The FLRC 100k Ultra Challenge

Late last year when in-person races were still in flux due to COVID-19, the Finger Lakes Runners Club put together a unique virtual race series with a competitive element. The FLRC Challenge is a year-long event that involves running 10 specified race courses in the Ithaca area. Some of these are courses from in-person races and others are popular non-race routes, with distances ranging from one mile to the half marathon. Some cover asphalt, some are gravel rail trails, and others are on singletrack trails. There's flat, hilly, and everything in between. Anyone who completes all 10 is considered a finisher and earns a medal. Competition for each individual course is scored based on fastest overall time, fastest average, and most completions, with additional series-wide scoring aspects. There's a lot to it, and rather than explain it all myself you can get the rundown on the event Web site. 

One element of the FLRC Challenge is the ultra version. The total distance for all 10 courses is advertised as 65.3 miles—a little over 100k. The Ultra Challenge involves completing all 10 in a 24-hour period. You can run the routes in any order you want, but

it requires driving between courses. The rules state that in order to get credit for a course you need to download a timing app and use it to scan the QR code on the course's signpost to begin and stop the timer at the start and finish. 

I decided to run the Ultra Challenge on the summer solstice. I had that day and the next day off from work while the kids were at daycare, and I could take advantage of maximum daylight. My original plan for that day was the Hammond Hill 100—a solo 100-mile run around Hammond Hill State Forest. Scotie Jacobs set the precedent last fall and I was hoping to follow suit by running 12 loops of the 8.5-mile Thom B Trail Race course, which is also one of the FLRC Challenge courses. The 102 miles would count toward the series-wide most mileage contest. However, a couple weeks before the big day Hayley convinced me to nix the idea to avoid burnout. I was glad I did once the weather forecast showed a high of 91 with likelihood of severe thunderstorms. So I settled on the solstice as Ultra Challenge Day instead with no goal in mind other that to finish and enjoy it. 

Like most ultras I've run, I planned this one without any crew or pacers. I arranged my car's trunk like an aid station with everything I'd need organized into piles or bags. Five different pairs of shoes. A big bag of dry snacks. Various hydration packs and handhelds preloaded with gels. Several changes of socks and shirts. And of course a cooler with ice, water, and other drinks to replenish buckets of sweat that would soon flood the roads and trails. I positioned everything for maximum efficiency during stops at the car between each course. 

And finally, the run itself. The best way to write about it is to break it down one course at a time. 

1. South Hill Rec Way

I woke up without an alarm at 4:00 on the dot, drove over to the Rec Way, and began the first course at 4:30 a.m. It was already 70° with high humidity so I knew right away I was in for a hellish, sweat-infused, day. The first half hour was with a headlamp, but it was easy going on smooth terrain and fresh legs. It took a few miles to loosen up before I felt good. Then I had to make a conscious effort to take it slow. 6.8 miles, 1:06:52

2. Cornell Botanical Gardens

This course is a short road loop through the F.R. Newman Arboretum on the Cornell Campus. I started early enough to have the whole place to myself. There's not much to say about this one other than it was an easy morning cruise. The June foliage served as a stark reminder I should run here more often. 2.4 miles, 22:08

3. East Hill Rec Way

The Rec Way is a straight, paved mile with a 50-foot net drop, allowing for some blistering road mile times. Alas, not today. I jogged from the start to the finish, then jogged the mile back to the car, adding an extra mile to my day that doesn't count in the Challenge standings. Thankfully this course is the only one that runs point-to-point. 1 mile, 8:37

Interlude

One logistical challenge I ran into was having to take my 16-month twins through their normal morning routine—diapers, breakfast, tooth brushing, clean-up, and big boy clothes—and drive them to daycare. That meant returning home by 6:45 to get their day started. Hayley had a doctor's appointment at 8:00 so her time was limited. During all this I managed to cool off in the shower, eat my own breakfast, and grab the rest of the gear and food bags I didn't feel like handling at 4:00 a.m. 

On most days I'd be starting off my own day by getting the kids up, so it was nice to know I already had three courses and 10.2 miles done before breakfast. The boys were easy going and I got out the door with them at 8:15, making the total break an hour and a half long. And did I mention their daycare is directly en route to Challenge course number four?

4. Forest Frolic

It made the most sense logistically to hit up the Virgil trails after dropping the kids off in Dryden. Kennedy State Forest and the Forest Frolic Trail Run is where I got my start in trail running in the summer of 2011, so the locale has always had special meaning for me. 

It was now 9:00 a.m. and about 15° warmer than my first few runs, but the forest's shady singletrack and cool, steady breezy kept me comfortable. Since this was one of the longer Challenge courses, I took the Nathan Trail Mix 12L vest my wife and kids got me for Fathers Day a day earlier. I'd use it throughout the day for the runs longer than an hour and was glad for the option to carry so much water as the day heated up.

I took the opening downhill slow, turned left at the crossroads, and ran the front loop clockwise like I normally do during the race. It was a quiet and solitary run. I saw no one except a county employee mowing the grass on the side of Odell Road. I hustled a bit near the end to finish under 1:45. 9 miles, 1:44:43

5. Thom B

You pass the turn up to Hammond Hill on the way back into Ithaca, so it only made sense to do Thom B next. The Hammond Hill DEC trails tend to drain quickly after rainfall, and today was no exception. The heat and cumulative mileage began to take a toll though, and I meandered through the course a lot slower than I'd hoped. 

Two miles in I caught my toe and ate it hard, leaving a one-inch gash in the palm of my right hand and throbbing pain whenever I moved my thumb. I got panicky thinking I might have broken a metacarpal or two. Hours later the pain dulled and there was no swelling but moderate bruising. Probably just a sprained tendon, but it made simple tasks like tying shoes and opening bottles difficult for the rest of the day. I got my legs back for the final two downhill miles and ended on a high note. Due to a problem with my iPhone I couldn't scan the QR code at the end and had to manually adjust my time. 8.5 miles, 1:39:37

6. Pseudo Skunk Cabbage

I fully expected Pseudo Skunk to spoil all my fun. 13.1 miles of Ithaca's meandering backroads with no tree cover and cars whizzing by left and right was sure to be the bane of my existence. Well at least the sun kept its face hidden instead of beating down mercilessly to incinerate my soul.  

Five minutes into the run I crossed paths with FLRC Challenge race director Adam Engst. Adam paced me for a mile on his ElliptiGO while I updated him on the day's progress. 

The half marathon's remaining miles were a slog, especially the gradual uphills. Nothing to do but grind it out. At mile 10, ominous clouds and rumblings to the northeast kept me on my guard, but all I got was a brief sprinkle of rain. At other times I'd feel it sprinkling before realizing it was sweat raining down from my own head.

I finished the 13.1 and was rewarded with a text message invitation from Adam to cool down in the pond at his house, which happened to be only a two-minute drive away. It turned out to be objectively the most refreshing swim of all time and got me in a better mindset for the next stop—Danby. 13.1 miles, 2:20:55

7. Danby Down & Dirty

Danby State Forest is out of the way compared to most of the other Challenge venues and the course is the most technical with the most elevation change per mile. Still, I thought I could be off the trails before the expected severe thunderstorm wreaked havoc on the area. Turns out I was wrong. 

Halfway up the big climb to the pinnacles the sky opened up and I was met with a monsoon. The trail quickly became a fast-flowing stream while thunder boomed in Dolby 5.1 surround sound with the subwoofer cranked to 11. I was way more terrified of getting crushing by falling trees than being fried by lightening, but the wind was actually pretty dull. Survival instinct kicked in and I began running uphill, devoid of all fatigue. I ran almost every step back down to the car and by the time I scanned the finish line code the storm had devolved to a pleasant moderate rain. 6 miles, 1:19:41 

8. Tortoise & Hare

The New York state parks don't want people on their trails after dark so I had to get through the Tortoise before sunset. On the drive back into town I got several texts about a power outage in my neighborhood. I pulled into lower Buttermilk and called Hayley to check on the status. She and the kids were okay—the power was out for a few hours and had since been restored. She said she didn't need me to stop home, so I said goodnight to the boys and set off at Tortoise pace up the hill. 

The Tortoise & Hare was the most pleasant of all the runs. The rain noticeably dropped the air temperature and scared people off the normally crowded trails. I found some new energy and, all things considered, made good time up the hill, past the lake, and back—turtle's pace all the way down. Ditching my pack for a handheld bottle made it feel so much easier. 5.4 miles, 1:08:42

9. Waterfront Trail

The "trail" in the title is deceiving—it's actually a flat, paved bike path. I switched to dry socks and shoes and left all my gear in the car for an easy jaunt. It wasn't long before I faced an obstacle course. The storm had blown dozens of huge trees across the path and damaged the suspension bridge over the inlet. Pedestrians milled about, surveying the damage. I jogged ahead while a few warned me the bridge was unpassable. 

I started to despair, thinking I wouldn't be able to complete this course—and therefor the Ultra Challenge—after having already run eight courses and 50-something miles on the day. It would be like getting pulled at mile 50 of a 100k race even though you're far ahead of the cutoff. 

I was actually able to climb through the downed trees and make it through without risking my well being. The bridge surface wasn't damaged—only some of the railings were. A random dude with a mullet perm started ranting about poison ivy trees up ahead. I wasn't sure if he was making any sense, but I was careful to avoid touching leaves as I picked my way over a few more tree trunks. 

The Waterfront Trail course is an out-and-back, so I'd have to do it all again. After clearing the hurdles I made haste to avoid having to climb over the trees in the dark. I got to the finish in time to see the vivid orange sunset over Cayuga Lake. 3.1 miles, 34:44

Waterfront Trail, the morning after the run.

10. Black Diamond Trail

At last, the finale. I saved the BDT for last because I knew I wouldn't finish all the courses by sundown and this was the easiest of the longer ones to manage in the dark. I medicated with Mountain Dew on the drive over and crossed my fingers that I'd still be able to sleep at night. 

Shuffling along at a steady 11-minute pace was easy enough. I thought I'd be so beat by now that the climax would become a long, painful walk, but zoning out and just running felt natural. I tried to do the math and calculate what my total run time would be if I clocked two hours on the BDT, but in the moment the numbers weren't making much sense. 

The Black Diamond is always fun to run by headlamp—seeing reflectors on the trailhead gates from a distance triggers eerily strong feelings of the early nighttime hours at any 100-miler I've done. Something about the long day of bipedalism, solitude on the trail, and sense of accomplishment combine to trigger a wave of happy, peaceful emotion that I can best associate with a headlamp beam reflecting off a yellow gate. 

I cruised back in to the trailhead and scanned the final QR code. 65.5 miles done and no one to greet me at the finish line but a starry sky and a cool breeze coming off the lake. 10 miles, 1:54:45

Done.

Postscript

The FLRC Ultra Challenge was a much different experience than any race or run I've done before. Coming from a trail background the courses themselves aren't that hard. But the mental load of managing logistics like driving, eating, drinking, and gear and clothing changes sapped some energy. Deciding what order to run the courses is like reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book—everyone get's a similar but different experience, and your choices vastly affect the outcome of your race. I'm not familiar with any other race that follows the Ultra Challenge's format. 

If you decide to attempt the Ultra Challenge, I strongly recommend planning out your day in advance instead of deciding in the moment when to run each course. While running, you'll have plenty of time to think about what gear and food you'll need for the next leg so you won't need to waste much time sitting still at the car. You can eat, drink, and rest your legs while driving. And the rules allow crew and pacers if you want, so you can better rest in the car and run with friends to avoid getting lost on unfamiliar trails. 

Thanks you to Adam Engst and the Finger Lakes Runners Club for being awesome and keeping this thing going all year long!

Numbers

Total miles run: 65.3
Total time on the courses: 12:20:44
Average pace: 11:21
Total elapsed time: 18:40:17
Total elevation gain, per Strava: 6,066 feet
Miles driven: 107
Ounces of Wegmans MVP Sports Drink consumed: 96