Finger Lakes Fifties, Part 1

Run: 31 miles in approximately 5:31:43 min. @ 6:30 a.m.
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 65°F, 70% Humidity, Wind: SW @ 10 mph; feels like 65°F.
Pace: Loop 1--9:39 min./mi, Loop 2--13:31 min./mi
Course(s): 50K (two loops) on forest trails, roads & pastures in the Finger Lakes National Forest, Hector, NY.
Official Results: Available Here.

Waking up a little before 4 a.m., I had my traditional pre-race "breakfast" of granola with raisins and two cups of coffee. Roughly a half an hour later, Anne and I set off on the hour drive from her parents camper in bath to the race location in Hector. the evening before we had made the trip to be sure of the amount of time we would need (we had some conflicting estimated times from Webquest and Yahoo maps), and also picked up my race number and scouted out the course a little. As suggested on the registration, there really was very little of the course (and race) which could be viewed given the nature of the trails and density of the Forest.


I was pleased to see a few other runners from the Rochester area, and having slept well the night before, was excited to get going. I had three goals that ran though my mind as I mentally prepared at the starting line: finish better than 5:30 (the same time as my previous ultra), enjoy the run and avoid getting lost on the trails. In order to meet the third goal, I'd told my wife (who was concerned about my inability to follow some trail flashes) I would latch onto someone about my pace.


Fortunately, the trails were very well marked using both wooden planks with orange arrows (as above) screwed into trees, as well as both smaller plastic arrows adhered to posts and red ribbon tied to branches.

After about three miles into the course, I settled into a pace directly behind a runner who had traveled with his family from Washington, DC, Daryl. He proved to be an excellent guide of sorts, as he had run the course before and was a veteran of numerous ("so many I've lost count") ultra runs. His camaraderie on the first loop was key in helping maintain a strong pace, one which I felt was fast for a 50k, and was surprised to find that ("if conditions don't get too sloppy") he had intended to extend the run to 50 miles!


There were a number of unique aspects to the course (which consisted of two 15 mile loops that equated to a single 50k (there was also the option to continue onto a third loop and shorter fourth if one (not me, thanks!) chose to run a 50 miler. The oddest was the four (five?)pastures through which the course ran. We had been warned at the start to be prepared for possibly "running into" both cows and bulls and that it was mandatory that we close and lock each gate after we pass through it.

Though we saw a number of cows in the pastures, it wasn't until going through the first pasture of the second loop that it was necessary to "shoo" a group of ten cows off the trail so we could get through.

The trails were particularly sloppy during the first loop, a situation that only became more challenging in the second. Though the course fairly be described as "fast" on a good weather day (the sun did come and go, and the temperatures were favorable it had rained much of the previous week and night) nearly half of all trails were wet and muddy resulting in (by the second loop) the need to high-knee through calf-deep puddles of thick mud. Nearly half way through the second loop, I recognised that here would be no PR today. This set well with me as my goal of having a good run and enjoying it was well on its way to be accomplished. The "time thing" quickly became secondary...

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!