LONG DISTANCE 2007, Race #13
Forest Frolic 15k Trail Race
Sunday, July 15, 2007
2007 Forest Frolic results
Forest Frolic info
Forest Frolic 15k Trail Race
Sunday, July 15, 2007
2007 Forest Frolic results
Forest Frolic info
Usually I would be running the Indian Ladder 15k trail run this weekend... since 1998, there have only been two years (well, three now) that I didn't run Indian Ladder. In many ways that race feels like an old friend. But a number of circumstances convinced me that this year Indian ladder just wasn't going to work... which is how I found myself in the James Kennedy State Forest northeast of Ithaca this morning, running a race I'd never run before.
After a bit of hassle getting to the race site (we originally missed one of the turns, because the road sign was no longer there) I checked in and geared up. Also picked up a Forest Frolic Trail Raptor T-shirt - a race T with a very nice photo of a red-tailed hawk on it. Spent the rest of the pre-race time looking around at all the unfamiliar faces (I've done enough races in Rochester and Albany/western MA that while I don't know most of the runners, I recognize many of them) and wondering if I should switch to a two-bottle carrier, since a number of folks were wearing Camelbaks. In the end I compromised by adding a bottle of Gatorade powder to my belt, figuring that I could always refill at one of the self-serve water stops and make some Gatorade to keep me going. That turned out to be a good plan...
A few minutes before race time, the RD had the usual pre-race things to say, mostly focused on the course. This race is a bit unusual in that the 15k (actually, 8.9 miles) has a loop which can be run in either direction... I decided ahead of time to go with the option that meant I could go straight when I ran through the spot where the 15k and 7k courses intersect. After having some fun with the frontrunners and a false start, he called "GO!" and off we went.
After a bit of hassle getting to the race site (we originally missed one of the turns, because the road sign was no longer there) I checked in and geared up. Also picked up a Forest Frolic Trail Raptor T-shirt - a race T with a very nice photo of a red-tailed hawk on it. Spent the rest of the pre-race time looking around at all the unfamiliar faces (I've done enough races in Rochester and Albany/western MA that while I don't know most of the runners, I recognize many of them) and wondering if I should switch to a two-bottle carrier, since a number of folks were wearing Camelbaks. In the end I compromised by adding a bottle of Gatorade powder to my belt, figuring that I could always refill at one of the self-serve water stops and make some Gatorade to keep me going. That turned out to be a good plan...
A few minutes before race time, the RD had the usual pre-race things to say, mostly focused on the course. This race is a bit unusual in that the 15k (actually, 8.9 miles) has a loop which can be run in either direction... I decided ahead of time to go with the option that meant I could go straight when I ran through the spot where the 15k and 7k courses intersect. After having some fun with the frontrunners and a false start, he called "GO!" and off we went.
The first 3/4 of a mile were along the road we'd driven in on - a seasonal use dirt road that was fairly washed out along the downhill stretch we ran at first. I kept the pace relatively slow, not wanting to lose a knee early in the run. When we hit the point where the 2 courses diverged, I headed straight - straight up a doubletrack ATV trail, which I hiked at a fairly brisk pace for about 15 minutes before reaching a section that I could run comfortably. But even then, since we were heading for the summits of Virgil Mountain and the Greek Peak Ski area, there were frequent uphill stretches. Eventually, the course turned off doubletrack on to singletrack, and this is where I met the frontrunners coming from the opposite direction (apparently, the direction I chose is considered to be the harder path.)
After dodging faster runners on the singletrack, I came out on a long, hot uphill stretch along a powerline service road. Lots of folks passed me going the other way as I slogged up the hill. I was very pleased to finally turn off that into the woods again, on more singletrack. Dodged a few more folks coming from the other direction, and then I had the trail to myself for the rest of the race (literally - I didn't see another person until the last quarter of a mile to the finish!) I found this part much more runnable - some uphill, but mostly level and downhill, through the fern-blanketed woods and across streams and even a short stretch down a dirt road. It definitely felt good to be running instead of hiking uphill! Made it back to the start of the loop at 1 hr 15 min, and knew I wasn't likely to make my goal of finishing in under 2 hrs, unless the 2nd loop (the rest of the 7k course) was much easier than what I had just run...
Hit a tough stretch fairly quickly - dark (due to the cloudy sky and dense overgrowth) with lots of roots and some mud. Continued the general downward trend, which was a bit worrying, since I knew at some point the trail would have to go back up! Made it down to the stream, ran along the bank for a while, and then finally crossed the stream and after a bit - hit the uphill. The first stretch seemed to go on and on - I ran for a bit and walked a lot. After that the trail alternated between relatively level (actually, probably gently uphill) and climbing. At one point I thought I heard voices, but never actually saw any other runners (though, looking at the results, there were a couple not that far ahead of me.) This part seemed to go on forever - at one point I began wondering if it was ever going to end, since I had no idea how far I'd come, only how much time I'd spent on the course.
Finally, a few minutes after the 2 hour mark, I came out on the road where we'd parked and ran the 0.4 miles down it to the finish, with a brief detour to the car to drop off my belt and water bottle. Crossed the finish in 2 hr 9 minutes, and then staggered around looking for food, drink, and dry clothes...
Overall, this was a fun run, albeit a slow one - 2:09 is not a very good time for 8.9 miles! On the other hand, it's close to my goal of 2 hours or less, and truth be told, I took it fairly easy on this one, both because I didn't know the course at all and didn't want to blow up before the end, and because I wanted to have a little energy left for hiking in the afternoon. I suspect I see why the direction I chose for the first loop is considered the "harder" one - most folks probably find they can make good time on the relatively wide downhill stretches I hiked up. I think it was actually easier for me to hike those parts and run the more varied singletrack back down, but maybe someday I'll do this one again and try the other direction to find out for sure...
Don't know that I'd want to make this a regular replacement for Indian Ladder - if nothing else, it's considerably more inconvenient to get to! But I think I would like to run it again... perhaps I can alternate between the two races and start a new tradition for this weekend...
Next up: another race with the Finger Lakes Road Runners, the Forge the Gorgeous 8 mile trail race at beautiful Filmore Glen State Park!
JMH
2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 139.3 mi, 33 hr 24 min
Cycling 26.2 mi, 1 hr 55 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, VT
