6.2 Mile Run at Olana State Historic Site
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
One of my favorite parts of spring race season is the Onteora Runners Club's Catskill Mountain Spring Series, which includes the Platte Clove Mountain Run 5k (sneaky, because it's a point-to-point so you'll likely do an additional 5k between getting to the start and getting back to your car), the Olana Star Loop 10k, and the High Rock Run Up 2.25mi (same observation as Platte Clove - you've got to get back to the start after finishing the run up to the Palenville Overlook.) All three races are low-key and happen on Wednesday evenings (and I love me an evening race.)
Most years I do Olana, because I enjoy the scenery and find it pretty runnable. The other two I tend to do every 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year, I suspect because I have to forget how damn hard they are before I'm willing to torture myself again. This year, of course, all three have been cancelled due to the pandemic, but with a forecast for nice weather today, I decided it was time to take advantage of the hilly courses to add to my elevation total for the VERTual Challenge.
Olana wasn't too crowded when I got there a little before lunch time but the number of visitors had picked up by the time I was done, so I'm glad I did this during the day. The Olana trails are as beautiful as ever, and I saw lots of birds and animals while I was out there. It was definitely worth the drive.
I would have liked to have either walked or run the Hudson River Skywalk along the bridge, but between the mileage (an extra 2.5 or so) and the time I decided I'd rather get in part of the Platte Clove Run, since it involves about 1200' of climbing.
JMH
