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

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

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

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

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