2019 VCTC Urban Environmental Challenge 10K

Great morning to run - and great conditions (dry) at Van Cortlandt Park for the Urban Environmental Challenge 10k!  This year the VCTC added a 6k race (and one for the kids as well).

Ran into a couple of old (non-VCTC) friends as well!

As for the running, the second loop was tough.  I wound up walking up the hills on the second go around.  But I was more than pleased with my 55:50 (unofficial), 9:00 pace.  It was almost 3 minutes slower than I ran last year, but have a lot fewer training miles run so far this year :O

I'll add a link to the results once they've been posted.

2018 Sarah Bishop Bushwhack Trail Run

 

This was my first time running the Sarah Bishop Bushwhack which, I believe, was the 6th edition of the trail race.  It literally is up the road from Wards Pound Ridge Reservation, home of the Leatherman's Loop.  It's also part of the 7 race "trail mix" series (of which, I've now run all (except one), at least once). 

The race takes its name from an actual person, who lived in a cave, self-sufficiently, for about 30 years during the early part of the 19th century.  A precursor of sorts to the wanderings of the Leatherman himself!

As for the race itself, I was well off my 1 hour target for the 10k-ish course.  It had run as long as 6.4 miles but Rob told me before the start (as he was pointing out the trail highlights on the map) that a stretch of road in the second half was replaced with trails.  So it was "officially" a 6 mile course (though my GPS clocked in at closer to 6.3 miles).

My 1:04:15 finish was good for a 10:42 pace (1:22 over 6.2 miles :D). 

Here are the official results, on the race home page (but will probably be moved to the results page in a few days).

Here are the race photos, hosted on the Leatherman's Loop page.  (of which, my finishing photo was borrowed from :D).

2018 Leatherman's Loop: Race Photos & Results

My fifth Leatherman's Loop is in the books!  What a great day to run - sunshine and warmth!  Which is saying a lot in a season where winter doesn't want to give up the ghost and welcome spring!  In fact, up until last night the race director had posted that the final water crossing (aka the "splashdown") would be bypassed because of the condition).  Luckily the water level and current dropped enough to restore the iconic water crossing to the course (with the added bit of runner safety - a guide rope)!


As for the actual race - I thought the mud was much more challenging than the 2 water crossings.  Maybe it was my imagination, but mud was the word today. I don't think it effected my race given that my finish time was only 1 second slower than last year :D


Already looking forward to the 2019th edition!


Here are the official results from Leatherman's Loop.

2018 VCTC Urban Environmental Challenge 10K: Race Photos & Results

It was sunny - on the positive side - for the Van Cortland Track Club's Urban Environmental Challenge 10K this morning.  Unfortunately, temperature-wise it was still Winter, with a pretty stiff wind chill tossed in for good measure!  But, that detail aside, there was a great turnout for this awesome trail race!


The course is a double loop that splits the back hills into 2 trails (the "high" road on the first, the "low" road on the second).  The second loop, in contrast to the first loop, had a lot of debris and fallen trees/branches on the trail. I had a 55 minute target in mind at the start.  I didn't think there was too much speed in my legs going in - and looked as it a final trail tune-up going into next week's NJ Ultra Fest.


Somehow I managed to run a 52:58 (squeaking in just under 53 minutes)!  That's my second fastest finish at this race (just a minute+ over my 2015 finish of 51:49)!  It was a solid 2+ minutes better than last year's finish of 55:17).  As a bonus it was good enough for 2nd place in my age group (which in turn was an improvement over last year's 3rd place AG)!


Here are the official results from VCTC.

2018 Taconic RR St. Patricks Day Races: Race Photos & Results

It was another cold weekend - and FDR park was (cue up broken record) - cold and windy!  But that didn't detract from the Taconic Road Runner's St. Patrick's Day 2 Mile and 10K races!  Post-race, runners had the option to warm up with a roaring fire going in the fireplace, hot chocolate, coffee or tea, and - Captain Lawrence beer!


I ran the 2 miler - and (amazing to me) managed to sneak in just under 14 minutes!  Running at a 6:59 pace for 2 miles (and it may have been a couple of seconds faster if I hadn't slowed down on the infamous hill at the end of the loop) - was reward enough for me!  But it was also good enough for second AG :D  Afterwards, I ran the 10k unofficially (50:40).


But when the running was done, had some COLD Captain Lawrence IPA - and warmed up in front of the fire.  I had already drunk a cup of coffee between the races :O


Here are the official 2 mile race results from Taconic RR.
Here are the official 10K race results from Taconic RR.


and here are some great race photos posted by Taconic RR. Thanks for taking them Ted!

2018 Boston Buildup 10K: Race Photos & Results

Hard to reconcile running in shorts on Friday afternoon and the return of Arctic conditions this morning!  I'm thankful for the 10:00 AM start for this race (the other Boston Buildup races go off at 9 AM) because I was on the fence till the last minute.  Finally I dragged myself into the car and drove over to Rowayton.  I'd run at least 6 miles today one way or another so, I reasoned, might at well socialize a little while doing the mileage :D

As for the race itself, my 48:26, 7:48 pace, was a bit off my 48:00 minute target.  But I had no leg speed to speak of (and spent most of mile 1 getting warm) - so all in all, was pretty happy.  And, as and added bonus, I got to run fast (relatively speaking) - a nice break from training mileage!

Since the 10K was postponed from last Sunday, the second Boston Buildup race (15K) in Ridgefield is on deck for next weekend.  The 15k is typically the coldest one of the series, but after this morning it may need to settle for second coldest of 2018 :O

Here are the official results from ClubCt.

2017 Raven Rocks Run 10K: Race Photos & Results

What a great (but cold) morning to run the trails a Ward Pound Ridge Reservation!  I drove up to the Raven Rocks Run 10k wearing shorts, but since the temperature was stubbornly stuck at 29 degrees, I switched into tights in my car.  In fact, by the time we lined up at for the start, the sun had broken through the cloud cover - and could have stuck with shorts!

As for the race itself, it was fantastic.  One way to describe it would be it's like the Leatherman's Loop - without the water crossing and a few more (steep) climbs!  In fact, before the start Rob (the RD) said if you ranked the loop at 6-7, this one is probably 7-8 (on scale of difficulty).  Hearing that, I mentally crossed out my target of one hour and dialed my expectations back to 1:05 (which, in hindsight, was still too optimistic)!

I was actually very happy with my 1:07 finish since this was my first run since the NYC Marathon last weekend.  That running hiatus wasn't for a lack of running desire but a direct consequence of the nasty sore throat I developed in the days after NYC.  So I wasn't go to tempt the relapse Gods by going all out (even if I could).  As it was, I did walk up a few of the hills :O

Aside from Rob, also saw Jim (who was timing it), and Chris (who was running it)!  I'm actually looking forward to running this one again!

Here are the official results from Raven Rocks Run.

 

2017 Leatherman's Loop: Race Photos & Results

Great day, great weather for running the Leatherman's Loop at Wards Pound Ridge Reservation this morning!  Apologies in advance for only these few photos - but didn't take my IPhone with me on the course, so only have these few before and after.

As for the race itself - easily the muddiest one I've run!  And, as always, it was a blast from start to finish.  At 1:04:32 (10:15 pace) it wasn't my slowest one - but certainly well off my (somewhat unrealistic) target of a sub 1 hour finish.  With #4 in the books - already looking forward to next year :D

I'll add a link to the official results once they're posted.

2017 Urban Environmental Challenge 10K: Race Photos & Results

It was a great day to run on trails (even if there was a bit of pesky wind that wouldn't leave) this morning.  This was my 4th VCTC Urban Environmental Challenge - and probably my favorite course layout at Van Cortlandt Park.  The double loop course takes runners on two separate, rarely run trails, along the main path on the back woods of the park.  It was definitely hilly than I remembered (but I pretty much say that about every trail race, near and far).

As for my result, the 55:17 was 3 seconds faster than my first (2011) run at this course, but a solid 3 minutes than my last (2015) UEC.  Either way, it was good enough for 3rd place in my age group - and an awesome carrot cake muffin to go along with the great race patch (instead of tee shirt) given out this year!

I'll add a link to the results once they're posted.