Crescent Trail Self-Supported FKT

So this is what I do on my day off now, when Hayley's at work. The idea was to do a long run someplace I'd never been that I could complete and be home by dinner time. The Crescent Trail in Perinton, NY, just south of Rochester, looked cool so I drove up there for the day. Monday, May 21, called for beautiful weather and I had nothing else planned for the day. I was also feeling well rested two weeks removed from the North Face ECSNY 50 at Bear Mountain, and wanted to get this run in before leaving for vacation in the Outer Banks.

The trail as listed as one of several Fastest Known Times (FKT) on Eric and Sheila Eagan's Trail Methods FKT Regional Zone. Following the site's rules and attempting the FKT was more of an afterthought. The time to beat was 6:51:20, and it seemed reasonable to better that time without running the route at race effort. There are a few different FKT categories listed on the website. I decided on the two-way, self-supported run, meaning I'd run a 35-mile out-and-back route without relying on any outside help. I carried all my own food, water, and gear, aside from a hidden water jug

A Weekend on The Ridge

The Springlerack Fat Ass is basically a long, off-road group run through the Mohonk Preserve and Minnewaska State Park on the Shawangunk Ridge. It's a chance to see some pretty cool scenery while completing a challenging route. On a clear day atop the 2,200-foot ridge, one can see the vast expanse of Hudson Valley to the east and the Catskill High Peaks to the west. Runner's can start at whatever time they want, with the goal of everyone finishing around 4 p.m. This was Mike Siudy's fifth year organizing the run.

The trails were closed in the western potion of Minnewaska thanks to a forest fire last summer. That meant this year's Springletrack was a modified, shorter course. We were to run from Spring Farm in the Mohonk Preserve down to the Jenny Lane parking lot on Route 44/55—a distance of about 20 miles. The traditional Springletrack course is about 25 miles, traversing over High Point, through Witch's Hole State Forest, and finishing further east at Berme Road Park in Ellenville.

I ran the fat ass with my friend Adam two years ago, and we ran together again this year. The weather was unbelievably nice in 2015, with some great views from atop the Shawangunk Ridge and trails that were mostly dry. We weren't so fortunate this time around. Temperatures were in the low-to-mid 30s and most of the singletrack was covered in mud or

Oil Creek 100 Course Scouting

With the Oil Creek 100 on the horizon, I decided to hunker down and get serious about preparing for the race in order to set myself up for a sub-24 hour finish. Two weekends ago, with t-minus four weeks until game time, I drove out to the course to get familiar with it. I'd never been to Oil Creek State Park in Western Pennsylvania, and only knew the course as it is presented on the race website. With Hayley out of town and me with no other commitments, it seemed like an opportune moment to get a few long runs in on the course during the peak of my training.

The Oil Creek 100 consists of three 50K loops around the park. Each loop starts and ends at Titusville Middle School. Runners follow a mile and a half of paved roads and bike paths to the trailhead, traverse the park loop comprised of mostly rolling singletrack, then finish the loop following the bike path and roads back to the school. Three such loops total only 93 miles, so runners then must complete the seven mile "Going Home Loop" to finish the distance. This mini loop follows the same bike path as before, plus five new miles of singletrack. The event also boasts a single loop 50K race and a two-loop 100K. The 100 mile race is a Western States qualifier, and serves as the RRCA 100 Mile Championship race for the state

Slide Mountain Wilderness

Another Friday off from work, so that meant time for another adventure run. My drug of choice this week was the Catskills High Peaks Region - a return trip after a long absence to one of my favorite hiking regions in New York State. I had mapped out a route for the Slide Mountain Wilderness loop, similar to a run I'd done a few years ago. I'd start and finish at the Denning Road Parking Area while traversing Slide, Cornell and Wittenberg Mountains in a counterclockwise direction. The route would include an brief out-and-back to the Terrace Mountain lean-to, (just to see what's there), and an out-and-back up Giant Ledge to the summit of Panther Mountain. From there, I'd return to the car via Oliverea Road and the Phoenicia East Branch Trail. The weather outlook was mostly sunny with a high of 70, so everything was good to go. Coincidentially, this was the same day that I mailed my waiver and entry fee for Manitou's Revenge, which would be my first trail race in the Catskills. The proposed route also covered most of Red Newt Racing's Cat's Tail Marathon - a point to point trail race around the Slide Mountain Wilderness.

Panoramic view from atop Cornell Mountain

The trail climbs gradually up into the wilderness from the Denning Road Parking Area. The first few miles aren't very technical, and I made a mental note that I'd have a blast later on when running down this stretch to the car. At about 1.2 miles the trail reaches a junction where one can take a right to climb Table and Peakamoose Mountains, two of the Catskills High Peaks. My course split to the left though, following the Long Path, and I continued on to another junction

Point 2 Point

Something can be said about the merit of a long, point-to-point trail run. A few weeks ago I decided to create my own adventure run on the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), with a route mapped out that would take me from Brooktondale to my house in the City of Ithaca. The run was to be self supported, so I stashed a jug a water just off the road at what would be the 10 mile point of the route. The mindset was markedly different from a typical long run, since I would be getting further and further from my car and eventually it would be easier to continue on ahead, rather than turn back, if anything went majorly awry. Additionally, I would be following trail blazes and a paper map through some forest areas I'm only vaguely familiar with.

Planning for a long day on my feet with an element of adventure, I parked at the trailhead on the east side of Shindagin Hollow State Forest. From there, I'd follow the FLT west through Shindagin Hollow and Danby State Forest, then north to Lick Brook. At the Sweedler Preserve at Lick Brook, I'd leave the main FLT and follow the Buttermilk Falls Spur Trail east

Letchworth State Park: The Grand Canyon of the East

While Upstate New York is home to many beautiful parks, forests, and wilderness areas, there are none quite as popular as Letchworth State Park. Nicknamed "The Grand Canon of the East," and rightly so, it is the most visited of New York's 180 state parks.

On the western edge of New York's Finger Lakes region, the Genesee River cuts through many miles of bedrock to create a gorge that exceeds 600 feet in depth within the park boundaries. The river snakes and winds through the gorge, forming three major waterfalls along the way before reaching the Mount Morris Dam near the northeast end of the park. In a 2015 USA Today reader's poll, Letchworth was voted the best state park in the entire country. (Watkins glen State Park, also in the Finger Lakes, took the bronze in the same poll.)

Since this blog focuses primarily on off-road running, you may be asking yourself impatiently "Sure, but what about the trails?" Well, Letchworth boasts over 60 miles of trails inside the park proper