The first day of the 2025 Challenge was a no go for the 100k. We had too much going on at home and I couldn’t dedicate a whole Saturday to it. Instead I went with my backup plan — attempting the Tough Trail Challenge starting at midnight and finishing not long after sunrise. TO make a short story long, I slogged through the two longer trail courses in the dark, finished one of the shorter ones, and felt like I’d either fall asleep at the wheel or pass out on the trail if I continued. I abandoned the attempt, went home, and felt like utter roadkill for the rest of the weekend. I might have been sick with something but who knows? It was the worst I’d ever felt after running at night.
Fast forward a week, and I had Friday off from work to give it another try, this time starting in the morning to make the trail running so much easier. The 100k was seemingly out of the cards due to the aforementioned blow up. I didn’t think my body could handle another late night so soon.
I wasn’t concerned much with speed for the Tough Trail. The important thing was finishing early enough to make it to my kids’ spelling bee at GIAC at 5:00. My boys practiced hard for it and were so excited — there was no way I’d miss it because of running. My plan was to start around 5:00 a.m., take a break to get the kids to school, and then finish by 4:00 p.m. I had the notion that if I was really feeling good after the kids went to bed I could then head back out with about 10 hours left to run the road courses at night for an Ultra Challenge 100k finish.
Fall Creek Trails
The arboretum gates were open before dawn so I drove right up to the sign. I had a scare when a cop car came in immediately after. I was worried about having to explain myself and the whole plan being derailed before it commenced. Thankfully the cop cruiser turned to exit on Forest Home Drive and I didn’t see it again.
I scanned the first sign at 5:32 a.m. and set off at an all day pace. Fall Creek Trails is my favorite course this year, and I appreciate that the trails are dry and smooth enough that road shoes handle perfectly well. Also kudos to Adam for routing the course around the perpetually muddy section on the red connector trail atop the first hill. I usually go straight through the mud pit but this route goes around using the orange trail.
At the horse track I considered running a 1600 and clocking my split while using the whole elapsed time between start/finish scans as my Fall Creek Trails Time and entering the 1600 manually. I passed on that idea though because I don’t know if it violates the Ultra Challenge rules.
Sweet 1600
The plan was to just drive home and get the kids ready for school. On the way home I was driving straight past the Cornell outdoor track and noticed the gate open so I pulled in, jogged through four laps, and continued home. This way if I did make it out at night for the full 100k I wouldn’t have to go out of the way to find a track and risk drawing attention to myself while running circles in the dark.
Mullholland Waterfalls
I walked my kids two blocks to school as if my daily step count wouldn’t turn out high enough. Then it was a quick trip to the “gorges” short trail course to get this one done early before the trails started to get busy given the beautiful weather. Team Ruth and Anne were gearing up to run just as I started. I reluctantly followed RunGo’s suggestion to avoid anything that may require first responder wilderness extraction. The damn dam view was A+.
North Country Half
In my opinion the NCH and Abbott Ascent are the crux of the 100k Ultra Challenge. Slay these beasts and a 100k finish is imminent. Yes, that’s an oversimplification, especially for those chasing cutoffs, but getting these two over with is like shoving a boulder off your chest.
The North Country Half is so much easier in the daylight but still quite difficult. My watch has consistently measured 1,500 feet of ascent and 500 descent on the outbound half and vice versa on the way back, making a negative split easy to manage. The short, punchy inclines and trail technicality make this route tricky to move quickly.
Jason Jenks (@J_J) met me part way to pace and preview some of the route. I enjoyed the company for the last 3-4 miles and finished a little quicker than I would have solo. The only other person I encountered out yonder was a trail maintenance volunteer who asked about any downed trees on the FLT.
Abbott Ascent
Jason went home for lunch before meeting me again on the next course. It was early afternoon by the time I scanned the Danby sign and the air had heated up quite a bit. I’m no stranger to the Abbott’s three long hills, but the familiarity doesn’t make it much easier. While not in any huge hurry, I really struggled on this course and barely finished under two hours. Like the NCH, the Abbott Ascent was a thousand times easier in daylight than at night, but the heat and cumulative fatigue were getting to me and I took 8 minutes longer than I did on my previous midnight start. The trails were mostly dry though, and I still love this loop with its climbs and viewpoint, despite the degree of difficulty.
Cayuga Lake Cliffs
Jason followed me up to Lansing for the Tough Trail Challenge victory lap. I’d toyed with the idea of knocking off a quick Lakefront Loops 5k along the way but traffic slowed me down and I didn’t want to be late for the all important spelling bee.
After my last two outings the Cliffs’ 4.3 miles of smooth trails felt like a breeze. It even cooled down a lot as light rain moved in along with that trademark west Lansing wind. I accidentally took the lower loop opposite Rebecca’s preferred direction (per RunGo) and decided the counter-clockwise direction is a little easier.
We finished soaking wet. I split the Tough Trail Challenge in 10:25:07 elapsed and Jason notched his first Challenge course for this year. At this point I wasn’t sure yet if I had it in me for another 27 miles after sundown.
Interlude
My 5-year-olds both did great at their bee and handled their stage fright with aplomb, which was quite impressive to my wife and me. After family time and dinner I was feeling good about running some more, relieved that I knew I could do it without staying out all night again. As long as I didn’t walk the whole thing I could get some sleep in my own bed.
Lakefront Loops 5k
The easiest course came next so I could finish before dark in case authority figures are opposed to people running around Cass and Allan Treman in the dark. I jogged through and finished with just enough sunlight to keep my headlamp off. I could sort of see the daffodils in full bloom awaiting the Daffodil Dash 5k-ers that would swarm the pathway 12 hours later.
Black Diamond Cass to Gorge
By 8:30 p.m. it was pitch black on the Black Diamond. Fortunately it’s an easy course in the dark — no traffic, no roots, no possibility of getting lost. I jogged along feeling pretty good after my evening caffeine worked its magic.
The full Cass Park to Gorge Road was not an option so I settled for the out-and-back from Cass. I had a tough time finding the turnaround sign in the dark and went a little ways past it before doubling back. To note: when running north from Cass, the sign is on the right after the second road crossing (Perry City Road) immediately before the first wooden guardrail.
A few sets of eerie, glowing eyes spied on me from the sidelines throughout the run. I couldn’t see much in the dark, but they looked too low to the ground to be deer. Probably coyotes.
Town & Gown Up & Down
In the homestretch now. I found prime parking in front of Joe’ house. Friday night in Collegetown was like one big party, with loads of undergrads in the streets and music blaring from all angles. I spent the first two miles dodging Ivy League pedestrians while wondering what they’d think if they knew what I was up to.
It got easier as I moved west into Cayuga Heights. Those village roads are fun to run and there’s never much traffic, even in the daytime. The Remington Downhill Mile was rough on the ol’ quads. The Fall Creek neighborhood was eerily quiet and I sauntered back down Linn Street to the finish.
Triple Hump
While difficult by road running standards, Triple Hump is a breeze compared to trail runs of similar or longer distance. There wasn’t much traffic — apparently Varna isn’t a hoppin’ joint at midnight, even on a warm Friday. I walked most of the three uphill humps and ran the rest of the way. The forecasted rain finally got to me about half an hour before I finished but by then I barely noticed. I was getting tired enough that I don’t remember much else about this run — only that I finished without feeling wrecked and thought that I could’ve kept going if necessary. Then I went home to shower and stuff my face before passing out in bed for a few hours.
Overall I think this is the easiest set of FLRC Challenge courses yet for the 100k. Two are about 20 minutes from downtown Ithaca and the rest are fairly close. At 60.9 miles, the total distance is a little shorter than in years past, plus the three shortest trail courses are easy to manage.
Who’s next to tackle the 100k? I’m happy to provide guidance and possibly pace anyone who plans to give it a shot.