast, the Ithaca and Rochester trail running scenes, the FLRC Ultra Challenge, training while managing kids, the Star Wars Holiday Special, and a whole lot more! Check out the episode Web page at Running Inside Out Podcast: 100: It Can Be Life Changing - with Pete Kresock or look for it directly on Apple Podcast, Spotify, etc. 

The Rochester-based Running Inside Out podcast has been around for a few years and mainly focuses on trail and road running around Upstate New York. I've struck up conversations and started friendships with strangers after hearing their stories on this podcast. I'm happy that Chris is bringing it back after a 10-month hiatus, and honored to be the first guest of its return and the one featured on episode 100. 

Thanks for listening! 

A Personal Best 50k Time Trial

Training has been going well for the past seven months. In the midst of the pandemic and my first year raising twins, things really started to click back in September. At the time most races had been cancelled, so I started running all the Ithaca area trail race courses and popular trail routes at race effort. The consistent, quality mileage carried over through the winter in the form of tempo runs and steady state runs on rail trails and roads. With no Beast of Burden to train for this winter, I kept the mileage lower than I did in previous years—50 to 65 miles per week for most weeks. In a few weeks it was lower due to inclement weather, being homebound with sick kids, or both. But the consistency was there, and it paid off. 

Once race director Adam Engst began opening courses for the recently launched FLRC Challenge virtual race, I gained extra motivation to run hard on the race's road courses while waiting for the sloppy, snowy trails to dry out. Tempo intervals and fartlek runs on the Challenge's Pseudo Skunk half marathon course, marathon-pace efforts on the 10-mile Black Diamond Trail course, and so on, kept the fitness gains coming all the way into April. When our local trails finally thawed and dried enough to run

Farewell, Beast of Burden

The New York ultrarunning scene lost two of its bigger races this week when the Beast of Burden Ultramarathon race directors posted a statement announcing their winter and summer events would be discontinued for the foreseeable future. 

Hello Beast Runners, We are writing to inform you that, due to a variety of contributing reasons, we have made the...

Posted by The Beast of Burden 100 & 50 Miler Ultra Marathon on Sunday, March 28, 2021

Hello Beast Runners,

We are writing to inform you that, due to a variety of contributing reasons, we have made the difficult decision to put the Beast of Burden Race Series on permanent pause. With this decision, that means we are cancelling the 2021 Summer Beast of Burden Ultra Marathon, and will not be scheduling a race series in 2022, or the foreseeable future. For those that have registered for the 2021 Summer Beast of Burden Ultra Marathon, we will be sending out refunds for your race registration.

This is truly a bittersweet moment for us. As Race Directors for this series for the past decade, we have had the great pleasure of building on a great race series to bring it to where it is today; a unique event that seemed to have taken on that of both an endurance run, and a family reunion of our ever growing clan of runners and awesome volunteers.

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

Pseudo Skunk Mini "Race" Report

Tuesday afternoon marked my debut at the 2021 FLRC Challenge and Pseudo Skunk 13.1. I carried my phone and used the RunGo App to follow the half marathon route along Ithaca's backroads and get familiar with the course. Snowy shoulders made it tricky to dodge traffic and move forward at the same time, but I tend to enjoy running Ithaca's backroads throughout the winter and have gotten used to it. Much obliged to race director Adam Engst for putting that Turkey Hill mini climb in the second mile (instead of mile 10 like in the actual HM race), but curse him for the grind up Ellis Hollow starting around mile 9. Notable scenery included that new looking, bright red phone booth in someone's front yard near the corner of Ellis Hollow and Hunt Hill, and a car parked in the middle of the damn road on Ellis Hollow where people drive 50+ mph around blind curves. The RunGo voice cues lagged by 10-15 seconds, but were 100% accurate and made it super easy to follow the route without thinking about it much.

I had such a blast running the Pseudo Skunk on Tuesday that I went back again on Wednesday for another go. I had a few hours to kill after work and before picking up the kids from daycare and couldn't think of anything better to do. With temps in the low 50s, most of the snow, ice, and slush had melted off the shoulder of the roads, so the running was much easier and more

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

Trail Running Resurrected at the Mendon 50k

...and we're back!

Just like my distance running, this blog is rising from the dead after a months-long hiatus. In short, it had been a frustrating five months with an ability to perform to my expectations. During that span I accumulated several average to mediocre race results and often felt awful on any runs longer than 60-90 minutes. I'm not an uber competitive guy and don't dwell much on race times, but I still expected to run a higher volume at a faster average pace and feel good about it. The drop in performance left me with little motivation to run, read about running, or write about running. All the fall ultras I'd had my eye on—the Watergap 50k, Tussey mOUnTaiNBACK, Can Lakes 50-mile road race, and yes, even the Midstate Massive Ultra Trail 100—were no goes. Pushing myself that hard would have been a terrible idea, so I decided to leave all these races for another year.


A week and a half before the Mendon Trail Runs, I had an appointment with sports medicine physician Andy Getzin.  All of my blood tests—white blood cell count, inflammation markers, iron and B12 levels—came back normal. Dr. Getzin more or less told me to listen to my body and ease back into things.

A few days later I tested my endurance by running 37k (23 miles) on my 37th birthday (consuming only water and Gu Birthday Cake gels for posterity). The pace was slow and my legs were tired near the end, but overall it went okay so I signed up for the

The Pine Creek Gorge West Rim Trail

I first learned about the Pine Creek Gorge West Rim Trail from Phil Maynard last year after he hiked it with his son over two days. He described it as smooth and fairly fast, unlike most of the technical, rock-strewn singletrack that winds its way through the Pennsylvania Wilds. Phil ran a south to north  FKT on the West Rim earlier this year, which re-piqued my interest in making this adventure run happen.

I'd only been down to the PA Wilds area once, when I ran the Eastern States 100 in 2017. That race covers only a few miles of the West Rim Trail, near the trail's southern end. My friend Amelia and I decided to head down on a weekday to run the trail end-to-end, an impromptu 50k. We drove to Pine Creek Oufitters, an outdoor gear and rental store in Wellsboro near the West Rim's north end. The store offers shuttle rides to the opposite end of the trail (or other drop off points on this and other trails). For us it was $40 for the 30-minute ride. The driver let us park the car at the north terminus parking lot on Colton Road instead of having us leave the car at the store. This way we didn't have to run an extra mile on asphalt at the end to get back to the store. Other possible transportation arrangements include parking a car at each end, or for the more adventurous and multi-sport inclined,

Things I'd Do For a Pint Glass: The MMT 100

On paper the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 didn't look all that intimidating. The 18,500 feet of elevation gain, while significant, isn't all that monstrous over the 100-mile distance. The race website, however, fails to reiterate just how many large rocks have been tossed across the trails in the George Washington National Forest.

By all accounts, Massanutten is a somewhat easier course than the Eastern States 100—less technical with a several K feet fewer in elevation change, and without the switchback-less, scree-laden, 1,000-foot climbs. Training had been going well. In fact, it was the best training block I've ever had for a 100-miler, as detailed on a previous post. 

The MMT course is essentially a 100-kilometer loop around the ridge surrounding the George Washington National Forest, followed by a marathon-distance loop to the south, then a few miles down a road to bring it all back home. The course makes frequent drops down the ridge to aid stations at road crossings; this is where most of the elevation change comes in. There are a few sections with two to five miles of dirt road at a time, but otherwise it's all singletrack. 2019 marked the 25th straight year of the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club's marquee event.

MMT welcome sign. 

***

I arrived to the starting line at Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp already in a handicapped state.

The afternoon before the race, I attended Hayley's grandmother's funeral, then drove seven hours straight down to northern Virginia to arrive around 9:00 p.m. I missed the expo, pre-race briefing, etc., but was able to get my bib and mug shot that night. The drop-bag drop-off deadline had already passed, but I'd made special arrangements with the Race Director and his drop-bag coordinator to leave my three bags in a bin behind the drop-bag transportation truck. (RD Kevin Sayers was very accommodating when I explained my predicament in an email a week earlier. More on this later.)

Pre-race mug shot. PC: Raj Bhanot

I then made my way to a stuffy bunk bed cabin shared with a dozen other runners. The lights were already out and I fumbled my way onto a top bunk, trying not to wake anyone although I doubt there was much slumbering anyway. Snoring, lack of fresh air,