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

Definitely Maybe: Cayuga Trails 2015

Over the past few weeks I've been on a kick listening to one of my favorite bands of all time - the one and only Oasis. The short drive from my house to the starting area found me blasting several of the band's more up-tempo tunes to get pumped and ready to rock. As if that wasn't enough, I had an array of Oasis songs playing in my head throughout the race like some bi-polar DJ performing a freestyle mash-up for the first time. Amazingly, it seems many of the Gallagher brothers' songs fit the tone of the race and reference themes that I revisited throughout the day (albeit when taken out of context). What, then, could one of most most successful and iconic rock bands in history have in common with a bunch of grungy, sweaty weirdos running through the woods? I mean, what's the story, morning glory?

Hello! It's good to be back!

On the starting line, once again surrounded by 200 plus trail runners, I took a good look around. Strangely enough, it felt like only yesterday since I last toed the line at the Cayuga Trails 50. The day's forecast seemed to change every hour, and last I checked it was expected to be cloudy with scattered rain showers. Nobody ever mentions the weather can make or break your day. We could only hope the stairs wouldn't be too slick and the mud would be minimal. Some might say we will find a brighter day. 

After five long months of training and preparations we'd finally be setting off in under a minute's time. I intentionally stood near the back of the pack to avoid going out too fast, and was so far back I couldn't hear the traditional sounding of Ian's ram's horn as the countdown clock reached 00:00:00. Little things they make me so happy, but it's good to be free.

Thom B 52K Race Report

The morning of Saturday, May 10, saw the inaugural running of the Thom B Trail Runs 52k. The event itself has taken place for the past fourteen years as a 13k and 26k that are part of the Finger Lakes Runners Club Trail Circuit, but this was the first time the four-lap, 52k race was held. The plan was to shoot for a five-hour finish, while using the race as a long training run to test gear and fueling strategies for the upcoming Cayuga Trails 50 three weeks later. I did not intend to race hard today, and aimed for 5:00, or 1:15 per loop.

At 7:00 a.m., fourteen trail enthusiasts took the starting line for the four loops through Hammond Hill State Forest in Dryden, NY. Consisting of dirt roads, single track, ski trails and snowmobile trails, I was expecting a muddy slogfest due in no small part to the heavy rain of the previous two days. After a few words of caution and a few words of thanks, the early morning din of chirping birds and rustling leaves was suddenly disrupted by the race director's shout of "Thom B says go!" followed by the shouts and cheers of the fourteen runners.

The course started off uphill on a dirt road. The leader took off and—spoiler alert—I never saw him again until the finish line. Justin Trana and I settled into a "chase" pack at a comfortable pace and chatted for most of the first 7.8-mile loop. To the delight of my shoes and socks, the mud was minimal and the trails were entirely runnable. Towards the end of the loop, I