Rosaryville Veterans Day 50K - November 11, 2023

Jeanne sings the National Anthem while Justin holds the flag.

Return to Rosaryville

I last ran the Rosaryville Veterans Day 50K five years ago (race report here). Returning is a bit of a last minute decision, delaying registration until I'm certain that the weather will be pleasant. Since I wasn't planning to run it, I haven't done any organized training, but figure that the DC Road Runners 20-miler on September 24, along with my usual weekly running, is adequate. 

Jon and Stephanie
with Rebecca in front (obscured) 

Only after registering do I discover that the course has changed from the course I ran seven times previously. That course was notoriously short, likely 29 miles rather than 31.1 miles. But now the course is much closer to the 31.1 miles that equal 50K. The difference comes from replacing the .7 mile run on the park road to the finish with 2.25 miles on the 3-loop peremeter trail to the finish.  

In addition, there are now cutoffs.  There is an intermediate cutoff of 5:20 to start the third loop (about mile 21.6) and an overall 8 hour cutoff to finish.  I email the race director and he says they are hard cu-offs designed to save the volunteers from having to put in an even longer day. I understand, but have concerns about making them, particularly the final cutoff.

Running with Friends

At the start I meet Caroline and Stephanie and Jon, and Stephanie's friend Rebecca.  Caroline is her usual outgoing self, talking with old friends and making new ones.  Staphanie is there as a training run for a 100-miler in January, as is Rebecca.

In the first loop
(Photo by J. Valentine)

The five of us start together and stay together thru the first aid station.  On the way Jon takes an easy fall and is quickly up unhurt. I deliver my usual quip, "It isn't a trail run unless you fall down or get lost."

Jon tells how he fostered a dog, and then would up adopting it.

I figure if I stay with this group I'll make the cut-offs as they are all experienced ultra - and 100 mile - runners and I tell them of my fear of the cutoffs which they pretty much waive off  as unfounded.  Still, I am concerned that my usual "fly and die" running method could fail me.

As part of my plan to conserve time I do not linger at the first aid station. Grab some potato chips and cookies and keep moving, walking while eating.

Caroline comes with me while the other three linger.  I figure if I stay ahead of them I'm in good shape. The sun starts to break through the bit of overcast and the forest turns to yellow-gold.  The two of us exchange trail talk, and it isn't long before the leaders of the 20K race, who started a half hour after us, come flying by.

We reach the second aid station at the point where we entered the loop and I repeat my grab and go technique.  Caroline lingers, and it is the last I see of her during the day.

Not an aid station

Chasing the Clock

I've taken a few pictures during the first loop, but time for lingering is over. I run with Rebecca and a couple of other runners. One expresses concern that while the pre-race packet said the two-loop cutoff was 5:20, the race director announced it as 5:15 at his pre-race brief.

The course is single track, mostly in the woods, with a couple of crossings of a grassy power line right of way.  It rolls up and down and has a generous amount of fallen leaves to require one to be alert for hidden roots.

The cool temperatures at the start led me to wear my harlequin tights as they are fairly comfortable even when the weather warms up, as it does today.  By the second loop I had removed my outer shirt and soon enough had pushed up the long sleeves of the first shirt. But chasing cutoffs allows no time to stop to remove the tights.

The tights are distinctive and I get several complements from runners. Always on the prowl for new people to tell old stories to, I tell how they were made for me by Hall of Fame ultrarunner Eric Clifton, for whom Hoka Cliftons are named.

A little over between the two aid stations the leader of the 50K flies by. He finishes in 4:48, only 12 minutes slower than it takes me to complete two loops.

Having completed two loops, I now need to go the quarter loop to get to the start of the third and final loop. It seems to go on forever with the clock ticking closer to the cutoff. Rebecca is confident that we will make it but I'm not, so I push on.

The first, third and fifth aid station.
Bacon and pireogies the latter two visits.

Finally, at about 5:12 I make it. In response to an inquiry the volunteers there say they don't know what the cutoff is.  As I go past, the race director appears and I tell him of the discrepency in the cutoff times. Since I'm already on my way, I don't hear his response. But six runners were behind me, and three finished in over eight hours, so I suppose the cutoff was not as strictly enforced as I feared.

Into the third loop I continue to consult my GPS device and try to calculate what pace I must maintian to finish in 8 hours.  It holds steady in the 17 minute/mile range and then gradually starts to creep upward, meaning I'm going faster that the necessary pace.  

It is reassuring, but I don't let up. Aid stations are still grab and go, but for the first aid station, that means freshly fried bacon on the second loop and bacon and pierogies on the third instead of chips and cookies.

The race is run counterclockwise and there are small groups of mountain bikers riding clockwise.  With the exception of an encounter at one blind turn, it gives runners and bikers a good chance to see each other. Both groups of trail users are polite and take turns giving the other the right of way.  I encounter one group of riders three times.

 

Running to the camera
(photo by J. Valentine)

Finish

Leaving the final aid station (mile 29) I have an hour to finish the final quarter loop of about two miles.  While I'm now pretty confident about finishing in under eight hours I keep up the pace. I remain a bit ahead of Rebecca and Marvin. 

Only when I make the left turn off the trail and onto the field  with the finish in sight, do I ease up, stop running and begin walking.  Rebecca runs past, then Marvin.  A few people cheer as I near the finish line, and I run the last few yards, as one doesn't want the photographer to capture visual proof of walking. Across the mats I run right at the photographer seated in a chair as if about to run into him, veering off at the last second.

A volunteer removes the chip from my shoe while I sit in a chair to recover.

I get a bit of finish line food, negotiate a trade of the 50K finisher's travel mug for a 20K beer glass and head off to Bojangles for a spicy chicken sandwich before driving home. 

Results

I finish in 7:37:55 (chip time; 7:38:06 gun time), 54 of 60 overall; and first, last and only in my age group at an average pace of 14:55/mile. Caroline is DFL at 8:16 but still good enough to be first military veteran female and first in her age group. There are eight DNFs, including Jon and Stephanie who complete two loops.

The timing mats at the entry to the loops give lap times and position for the runners after 0.7 mile. What's particularly remarkable is that finishing position was pretty much determined that early in the race.  With the exception of a runner who started late, no one's position at the finish is more than three places different from what it was less than a mile into the race, and most are within one or two positions. I was 52 entering the loops and finished 54.

My splits:          

The start to the loop: 7:11 (ET 0:7:11)

First loop: 2:08:21 (ET 2:15:31)   

Second loop:  2:21:26 (ET 4:36:57)

Third loop: 2:23:55 (ET 7:00:52)

Quarter loop to finish: 37:02 (ET 7:37:55)  

Swag:Buff, sticker, bib, pint glass, wrist band

Finger Lakes 50s 50K - June 24, 2023

We've Been Here Before

This is my third time running Finger Lakes 50s 50K, having done it it 2007 and last year (report here). Emaad is doing with me, having done the 25K in 2007.

He drives us up on Friday, we go directly to packet pickup at the race start/finish at the Potomac Group Campground in Finger Lakes National Forest, then take the 20 minute drive to my Watkins Glen house, where we greet Sandy, who came up a few days earlier, and go out to eat.  It is Fish Fry Friday, a weekly western New York tradition, but both of us choose alternatives, rather than risk digestive discontent the night before a race.

Nevertheless, sleep for both of us is unsettled, a normal occurrence before a race, and matches the  weather, which threatens showers, thundershowers or rain.

Up at 0500, we have a bite to eat, and drive to the forest under gloomy skies.  We park along Potomac Road as instructed, walk to the campground to check-in and walk back to the road for the 0630 start.

First Loop

View to the southeast from Burnt Hill Trail early on.

The race director gives some last minute instructions, including the traditional "don't let the cows out" admonition with the instruction that unless the next runner's hand is on the gate, don't be polite, just close and lock it.

Don't let the cows out.
(Photo by E. Burki)

We head down Potomac Road, allowing the 68 runners in the 50K (from nine states and one foreign country) and the 38 50-milers (eight states) to spread out. Forty-four (?) 25K runners (four states) will start later. A right turn puts us on single track, including through some high grass (I immediately remember I forgot bug spray to fend off ticks), then across a road and through a pasture (without any cows). I snap a picture of what on clear days is a good view, but today is obscured by clouds. 

We run down unpaved Mark Smith Road and at nearly 4 miles there is water-only aid, manned by a volunteer recording bib numbers. A right turn off the road (map of the national forest here) puts us on the Gorge Trail. For nearly the next ten miles the course is generally uphill until the final aid station with about 3 miles to go for a total of 16.5 miles.

So now you are thinking: 50K is 31.1 miles, so one loop should be 15.5 miles, not 16.5 miles. But on this course each loop is 16.5 miles. First, in ultras, the distance is whatever the race director says it is. Secondly, since this course is used for both the 50K and the 50M, three loops of 16.5 makes 49.5 miles, so the additional "baby loop" to get to 50 miles only has to be a half mile.  For those doing the 50K, the additional nearly two miles is a free bonus.

Humid on the first loop.

It is a prototypical eastern trail: rocky, rooty, twisty and up and down. It requires a bit of adjustment from our Grand Canyon Rim-to-River journey two weeks earlier. Fortunately the trail is mostly dry and the stream crossings are not a challenge. The views are - well, views of the inside of a forest. Perhaps spoiled by the magnificent vistas of the Grand Canyon, the trail lacks interest for Emaad and me.

Once in a while there is a chance for a view, but the misty weather takes that away. We experience a couple of light showers, but they are not heavy and the forest canopy catches most of them. Grey clouds are not scenic.  The air clears a bit on the second loop, but not enough to provide sweeping sights.

But you have to play the hand you are dealt (folding is not an option), so we go on, doing the gorge loop, then up the Interloken Trail to the Ravine Trail - steep downhill followed by steep uphill, a bit of Picnic Area Road past another volunteer checking bibs, then onto the Backbone Trail. It is a largely straight and smooth horse trail, but we don't come across any equestrians, and it is a chance to do some actual sustained running.

Me and cows.
(Photo by E. Burki)

We arrive at the final aid station and go thru a gate into a pasture with cows. Exiting the pasture, I realize that I have lost my Arizona Trail handkerchief. I figure I can look for it on the second loop.

By now we have been passed by the leaders of the 25K race. No matter. We turn south onto the Interloken Trail, run on the various boardwalks there (being careful of where they are slippery, and occasionally bouncy). We skirt a couple of ponds and shortly arrive at the finish area in 4:19.

Emaad and I go to our drop bags. He changes socks and shoes while I change my shirt and grab another handkerchief.

Second Loop

 We have been running for miles with a local husband-wife couple since early in the first loop. They work at wineries and we chat about wine. One works at Lakewood Vineyards, which makes a Lemberger that Sandy is particularly fond of. We get an advance review of the 2022 vintage, which has not yet been released, but is reportedly good, with overtones of white pepper.

Juvenile Eastern Newt on Mark Smith Road.

Headed down Mark Smith Road the second time Emaad spots an bright orange gummi on the ground.  I see the same thing as a child's toy.  We are both wrong, as the Eastern Newt eft takes some steps away from us.

At one of the aid stations the volunteer checking bibs tells Emaad he had been recorded as being a DNF at the finish area. Clearly that isn't the case and the volunteer says he will radio in a correction.

Someplace along the South Slope Trail I find a timing chip that has somehow torn off the back of a runner's bib. Some runner isn't going to be recorded as finishing. In about a mile we reach an aid station and I turn it in.  As I do, a runner comes in with a well worn bib and says it may be his. Sure enough, the bib and chip numbers match and the aid station workers give it to him.

I'm not enjoying the uphill slog again and I repeatedly urge Emaad to go on.  Finally he does, and I'm left to go on myself.  I don't mind as I'm mostly walking, but I do urge myself to run on the Backbone Trail. 

Looking west in the afternoon. Still misty and cloudy.

Since it is straight I play games with myself, looking ahead to a point that I will run to.  Then, as I approach it, I'll switch to another point further along.  It's a under-promise, over-deliver strategy.  

Every now and then I'm passed by z 50-mile runner on their third loop. Ultimately, five of them will finish their race before I've finished mine.

Approaching the final aid station I search the ground for my missing handkerchief without luck. I enquire at the aid station but no one has turned one in. And a search passing through the pasture is likewise futile.

I go on the last few miles, pushing a bit to finish under 9:20. Approaching the finish, I see the clock in the high 9:17s. I sprint hoping to be under 9:18, but just fail, finishing in 9:18:01.  Emaad was waiting for me, having finished in 9:00:29.

By the Numbers

My splits were 4:19 and 4:59. I was 60 of 68 overall, 35 of 38 males, and first (and only) in my age group. I was the oldest runner by four years. 

Swag: bib, shirt, glass, wooden medal.

Grand Canyon Rim to River - June 10, 2023

Good advice

 Preparation

Our original plan was to run from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon down to the Colorado River and then up to the North Rim, and return the next day. Severe winter weather damaged the North Kaibab Trail and the need for repairs closed the last couple of miles of the trail below the rim.  In addition, the rock slides that damaged the trail also destroyed the water line to the Grand Canyon Hotel on the North Rim, closing it until well after our planned arrival on June 10.

We decided on doing a rim-to-river run from the South Rim instead, as we had flights and the hard-to-get South Rim hotel reservations in place, and it would still give us a change to see the canyon. Deferral risks never doing it.

Having no experience in running in the Grand Canyon, and only only one brief visit to the South Rim in 2017 we turn to others for advice as to preparation.

Ready to go!

Our Arizona friend Cathy has run rim-to-rim and rim-to-river in the past, and she enthusiastically agrees to join us and recruit others for the adventure. She provides invaluable advice as to preparation, including clothing, hydration, nutrition and equipment. I supplement that by joining several Facebook groups dedicated to hiking and running rim-to-rim in the Grand Canyon.

On South Kaibab.
(Photo by E. Burki)

Frequent running partner Emaad and I add some hill work to prepare for the descending and ascending that the run will entail - 4860 feet down South Kaibab Trail, and 4460 feet up Bright Angel Trail, according to the National Park Service, but there really anything we can do to replicate the Grand Canyon. We run once at Sugarloaf Mountain, and I spend some time on a treadmill at 20% incline, but it is more like a pro forma effort rather than a serious one.

The other parts of the preparation are serious. June 10 is summer at the Grand Canyon and temperatures at or above 100 at the bottom are the norm. So hydration involves a backpack filled with 56 ounces of Gatorade and two water bottles, each with 16 ounces of water for the start. Fuel is a waist belt filled with gels, shot blocs and various sorts of bars totaling 2000 calories. A long sleeve shirt, to provide warmth at the start (it can be chilly before sunrise at 7000 feet), then coverage from the sun later, and something to wet down during the climb out. A cooling towel, hat and handkerchief, to block the sun and to provide for wetting down for cooling. Trekking poles, to transfer weight from the legs to the arms during the ascent. Gaiters, to keep sand and dirt out of the shoes.

Hard to see South Kaibab switchbacks.
(Photo by E. Burki)

Down South Kaibab

Jim, with Cathy beside him, pick up Emaad, Kevin and I outside Maswik Lodge at 0445 and drives us to a trail near the turnoff near Yaki Point Road (closed to vehicles). Native American music plays in the car on the way, surprisingly both soothing and appropriate. We exit the vehicle and thank him, and walk the quarter mile or so to the South Kaibab Trailhead. The temperature is about 40 degrees, but doesn't feel particularly chilly.

Obligatory photos taken and restrooms used, we head down at 0504. I've brought a headlamp, but there is no need for it in the predawn light. We immediately head down a series of switchbacks as we move away from the rim. The trail is broad and smooth, without any of the rocks and roots that are endemic on eastern trials, but with steps that make developing a running rhythm difficult. Stopping to take photographs also disrupts the running, but we are here to experience the canyon, not to race.

We pass a Park Ranger headed up.  He had gone down in response to a call about a women in distress but whatever was the problem has been resolved.  Later, on Bright Angel Trail, we see signs warning hikers and tourists, "down is optional, up is mandatory."

O'Neill Point.

South Kaibab does not disappoint in that regard.  The descent is along a ridge into the canyon, so there are views in all directions. Ahead and below is O'Neill Butte, and then we skirt around it (about mile 2) and continue down. In another mile we are at Skeleton Point where we pause for more photos before descending another series of switchbacks.

Cathy and Emaad take in the
view on South Kaibab.

I chat with a hiker ascending the trail.  He is wearing a shirt remembering his deceased father, and tells me he has hiked down the trail in his memory, as it was something he loved to do.

A mile and a half later (and 900 feet lower) we arrive at The Tipoff where we take advantage of the toilet facilities. We chat we hikers whom we have been leapfrogging since leaving the rim. 

My legs are feeling wobbly. I'm not feeling dizzy or otherwise exhibiting signs of heat-related or stress issues and am not have trouble moving, but when I stop I'm having trouble balancing.  I take out my trekking poles which I was saving for the ascent, figuring they will be useful now.

Kevin takes off, and we will see him next at Phantom Ranch. Emaad and Cathy are pulling away from me, but the keep an eye out for me and occasionally wait for me to catch up to them.

Read the last sentence: "42 men . . ."

We finally spot the Colorado River far below, and marvel as to how we will get there.  But another series of steeper descents and switchbacks brings us toward the tunnel to the Kaibab Bridge.

Emaad and Cathy wait for me there, but before I reach them on the switchbacks, I slowly lose my balance and gently fall/sit on one of the steps.  I try to use my poles to stand, fail, and try and fail again. A hiker comes by and offers a hand to pull me up, which I gladly accept.

A Community Helps 

We were not the first here.

More picture taking and we cross the bridge. I stop to take pictures of Native American ruins and a sign commemorating the construction of the bridge.

Forty yards later I see Cathy sitting on the ground and blood running down her shin.  She had fallen and a rock had sliced an inch-long cut in her leg.  Emaad takes out his first aid kit, applies antiseptic and a gauze pad to cover the wound and stop the bleeding. But he doesn't have any tape to hold it in place.  We ask a passing hiker and he provides a roll of elastic open weave tape. Emaad wraps it around Cathy's leg, and then discovers that he left his mini-Swiss Army knife in his room. He tries to rip it with his teeth but that does not work.  We ask the next hiker if he has a knife and he produces one. First aid successfully completed, we go on to Phantom Ranch (mile 7.5), arriving about 0910, where we meet up with Kevin.  He has taken a soak in the Colorado River before going to Phantom Ranch.

Approaching South Kaibab Bridge.

After the traditional lemonade there, and spending several minutes sitting and snacking, I mail pre-written and stamped postcards so they can be carried out by mule (the only way to supply the camp). We top up our water and I add a lemonade to one of my handhelds. Cathy notes that the temperature is 90 degrees, an observation greeted with relief, as summer temperatures there routinely exceed 100 degrees. On the way down the trail, Kevin steps off the trail to soak in Bright Angel Creek.

We turn right to cross the other bridge across the Colorado and get on the River Trail.  Kevin takes off. (We won't see him again until we are having a bite to eat hours later at Maswik Lodge and he comes in clean, dressed and with his wife and son).

Cathy has warned us that the River Trail is largely level and sandy. I meditate that the river had deposited the sand there when its flow was free, before completion of the Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. We turn up a bit (every step up now is one less later, I think), but then descend again, meaning we will have to reclimb that bit again.  There are rafts on the river, and some are pulled to the shore below us.

Mules have the right of way.
(Photo by C. Blessing.)

After about a half mile we step aside for a mule train, headed by a pair of wranglers, on its way to Phantom Ranch. The mules ignore us and pass by.

Up Bright Angel

Finally (about mile 9.5) we reach the River Resthouse.  We refill our water, soak our hats, towels and sleeves in Pipe Creek and chat with the ranger stationed there.

Now it is time to go up.  My legs have entirely recovered - going up is easier than going down. Up we go. Bright Angel Trail follows the Pipe Creek drainage and crosses the creek several times, with us wetting ourselves down at every opportunity. 

(An aside here - why is this Bright Angel Trail?  Bright Angel Creek is at least a mile upstream and on the other side of the Colorado River. Bright Angel Trail follows Pipe Creek and Garden Creek. The trail that follows Bright Angel Creek is the North Kaibab Trail.) 

Every time we look up, the rim looks no closer, even after we have climbed 2000 feet in elevation. And it looks impossible to get there. There is a large red wall looming near the rim and yet another wall closer to us. Eleven miles in a series of switchbacks gets us up the first wall, and a steady uphill allows us to climb 500 feet over the next mile.

Up Bright Angel.

The next mile (only 200 feet of climb) gets us to Havasupai Gardens. As always today, we refill our water, soak our hats, towels and shirts, grab a bite and go on.

Since the trail follows the creek drainage, there are buttes are either side and the views are not as spectacular as those from South Kaibab Trail. Very good, but one has been spoiled by the earlier views, further enhanced by the early morning light. 

I've been lagging behind Emaad and Cathy and they have been waiting for me to catch up. Over the next 1.75 we ascend another 950 feet, including a series of switchbacks, to reach Three Mile Rest. The thermometer there reads 80 degrees at  about 1315. Gaining altitude (2300 feet since River Rest) is lowering the temperature. There is a pavilion, toilets and water there and I sit down.  A hiker strikes up a conversation about my Leki trekking poles, a brand he highly praises. Emaad grows impatient and is concerned that Cathy may be anxious if Kevin tells Jim about her fall and bloodied leg. I tell him to go on and not wait for me.

Bright Angel Trail.
(Photo by E. Burki.)

By now we are sharing the trail with day hikers. Cathy was playing "bad hiker bingo," filling squares with "person in flip-flops," "person without shirt," "person without water," and the like when she added a new one: a hiker blasting music from a Bluetooth speaker attached to his pack. 

Upward for another 1.5 miles, and more switchbacks (climb another 1000 feet), to One and a Half Mile Rest (16.3 miles at 1405). As always, refill the water, wet down, no hurry, look around at the views, play bad hiker bingo.

Almost done!

I fall in with a trio of hiker/campers and we exchange stories in mutual admiration.  I tell my usual well worn running stories (Emaad isn't their to roll his eyes at another rendition of "Ken's Greatest Hits") and they tell of their love of hiking and camping.  It almost makes me want to camp in the back country, but only if I could get someone to carry all my gear, pitch my tent and cook my food. And that would defeat the wonder of camping in a place far from others.

The last hour to the rim (another 1000 feet of ascent and more switchbacks) goes quickly. Stops to look back at the trail far below continue to amaze at the beauty of the canyon and the wonder of the journey - I was down there! How was that possible!

On the rim I find Emaad and Cathy (they were about 10 minutes ahead) and we recruit a tourist to take our picture at the iconic Bright Angel Trailhead rock. 

By the Numbers

About 18.1 miles in 10:07, according to my GPS.  NPS official distances: From South Kaibab Trailhead to Phantom Ranch, 7.4 miles. Descent from trailhead to the river, 4780 feet, then ascent of about 100 feet to Phantom Ranch. From there to Bright Angel Trailhead, 9.9 miles, ascent of 4460 feet.

My calves were trashed on Sunday, but still walked a couple of miles along the rim trail from Powell Point back to the village. On Monday ran 3.7 miles at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff.

Rim to River Complete!

(Photo by C. Blessing.)

Farm Park Challenge Marathon - May 6, 2023

A beautiful day for a run. 

We Live in an Imperfect World

Less than a minute into the first 5.1 mile out-and back-lap of the Farm Park Challenge Emaad says he forgot his water bottle. Which immediately reminds me that I did likewise.  We both retrieve our bottles at the beginning of the second lap.

Uncharacteristically, Emaad lags behind me on the first lap. As we pass each other on the out-and-back, he tells me that he isn't feeling well and will likely only do two laps.  In the second lap he says he'll do a third, and in the third, catches up with me.  But he knows his body and calls it a day after we finish the third lap together.

As I start to sweat on the second or third lap I'm reminded that I forgot to bring handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat off. My shirt will have to do.

Going to change my long-sleeve shirt at the end of the second lap I rummage in my bag and curse upon finding another long-sleeve shirt that I thought was a short-sleeve one when I packed it.  Fortunately I have another short sleeve shirt in the bag, but for some reason only packed one, rather than extra ones for changing on subsequent laps.

Who needs shoes if
you have ears and a tail?

Midway through the fourth lap I feel chafing on my left nipple. I didn't bring tape and don't have Vaseline along, so it could get worse. An inspired thought - I have lip balm with me. That works.

 Headed back on the fifth lap I spot a woman runner emerging from the woods. "It's a lot easier for you guys," she says as she heads onward.

At the end of the race I collect the beer glass that is the finishers' premium. But unlike previous years, there are no cans of beer to go with it. For whatever reason, the park hasn't granted the race the authority to hand out beer. But Mike offers me a non-alcoholic Athletic Brewing Upside Dawn and I sip it while sitting in his camp chair.

Bridges

The course has three small bridges to cross. Since the weather has been dry there isn't much water in the streams anyway, but the bridges do enable quick and dry crossings.  On the way inbound on one of the laps I notice flagging that indicates that the course wants the runners to go through the stream rather than take the bridge. I only see one person do that, and I use the bridge each time

First bridge

Second bridge

Third bridge

Stream crossing headed to the turn-around.

The Turnaround

The course has only only one small change from last year. The lap has been shortened by about 0.1 of a mile, making it marginally easier for those running the challenges. For the marathon, the final mini-lap has been lengthened accordingly. Also, the last bit of course veers left from Rock Creek Trail and crosses a small stream before the turn-around a hundred yards or so beyond.

Turnaround.

First lap by one of the fields.

Exceed Expectations

The challenge part of the Farm Park Challenge is to get through each 5.1 mile lap in less than an hour, then wait until the start of the next hour to run another lap in under an hour.  There are three challenges: three-, six- and ten-hours. The marathon does not require meeting the one hour per lap, pace, simply finishing 5 laps plus a bit of an extra out-and-back in ten hours.

I may be able to finish one lap in under an hour but that I could doing even three more is unlikely.  Although not necessary for the marathon I want to do the first lap under an hour. And I succeed - barely.  I get through the first lap in 59:51, a mere nine seconds to the good. (My subsequent laps are 64:56, 69: 28, 70:20 and 68:31, and 11:14 for the final .8 mile out-and-back.)

My finishing time is 5:44:27, good for 19 of 30 overall, 10 of 14 males and 1 of 2 in my age group. That is 40:53 faster than last year, when rain made the course muddy  It is only 2 minutes slower than 2021, on a slightly different, and likely slightly harder course.

Swag: shirt, glass, bib.

Gunpowder Keg 25K - April 15, 2023

Memory is Fallible

Several acquaintances from the Muddy Shoes group are gathered in the Bunker Hill Road parking lot at Gunpowder Falls State Park awaiting the start of the Gunpowder Keg 25K/50K.  I ran the race in 2011, although a somewhat different course, and they ask me about it.  I recall that much of it is along the Big Gunpowder River and isn't too hilly - just "some rolls" I tell them. This contradicts the race website which describes the course as "challenging" - but that doesn't seem to register with me.

Emaad before the start.

Emaad asks me if we had ever done it together, but I assure him that he was not with me in 2011, and my race report bears that out. It turns out that he ran one lap of three in 2007, on yet a different iteration of the course. Even after being reminded of that he has no memory of it, other than going to MacDonald's for French fries while waiting for two other runners to finish their second loop. He does not remember the "daunting hills, . . . rocky cliffs, [and] plenty of roots and stones to trip over," or his (twice) rolled ankle that Mark's race report recounts.

Instead, we are about to run on my false memory that the course is not particularly difficult.

A Non-Fat Ass Fat Ass

This is a low-key race.  Entry is $20 and runners are asked to bring a gallon of water or some treats for the aid stations.  There are no shirts, medals or any other sort of swag that accompany other races. It is a bit more formally organized that a typical fat ass run, in that it has an entry fee, minimal as it is, and it has manned aid stations. It will even have pizza at the end. A deluxe fat-ass.

The race director gives some instructions before we begin, reminds everyone to get a wrist band to prove they went to the out and back section of the course and sends us on our way.

There are about 130 of us who set out.  The weather is unsettled, and there is a high chance of showers.

We go down a couple of paved switchbacks, then up Bunker Hill Road before turning left onto the Bunker Hill Trail. We chat with a couple of runners - Jason, running his first trail race and Jenny (?, apologies for my forgetfulness if I have the name wrong) - before they and Emaad go on. 

Bridge at Masemore Road; aid station on left.

I clearly do not remember the course as I plod up the hills of the various trails.  Finally, after a long downhill the trail gets next to the Big Gunpowder River. I splash across Bush Cabin Run to the aid station at Masemore Road (about mile 4.6) and run a bit further upstream - until a left turn takes us onto the aptly named Highland Trail. How did I not remember this? Or was it not on the 2011 course?

Regardless, it is uphill, then a bit gently rolling on a gravelly fire road until we come to paved Falls Road, which we run down (quickly and smoothly for a change) to the level trail along the river and back to the Masemore aid station (about mile 7). 

We cross the bridge over the river and pick up the trail on the other side.  I'm running again with Jenny and we trade stories - her of her leaving teaching tech ed in a Baltimore County high school for a position at Goucher College and me of my current reading of Isaac Newton, the Last Sorcerer, by Michael White.  I tell of Sir Isaac Newton's work as Warden of the Mint at the time of the Great Recoinage (the Wikipedia article is wrong in myriad ways - see my article, Sir Isaac Newton served mint as warden, master in the September 11, 1995 World Coin News.)

Rocky trail to left; small stream to right.

We nearly make a wrong turn but Jenny keeps us on the trail.  We cross under I-83, make a left onto York Road to cross over the river, visit the York Road aid station (mile 9.4) and head across the road to run a loop initially along the river east of I-83.  Jenny pulls away and I'm left to run alone again. I cross a small feeder stream, and come to the T-intersection where a sign directs me left. I go to the end of the out-and-back near Big Falls Road where I collect my wrist band (about mile 12) to prove that I was there.

Trail Angel

As I return to the T, there is a runner just crossing the stream.  I remind him that he needs to go left to collect his wristband.

He holds up his arm. "I already have it," he says, I made a wrong turn and ran the loop a second time."

Clay is running without a water bottle or nutrition and is not looking in good shape. To add to his problems we are on the Panther Trail, which follows the small stream we crossed, and it is uphill.  

I offer him a gel and some water. At first he declines but I assure him I have several and can spare one.  Finally he agrees and eats it.  I squirt water in his mouth to help wash it down.  We mostly walk on and I assure him that I'll stick with him.  After a bit he asks for more water and I oblige.

Smoother than usual trail.
(Photo by E. Burki)

At the top of the climb he says he knows where he is and heads for a shortcut back to the York Road aid station. 

 

Trail Angel II

In a little while I come upon Jason.  He is limping along.

"How are you doing, dude?" I inquire.

"Cramping up," he says, "Anytime I try to run my inner thighs cramp."

I've experienced that and know that it is painful. "How about a salt tablet," I offer, "It should help."

He takes it with thanks. He's also out of water.  I offer some but he declines as we are not too far from the York Road aid station (mile 14.8).

We review what he had done during the day.  As a first time trail runner he has made a few mistakes - not refilling his pack at the aid stations, not eating at the aid stations. He didn't realize that he could get refills. When we get to the aid station he corrects both errors.

While he is getting a refill I fill my bottle, drink some cola, grab some chips and candy and go on. A short stretch along Big Gunpowder leads to a steep 300-foot climb away from the river.  And then a descent back to the river. A short stretch leads to the morning's paved switchbacks, but the return course skips the final one, and I get back to the start-finish in 4:20:11.  This is under the 4:30 cutoff to start the second loop for the 50K, but the race allows the option of stopping after one loop for a 25K finish, and I take it.

Emaad had finished the loop in 3:40:29. Jason is about 8 minutes behind me. Clay, I learn later, dropped, probably at York Road. Overall I was 92 of 106 25K finishers, 65 of 72 males and 1 of 2 in my age group.  Only 22 people finished the 50K

Epilogue

Emaad and I stop at Hysteria Brewing and the attached Bullhead Smokehouse in Columbia for food and refreshment on the way home.  While we are there there is a downpour and then another on the drive home.  We consider our good fortune in not doing the second loop.

My GPS reports nearly 1800 feet of climb over 16 miles of course.  So much for not remembering any climbs from the previous time.

Swag: Wrist Band, recycled bib.

Seneca Creek Greenway Trail Marathon/50K Marathon - March 11, 2023

Waiting
I wait until 18 hours before the race to register as I track the weather for the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail Marathon/50K. Some rain on Friday, but Saturday's forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-30s to near 50 with blustery winds, but no rain.  There is no increased registration fee as the day draws closer, the race is well under its capacity and the registration cut-off is a half hour after the start, so no reason to hurry to sign up. I'll run if  the course is muddy, which it often (see my 2019 and 2014 reports), but I won't run in cold rain (unless in Madrid).

Waiting to start

Running

The 230 or so runners gather at the Nut Hatch Pavilion in Seneca Creek State Park for the start and at 0730 we are off down the park road.  That helps spread out the field a bit before the turn onto the single track of Long Draught Trail to head south.

The pace is easy and it is a change to become acquainted with one's fellow runners. As we merge onto the Greenway Trail I get chatting with two runners who ran Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in the Grand Canyon last September.  It is an excellent opportunity to get a briefing on the iconic crossing that I plan to do in June, although the plan is to cross from the South Rim to the North Rim, overnight there, and return the next day.  The two runners did it all in one day.

Inevitably they pull away from me and I run along chatting with others.  The pace is easy and the trail is in excellent shape without mud to speak of. Temperatures are in the upper 30s and the day is a blustery, but the wind largely does not penetrate the woods. Only when the course is along fields is the wind felt, and I take my hat on and off several times as the day progresses.

Volunteers at the Route 28 Aid Station

A pass through the Route 28 aid station (about mile 8) leads to a crossing of the bridge over Great Seneca Creek to the Seneca Bluffs Trail on the west side of the creek. Before long there is a large tree that has been uprooted and toppled across the trail and it requires a bit of scrambling to get around. The forest does not seem particularly vibrant to me, as there is thick undergrowth everywhere, and vines climb on nearly every tree.

Seneca Bluffs Trail - Note vines strangling trees

Crossing Dry Seneca Creek is not a problem for me this year. The stepping stones across the creek are well above the creek and I don't suffer from the hesitancy that I had last year. The reach to the first stone seems a bit daunting but I don't hesitate to take the first step into the shallows by the bank even if it results in one wet foot.

Trail Marker

After finishing Seneca Bluffs Trail and crossing over Great Seneca Creek on River Road (mile 13.5) I look forward to the very unofficial aid station just before turning onto the Greenway Trail. But the aid station is not there! No adult beverages for fortification! Alas! 

So on I go to toward the aid station at Berryville Road (mile 15). Fewer runners out here now.  A woman passes me while I make a phone call, then I pass her back while a pair of males pass us. Getting to Hooker's Branch just before Berryville Road I spot one of the guys trying to maneuver across the stream. I'm feeling light footed and not particularly concerned about getting wet (I have shoes and socks in a drop bag at the aid station if needed). I bound from rock-to-rock and am almost upon his back when I tell him to keep going.  One foot gets a bit wet but I'm unconcerned.

I grab some chips and M&Ms at the aid station, miss the peanut and sweet pickle sandwiches, ignore my drop bag and go on.  I run the entire section back to the Route 29 aid station alone. Occasionally trees creak in the wind and I wonder if they will topple, but the fear is unfounded.

DNF: Upside down and in a tree (miles 7.5 and 19.7)

At the aid station I drink a cup of Coke, get a handful of chips and go on. I pass, for the second time of the day, the upside skull.

Emaad is waiting for me at Black Rock Mill (mile 21). He has agreed to pace me to the finish.  The section on the Seneca Ridge Trail from there to the aid station at Riffle Ford Road (mile 26.8) is one I do not particularly enjoy.  I just seems long and lacks any significant landmarks.

The Santa Mariachi Shrine

Except one, For years the Shrine of the Santa Margaritas has been a welcome sight.  There are rumors that the shrine has been desecrated and is no longer there. But it is there! And perhaps better than in the past.  The saints are wearing new hats and the decorations look fresh.  Later I learn that the acolytes and tenders of the shine (Anton and ML) have restored it to its former glory.  Indeed, better than its former glory, for it now has six, rather than the former five, saints.

Having paid our devotions at the shrine we proceed. We are now in the company of another five runners, with whom we leapfrog, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind. One is a solo woman runner, and the other two are two pairs of men (waggishly described by Emaad as "the CrossFit guys" and "the Marines").  

Stream crossing near Riffle Ford Road
(photo by E. Burki)

We are following the red-blazed trail but slowly become aware that we have not seen any of the blue flagging that marks the course. We realize that we haven't seen any since leaving Black Rock Mill.  At one point we come to a trail intersection and I plow ahead, but Emaad calls me back. The other runners catch up and there is a brief debate as to the way to go, but the consensus is to stay on Seneca Ridge Trail and follow its red blazes. As we proceed I alternate between "this is familiar" and "this is the not the course."

But finally I settle on "this is familiar" and in a mile or so we reach Riffle Ford Road and the aid station (mile 26.8). 

In another mile or so we reach the decision point where one chooses whether to go left to the finish for the "at least a" marathon or go straight for the loop around the lake for the "at least a" 50K.  I'm feeling good, and we are at least 40 minutes ahead of the cutoff for starting the 50K loop. Most times this would be a no brainer and I'd go straight.  But I don't really like the lake loop and don't feel any desire to do it so I elect for the left turn to the marathon finish.

Results

My GPS reads 29.3 miles, about 1.2 miles longer than the GPS reading in 2021.  The course seemed the same except for the unflagged section, which may have led us astray.  The GPS tracks from 2021 and 2023 appear to be about the same.  Another runner who dropped out at the Riffle Ford Road aid station had 28 miles to that point, consistent with my finishing distance and the longer distance this year.  In any case, it is what the race director says it is.

I finish in 7:11:48, good for first, last and only in my age group. I'm the oldest finisher and 63 of 80 overall and 50 of 59 males. There are 117 finishers in the 50K.  I collect my wooden coaster finishers' award and a couple of bagged snacks. Then I drive Emaad back to his car at Black Rock Mill and we go off to enjoy a beer and bite to eat.

Swag: bib, wooden coaster