Use this topic for posts to collect “Community Stars” for the Brookton Hill & Dale course.
Here’s how it works.
Click the “Post Using This Template” button below to create a new post with Story and Shop Local headings and boilerplate text.
Replace the boilerplate text with your report for one or both sections. If you’re collecting only one star, delete the other heading and text. The headers are key—don’t change them.
You can collect a maximum of 1 point per course per day for each of the two sections.
Your post must be on the same calendar day as your run as entered in Webscorer.
Story
To pick up a community star, replace this text with something like a write-up of how your run went, a photo you took on the run, or a link to your Strava track. If you only want to share how you supported a local business, delete this Story header and text.
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For another community star, if you got breakfast or a snack, or supported some other local business associated with your run, replace this text with the details about what and where! If you only want to share your story, delete this Shop Local header and text.
First challenge run of the season with Amanda. Beautiful views but two distinct climates (similar to back part of Skunk) — started quite warm then hit some hard chilly wind on the back end. Saw Molly about to start as we were finishing.
I ran at a moderately hard effort and included 8 strides during mile 8 on White Church Road (Strava).
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After the run I picked up some sandwiches for my wife and I. We are happy to report that both the Pig in the Orchard and the Brookton’s Club were delicious.
While the temps weren’t high, there was no cloud coverage and the sun was hot. Should have done this earlier in the morning - hardly any tree coverage. Saw a woodchuck and a kingfisher.
A lovely run, very sunny but cool so I didn’t overheat. A fast pace for me at 9:11 thanks to Caitlin running with me. I like running out in the countryside
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It was fun buying some snacks at the Brookton’s Market. I wanted to support them and thank them for supporting the FLRC Challenge. And we needed a tomato for dinner too.
Beautiful morning for a run. We appreciated the beautiful scenery, the sunshine and the sure footing. Also enjoyed running some place new. Didn’t appreciate the speeding cars on the first part of the course…guess I am becoming more of a trail runner…
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I’d never been in Brookton’s Market before. Cute little place with some nice local crafts. Bought a tomato for tonight’s dinner. Jamie bought some snack treats. Nice to support them since they are letting us park and put up the challenge sign in their parking lot. Thank you!
It was a beautiful morning for this course, and a bit humid, but I started just before 7 a.m. and it was nice and cool at the start. I have biked these roads before but have never run them, so it was nice to see them from a much slower perspective! My body doesn’t love long stretches of pavement any more so I ran on the shoulder as much as I could. White Church was just about perfect with a soft, even shoulder, and it almost entirely in the shade. I loved the feeling of accomplishment running back into Brookton’s parking lot knowing I finished the Challenge. Thanks @adamengst for getting us all out there again and exploring local roads and trails!
This was my second longest run in 7 years (the longest being Pseudo Skunk in July) so I wasn’t expecting much, nor was I planning on having a fun time being on the road for 10+ miles, but it felt surprisingly good, all things considered – I’m clearly in way better shape than I was last year…funny how actually consistently training will do that!
I timed it perfectly between the 2 bouts of rain this morning: cool air and dry pavement, but super humid the whole time. On the way to drop off my portable aid station at the FLT on Ridgeway (good spot, almost exactly 1/2 way, with a nice bench to contemplate giving up on), I saw @lizhartman running up Coddington – she waved, but not sure if it was because she recognized The Little Yaris That Could, or just because I didn’t barrel by right next to her at 60mph the way so many others did to me.
We used to run here all the time with ICXC (I bet @esambo remembers) starting at the bottom of White Church and going all the way up, through Brooktondale to Banks Rd. There was another one starting in Wilseyville and taking the FLT/NCT all the way to Caroline Depot, but that looks pretty flooded out these days. Graduating in 2007 means it’s been 15 years since I last ran here. Great vistas, I just wish there were less “Let’s Go Brandon” banners – takes a special type of person to put that up in your yard.
Probably the only time I’ll run this one, but glad it wasn’t nearly as painful as Pseudo Skunk last year – though the hill on Lounsbery/Landon at 9 miles is just cruel!
It’s good to get those longer courses checked off - nice work! I’m looking forward to hearing your Treman FLT / Lick Brook update when you decide to do that one.
I run so often on Coddington that I think almost all of the regular drivers know me. I wave at everyone and I’ve found that since I started doing that, almost everyone gives me space or slows down. Many of the drivers are now waving hello at me before I start waving at them. I even saw a guy at Hammond Hill on the Long Loomis Course out hiking with his dog who recognized me from running on Coddington!
I grabbed the 52 bus by Bradfield Hall on Tower Road at 2:30-ish and got dropped off across from Brookton’s Market around 2:50.
Side note: That stop actually is perfect for getting to Jim Schug and Dryden Rail Trail via the 43, Lansing Trail via the 37 and you can hit the Cornell Track and Beebe runs on foot as well. Plus, you’re right by the red tail hawk nest on top of a field hockey light post.
I had enough time to do a work call, see a large one year old Rhodesian ridgeback dog and then set off for the run. For some reason the course seemed to have a faint toasted bagel smell so maybe I absorbed the essence of one of the cafe’s picnic tables. Nice to see horses and a distant cow on the run. Tempted to ride one of the horses back but didn’t do so.
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I got back to Brookton’s in time to grab a Bruce Cost’s ginger beer (solid, non-alcoholic soda) and then catch the 5 PM 52 bus to town where I enjoyed listening to G. Love and Special Sauce’s “The Hustle” album, appropriately named for a post-run relaxing ride.
Just a heads up on this course. They have tarred and feathered most of the roads. Coddington, Ridgeway, and White Church all the way back. It’s not awful to run on (gives it more of a rail trail feel) but the cars going by can kick the rocks up and the new gravel is quite dusty when driven on. So if you are not sure when to slot it in, you might want to wait until it gets packed down a bit.
My legs still felt a bit tired from running the Lick Brook & Treman course on Wednesday but I absolutely loved this course… the road is my jam, and I had never run in Broktondale before. There are a couple of tough uphill parts, but the downhill finish is nice. Of course, I made a mistake at the very end, and I turned right instead of left at the bottom of Van Demark Road thankfully, the RunGo instructions promptly said “you are off the route” (now that I know that you created the instructions, I always imagine you @adamengst when I hear them hahaha – the guardian angel of all the challengers ).
Damian’s warning is still valid: there is still a bit of gravel in the middle section of the course (mostly on Coddington), so pay attention when the cars get close to you and protect your face, in case they send some rocks in your direction.
The weather this morning was perfect for running (no sun and a nice breeze) but keep in mind that there is not much shade on this course, so it might be better not to tackle it when it’s scorching hot.
I am looking forward to running this and the other courses again in company, but I just want to say: THANK YOU SO MUCH to @adamengst for creating this challenge last year and keeping it up this year. Thank you to @heathercobb3@Dave_K and all those who organized and participated in the group runs. It was a HUGE HELP in the midst of the doom and gloom of the pandemic With none of the other races that usually provide us with the necessary motivation to maintain an active training schedule, the challenge gave us something to look forward to. And what a wonderful way to meet other runners and discover new running routes!
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After the run, I stopped for breakfast at the Brookton’s Market. As a tea lover, I appreciated their nice selection
All things considered it was a good morning for a fast run. I definitely had to push myself as I’ve been feeling pretty sluggish lately. I wish I had gotten out a little bit earlier as the sun was pretty strong towards the end. It was much better to run this course on a Sunday when the traffic wasn’t as bad as last time, but still the cars go soooooo fast. I got hit in the chest pretty good by a flying pebble from a fast car over the loose gravel. I was glad I was wearing glasses. I had a stitch for the first 6 miles or so which was unpleasant but I was able to run through it. I am hoping I didn’t aggravate my fussy right hamstring too much.
Now I get to enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day.
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Popped into Brookton’s Market to say thank you and bought a delicious juicy sweet orange that hit the spot after my run.
I took advantage of this cool and overcast day to do the Brookton run. Wore my new bright orange shorts and my brightest orange shirt, and most drivers gave me wide berth! Almost the whole length of Coddington Rd smelled like the wild flowering Dame’s Rocket that was everywhere. Beautiful vistas across the valley
Scott needed to do this course so of course I agreed to run it again today even though I told Teressa last week that it fell under “one and done” for me. On this nice cool morning we headed out to get this run in. I loaded up my podcast run list and decided to take a nice slow podcast run. We saw Jamie heading out as we drove in so we rushed to scan to get him a social point! My first one was great and motivational, the second was a bit controversial, and the third … well I should have switched to music because I hit podcast fatigue and it was boring. I walked more than one ought to walk, but without guilt so that was good. When I finished, @Jamie and @scottpdawson were hanging at a picnic table at the market cheering me in.
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Afterwards we enjoyed chatting with Jamie. We told another couple about the challenge (imagine 3 super enthusiastic people telling you about how great this is!) and then we enjoyed a sandwich before heading home. Jamie nabbed a picture of us as he left and sent it to me. I should have taken one of Jamie before he headed off with his eggs - his plan was to make himself a great post run omelet!
I was excited to check this one off my list! There’s something special about running a course for the first time. RunGo directions were great, but I scratched my head in the first few miles as the elevation kept gaining, and gaining, and gaining. @amy-dawson had warned me about it, though! When the course leveled off I really started to enjoy the miles. I chatted with @Jamie around mile 4 (we had seen him starting when we pulled in the lot, so nabbed a social point for us when we checked in). The uphill between miles 5 and 6 was just cruel, but I had my Honey Stinger gels to lessen the sting. The northbound leg was also pleasant, until the curvy hill after the bridge (I agree w/ you, @steve-desmond … not a nice course feature!). The last mile was pure delight, since my legs were toast I really appreciated the downhill.
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Brookton’s Market is SO cute! Have never been here and enjoyed my free cup of coffee while cheering Jaime and Amy in. It was also a treat to chat with @ks_eggs as he started his effort on the course for the day. Amy and I got a few breakfast sandwiches and enjoyed them at the shaded picnic table before heading home.
It was a sunny but cool morning so I had a good run. The loose rocks mentioned above seemed to have been packed down and I didn’t run into any dust at all.
It was fun seeing Scott Dawson out on the course (he passed me around mile 4 - he’s fast!) and I chatted with him at the tables under the awning after the run. Amy joined us a bit later. It was Scott and Amy’s 9th course and they planned to finish the 10th with a Sweet 1600 later in the day. Looking at the leader board they finished the challenge! Way to go!
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I bought my dozen eggs from the market for an omelet for breakfast but it turns out my kids had a different idea. We had waffles and strawberries with whipped cream instead. Yummy!
thankfully, the RunGo instructions promptly said “you are off the route” (now that I know that you created the instructions, I always imagine you 
).
With none of the other races that usually provide us with the necessary motivation to maintain an active training schedule, the challenge gave us something to look forward to. And what a wonderful way to meet other runners and discover new running routes!
lover, I appreciated their nice selection 
