A Year of Long Distance - Race#9
Forge the Gorgeous 7 Mi Trail Race
Saturday, July 29, 2006
2006 Forge the Gorgeous results
Forge the Gorgeous trail race info
2006 Forge the Gorgeous trail race photo slideshow
info about Fillmore Glen and the waterfalls
Well, THAT was a bear!
It’s been long enough since I did a race where I needed to leave at an ungodly hour that it took a major effort to get up at 3:15 AM (so I could be at Fillmore Glen State Park by a little after 8 AM.) But I dragged my lazy backside out of bed, packed everything in the car, and hit the road a bit before 5 AM… fun, fun, fun!
As usual, one plus to driving early in the morning – little to no traffic! Lots of mist and fog and welcome cool air – a nice change from the weather we’ve been having lately. Made it to Syracuse and then headed off to parts unknown down I81. That was a bit of a surprise – I’m so used to western NY being mostly flat that the hills of Syracuse seemed to go up and up and up! And then, after leaving I81, I spent 10 miles driving through what must have been the yard sale capital of NYS – I think I passed two dozen yard sales (and spent much of the time dodging cars parked alongside the road!)
After arriving at the park I checked in (and got a nice welcome from the folks behind the table for having come all the way from Albany) and then got changed for the race. After that I spent a while wandering to see the sights – a replica of the log cabin where Millard Fillmore (13th president) was born (a few miles from the park); water running across the road below a small dam (that came in handy after the race!); and a fairly impressive waterfall a little ways upstream. I also looked up the long flight of stairs leading up to one of the trails we’d be running and realized what the race app meant by “one long hill near the start”…
A little before 9 AM we all trooped down to the start near the park entrance, and it became clear this would be one of the smallest races I’ve been in – about 50 runners total! The start was quite scenic, taking us through a double row of trees up into the park. The RD said a few words about the course, we waited while one last runner ran down from the registration area – and then off we went!
The first bit was deceptively easy – across the grass and onto a trail behind the picnic shelter and swimming area. Then the “fun” began – a ½ mile climb to the top of the gorge, along the North Rim trail. I had flashbacks to the Greylock Death March as I trudged up the hill… except I knew this wouldn’t last nearly as long as that did! Eventually the trail leveled off, we crossed the dam at the top of the gorge, and headed down the South Rim trail – a welcome change from the previous uphill climbs. That ended all too quickly, but then we hit the best part of the whole race – running up the gorge trail. Fillmore Glen is basically a mini-Watkins Glen – the creek running down through the gorge drops over several larger waterfalls and a number of small cascades, and the trails winds back and forth across the creek on eight bridges. The whole trail was absolutely awesome – cool and shady, relatively level (except for the occasional set of steps and the slippery wooden bridges, and with spectacular waterfalls. (And unfortunately my disposable camera ran out of film before I got to the best set of waterfalls – including a spray running down the side of the gorge that we got to run through!) After that it was another steep path back to the rim, then we retraced out path back to the dam at the top of the gorge and ran back down the North Rim trail. The downhill stretch at the end was actually easier than I’d expected (downhills are where I’m most likely to blow out a knee, so I have to take it pretty easy on them… steep downhills can slow me to a crawl.) The final run to the finish was over level ground, and I had some nice folks cheering me on at the end, where I got my “Finger Lakes Running Club” finisher’s pin – kind of cool, actually, to get something like that at such a small race.
Afterwards, I grabbed a bagel and cream cheese, headed over to the spot where the road ran though the creek, and sat down on a rock with my feet in the wonderfully cold water. (Not quite as blissful as sitting on the front of my car eating soup and a bagel after last November’s Lil’ Rhody Runaround, but close!) My feet cooled down pretty quickly, and I briefly contemplated sitting in the water to cool my legs – but then decided that driving two hours to Rochester in wet shorts wouldn’t be pleasant. So instead I settled for splashing water on my legs before heading to the car to change into dry clothes.
Forge the Gorgeous 7 Mi Trail Race
Saturday, July 29, 2006
2006 Forge the Gorgeous results
Forge the Gorgeous trail race info
2006 Forge the Gorgeous trail race photo slideshow
info about Fillmore Glen and the waterfalls
Well, THAT was a bear!
It’s been long enough since I did a race where I needed to leave at an ungodly hour that it took a major effort to get up at 3:15 AM (so I could be at Fillmore Glen State Park by a little after 8 AM.) But I dragged my lazy backside out of bed, packed everything in the car, and hit the road a bit before 5 AM… fun, fun, fun!
As usual, one plus to driving early in the morning – little to no traffic! Lots of mist and fog and welcome cool air – a nice change from the weather we’ve been having lately. Made it to Syracuse and then headed off to parts unknown down I81. That was a bit of a surprise – I’m so used to western NY being mostly flat that the hills of Syracuse seemed to go up and up and up! And then, after leaving I81, I spent 10 miles driving through what must have been the yard sale capital of NYS – I think I passed two dozen yard sales (and spent much of the time dodging cars parked alongside the road!)
After arriving at the park I checked in (and got a nice welcome from the folks behind the table for having come all the way from Albany) and then got changed for the race. After that I spent a while wandering to see the sights – a replica of the log cabin where Millard Fillmore (13th president) was born (a few miles from the park); water running across the road below a small dam (that came in handy after the race!); and a fairly impressive waterfall a little ways upstream. I also looked up the long flight of stairs leading up to one of the trails we’d be running and realized what the race app meant by “one long hill near the start”…
A little before 9 AM we all trooped down to the start near the park entrance, and it became clear this would be one of the smallest races I’ve been in – about 50 runners total! The start was quite scenic, taking us through a double row of trees up into the park. The RD said a few words about the course, we waited while one last runner ran down from the registration area – and then off we went!
The first bit was deceptively easy – across the grass and onto a trail behind the picnic shelter and swimming area. Then the “fun” began – a ½ mile climb to the top of the gorge, along the North Rim trail. I had flashbacks to the Greylock Death March as I trudged up the hill… except I knew this wouldn’t last nearly as long as that did! Eventually the trail leveled off, we crossed the dam at the top of the gorge, and headed down the South Rim trail – a welcome change from the previous uphill climbs. That ended all too quickly, but then we hit the best part of the whole race – running up the gorge trail. Fillmore Glen is basically a mini-Watkins Glen – the creek running down through the gorge drops over several larger waterfalls and a number of small cascades, and the trails winds back and forth across the creek on eight bridges. The whole trail was absolutely awesome – cool and shady, relatively level (except for the occasional set of steps and the slippery wooden bridges, and with spectacular waterfalls. (And unfortunately my disposable camera ran out of film before I got to the best set of waterfalls – including a spray running down the side of the gorge that we got to run through!) After that it was another steep path back to the rim, then we retraced out path back to the dam at the top of the gorge and ran back down the North Rim trail. The downhill stretch at the end was actually easier than I’d expected (downhills are where I’m most likely to blow out a knee, so I have to take it pretty easy on them… steep downhills can slow me to a crawl.) The final run to the finish was over level ground, and I had some nice folks cheering me on at the end, where I got my “Finger Lakes Running Club” finisher’s pin – kind of cool, actually, to get something like that at such a small race.
Afterwards, I grabbed a bagel and cream cheese, headed over to the spot where the road ran though the creek, and sat down on a rock with my feet in the wonderfully cold water. (Not quite as blissful as sitting on the front of my car eating soup and a bagel after last November’s Lil’ Rhody Runaround, but close!) My feet cooled down pretty quickly, and I briefly contemplated sitting in the water to cool my legs – but then decided that driving two hours to Rochester in wet shorts wouldn’t be pleasant. So instead I settled for splashing water on my legs before heading to the car to change into dry clothes.
There were two things that made this a bear – the terrain (some of the hills were definitely tough!!!) and the humidity (despite running virtually the whole thing on shaded trails, it was hotter than heck.) As a result, my time was fairly pathetic – 1:38:40 for 7 miles, or slightly over 14 minutes per mile. But the scenery was great, and the people there seemed like a really nice group. I’d definitely like to do some more the the FLRC races (the 25K back on July 1 was one of theirs – too bad I missed it!) and I think I’d like to do this one again (if for no other reason than to see if I can go a little faster!)
Next up: The Race the Train 8.4 mile run from Riparius to North Creek (for some reason I think the train’s going to win… but it’s different enough that I thought it would be fun to do, at least once…)
JMH
2006 event totals
snowshoe - 3 miles, 59.5 min
running - 90.8 miles, 23 hr 20 min
riding - 32.4 miles, 2 hr 32 min
