Finger Lakes Fifties ’25k’ report

I ran the 25k (actually 16.5 miles) race at the Finger Lakes Fifties trail runs last weekend (there are also 50k and 50 mile races). I actually hand wrote this fairly long report about the whole weekend. But I don’t feel like typing a couple thousand words so this will be somewhat abridged. I’ll run through the lead up quickly: I wanted to feel pretty fresh on Saturday (race day) which was not going to be the easiest given the amount of running I’ve been doing lately and the fact that I didn’t want to drop my overall mileage too much for the week. Wednesday I ran my first track races since 10th grade at the first summer track meet put on by the BRRC. 4:50 in a pretty all-out effort in the 1500 and 11:30 as sort of a workout in the 2 mile (5:57 first mile, 5:33 second mile). Thursday I traveled to the Finger Lakes National Forest, about 10 minutes north of Watkins Glen and right near beautiful Lake Seneca. I camped Thursday night solo (there were two other guys doing the race Saturday also camped that night), then spent Friday with my brother, Scott, in Watkins Glen and then back at the campsite with my friends Ashley (who was running the 50 miler again) and Gretchen (who wins crew-of-the-year easily). I also ran the entire course between Thursday and Friday (12ish on Thursday, the rest Friday) to get a feel for it. It was muddy and I hoped the warm weather would help dry it out by Saturday.

Race morning I got up early to watch Ashley start at 6:30am and then went back to sleep til 7. I thought my race started at 8:30, turns out it started at 8. I was in line for the bathroom with 12 minutes to go. When I got out it was a mad dash to the tent to get my stuff and wake up Scott. I got to the start with two minutes to spare but without my ankle timing chip thing. Scott dashed back to retrieve it while I laced my shoes. Fortunately it all worked out and I was on the line ready to roll when the cowbell rang out to start us.

Course map

Immediately this lithe, shirtless guy exploded off the line and away from everyone. The course runs downhill on this gravel road for the first half mile before turning onto a trail. I went out pretty hard right away too and the two of us were already pretty clear of the field by the trail but he easily had ten or so seconds on me at that point. And I wasn’t going that slow — the first part took me about three minutes. I briefly closed on him in the early goings on the trail but, again, by the first mile-ish as we crossed another road and headed toward our first grassy pasture I was losing increasingly more time. I probably should’ve at least briefly considered what I was doing — going out much harder than anticipated in pursuit of someone who looked to be much faster, possibly completely destroying my race with still about 15 miles to go. Instead I blitzed through that first pasture and came out to yet another gravel road. This one was pretty steep and all downhill for about a mile and a third. Despite running downhill with absolute reckless and quad-obliterating abandon (and apparently at sub-6:00 pace), I was STILL losing time. It was a bit demoralizing so early but I reminded myself that I was still in 2nd by an already fairly sizable margin. Of course, as I hit the bottom of the road (and the first aid station where I downed a cup of strawberry Heed), turning onto one of the steepest and toughest sections of the course with already pretty tired legs I was wondering how long I’d be able to stay ahead of anyone.

The next mile or so varied from very steep to laughably steep in spots. The trail wound up and up and up, each turn bringing me face to face with yet more uphill. I powerhiked some of this, I just couldn’t do anything more. I began to chastise myself for how weak I apparently am at uphills, swearing to start doing more hillwork in earnest from now on. I WAS happy to note the trail seemed significantly less of a mess than it was on Thursday. There were still some muddy stretches along the way but in general a decent amount had dried out some. Eventually I came out of the woods and hit the second aid station which was amusingly called “South Beach” because of its proximity to a pond. At this point I no longer even saw the lead runner, but I kept reminding myself that lots of things can happen in a trail race, that I needed to just keep pushing and running my race and maybe something will happen and he’ll come back to me. I blew through the aid station downing a water and my first GU Roctane (THANKS KATIE!). I was roughly a half hour in.

I circled the pond and went back into the woods. This was the section of trail where I saw a snake and a wolf on Thursday. No such interesting encounters this time around. There’s not a whole lot to say about this stretch. It was some downhill, some uphill, it was shaded which was nice. When I felt myself fading I would randomly pick it up and run hard for a count of 100.  I started going by some of the back-of-the-pack runners from the 50s. Finally I hit another gravel road that led back to the second aid station. Even though it was slightly uphill I was able to pick things up with the better footing the road provided. I grabbed another Heed as I went through and up the road a bit more to the next trail entrance. Along the whole race I was also sipping periodically from my Nathan handheld (THANKS ASHLEY!) which had Gatorade in it.

The next stretch was mostly rolling and runnable. I pushed it again. Eventually I came to another road crossing. On the other side of the road was the next cow pasture we had to run through. On Thursday along this stretch I ran into a herd grazing which slowed me up for a few minutes. No such obstacles today and with pasture sloping downhill and the footing relatively good I was all out to the gate on the other side. I was nearing an hour in and took a second GU Roctane. The trail made a sharp left and it was downhill about a quarter mile to the next road crossing and 3rd aid station. I was flying down this, not worried about the very real prospect of turning an ankle on the rocky, rooty trail. As I came through the aid station I knew I was about to hit the second really steep section and I told myself to push hard until then. About a quarter mile later the trail went up sharply for a brief stretch. This was another powerhike spot but it didn’t last nearly as long as the previous one. The trail leveled off and I had another quarter mile of very runnable trail at the top of the ravine. Coming out of the trail there was a quarter mile stretch uphill on the only paved part of the course. There were a few 50s runners stretched out ahead and I focused on reeling them in. As When I got to the end the course turned left onto the horse trail. As I turned left, one of the volunteers started cheering, “YAY! GO FIRST 25k runner!” ….uh, WTF? I actually turned my head and asked about the other guy. “What other guy?” “You know, the shirtless one way out ahead of me?” “Nope, you’re the first.” A 50k runner told me I was the first person to lap him so it must be true, I was LEADING the race. At that point I figured the lead runner had either gotten hurt and dropped or gotten lost. Either way, it was a rush of adrenaline to discover that with less than 5 miles to go I was ahead by what seemed to be a fairly large margin.

The horse trail ran gradually uphill the 2 miles to the last aid station. It was the muddiest section, and I’m sure a lot of that mud was mixed with horse crap. The gradual incline was briefly interrupted about a half mile in as the trail crossed a creek and went very very steeply uphill for a brief stretch. This was my last powerhike. I was running with renewed vigor and desire not to get caught and I was passing a number of runners now, all of them being very encouraging. When I hit the last aid station they cheered me on and I turned right to go through the last pasture on the course. Here there was a photographer snapping pictures. I remember telling him as I passed that my picture must look like shit. It was a somewhat muddy, poor-footing slog uphill for another mile maybe. Then, finally, the trail turned right into the woods. At last I hit the section I was waiting for all day. The trail through this part of the woods was dry and VERY runnable. And that’s just what I did. Hard. I ran as fast as I could, jumping over roots and rocks and stumps, sprinting across the wooden bridges, not worrying about avoiding any of the overgrowth or mud or other debris. The finish was close and I could feel it, I wanted to end this thing.

I knew I wouldn’t break 2 hours but at that point I didn’t care, I wanted to win. The trail got steep for a few meters as it came back out to the last road crossing but I did my best to bound up it. As I crossed the road I knew it had taken me about 4 minutes on Friday to go from here to the finish and now was the time to kick it into high gear. The trail went through the woods and then out onto a grassy area that ran around a pond. I ran around the pond in a sprint and as I finished going around it I allowed myself a glance back. Seeing no one else I finally accepted that I wasn’t going to get caught, that I was going to win the race! It was only another 200 or so meters to the finish, and as I burst out of the woods and down the finish section I didn’t really hear the cheering or see the people, I just focused on running hard all the way through the line.

As soon as I finished the world came back into focus. The RD congratulated me, someone took my ankle chip, I was given a finisher medal (which doubles as a bottle opener) and then I was given my awesome winner’s prizes — a bear made out of tree rings that says “25k Winner” and a growler of the Roosterfish Brewing Co pale ale I had enjoyed so much the day before. I was tired and caked in mud and really freakin happy about how everything had gone. I still am. Happy, not satisfied though — there’s lots I can improve still and I intend to work on my weaknesses and become an even better runner, on trails and in general.

Before I wrap this up, I want to say just how amazing an event this is. The race director, her husband, and all of the volunteers combine to put on a top notch event and provide an absolutely incredible experience. I was up here last year and it wasn’t so much the course (although it is fun, in a challenging way) that sold me on coming back this year so much as the people. Everyone was/is so friendly, the party that goes on around the finish area is worth the trip itself! All of this combines to ensure that this race will become an annual tradition for me. I also want to give a big congrats to Ashley for setting a HUGE PR in the 50 miler. Amazing.

And now, some pictures (more to be added when I get my camera developed)!

Running through the last pasture, a little less than 3 miles to go and working hard (courtesy of Tom)

Til next time, RUN HAPPY everyone!