Jamie’s brother is visiting from Virginia and we decided to do this as a hike, as it was new for all of us. We went at a leisurely pace and included extra vistas and exploration. The waterfalls and woods are gorgeous but the views were hazy from wildfire smoke, the mud was pretty bad, and the meadow was very overgrown and not very fun. I kept saying, “I’m so glad I’m not running”. I suppose I’ll have to come back to run it at some point but Jamie is convinced it is a one and done kind of course. I would definitely bring friends back for the “Danny’s Trail” section, but not the field.
Dior and I mostly walked this today. It was incredibly muggy! It has dried up a lot since the last time I was here, but the field is quite overgrown, so watch out for ticks.
I arrived groggy and unprepared for the group run on this course today: shoes untied, sunscreen uneven, hair in the shape of sleep. I chatted with Sean who was visiting from Hong Kong – his Mom lives in Ithaca – and he happened to come to a group run with us!
We started running down the trail mowed into the field, and I appreciated the waving grasses and flowers in the foreground, the easy rhythm of the runners ahead of me, and the horizon across the lake. I started to become fully awake. I enjoyed listening to the conversations flitting around me as my group slipped into the woods, down to the top of the cliffs, up again, across the graceful brook, around the enormous field — which wasn’t muddy — more woods, and finally, the climb back up to the parking lot. Now I was awake, and the morning was good.
It got better. Next was a plunge into the lake below the Lambert’s house. Most people lasted for about a minute in the cold water, but it felt incredibly good to me, and I lingered in the coolness. I had second breakfast, coffee and bagel, on the deck overlooking the lake, and then later at home, third breakfast (see photo). A day with third breakfast is a great day!
@Tristan_Lambert had this to say about third breakfast (see screenshot), making the day either a mathematical success or a mathematical challenge!
Happy Trail Runners
I kicked off my day of trail running in the Challenge with the Cayuga Cliffs group run in the morning. Quite a few runners there and the morning temps were still fairly moderate. My plan was to run as many trail miles today before the effects of the higher temperatures took their toll and to try to get some time on my feet and a little ultra conditioning after a recent 7 weeks of no strenuous activity, though, somehow, I was still permitted to mow the lawn during that time.
Fortunately, I picked up my snazzy 2025 Challenge sleeveless shirt from Adam before the run. It was most comfortable for the rest of the day!
I took several photos of the panoramic views, cascades, fields, woods, and wildflowers. However, trailing near the back of the pack afforded the opportunity to catch some trail runners ahead of me on the final out and back section. So many smiles and and so much trail euphoria!
Matt and I did a lovely hike this afternoon.
We arrived just as a large group was leaving. I suspect it was a guided trail group.
The trail was in much better condition that than when I first ran it. No fear of slipping off the cliff from the mud also there were trail snacks this time
Almost immediately after starting run, along perimeter of field, there were two Ruffed Grouse running along just in front of us! One of them let us pass, but the other kept running until we finally stopped and waited for him to fly back toward his mate.
It was a clear, blue, low-humidity morning with no work (hello Fourth of July) so I enticed my husband to join me on a “new trail with great views”…omitting the whole 600 ft of elevation change over 4 miles part. I’m trying to make him into a sometimes runner.
Love this course, but must remember it’s quite challenging despite the wonderful vistas. We got ice cream and French fries at Purity after as a reward for my husband’s efforts.
I thought I might never get back to this course after we hiked through the tall grass last time. But I decided to take advantage of this lovely cool morning to don some long running tights and head out for another attempt. Turns out the meadow trail is now mowed and I could have worn shorts. Also the trail has completely dried up so there was no mud. I improved my time by a whopping 1 hour and 28 min , though my hamstring is not happy .
I earned my Challenge medal today by finishing Cayuga Cliffs. I was eyeing @Ryan_Jacobsen’s course-leading time of 32:55, so I did a 2-mile warm up on the road with some strides so that I was ready to run fast from the start.
I summoned RunGoRachel, scanned the sign, and took off down the hills. I enjoyed the easy descent despite knowing I’d have to run back up later. After I entered the woods, Rachel was late telling me about the first right turn and I ran straight to the overlook. I realized my mistake and made my way to the steep loop.
The footing was definitely tricky, especially as I was trying to take the sharp turns downhill. Despite that I strongly agree with Rebecca’s preference for a clockwise loop here. The other way with such a steep downhill would have been even trickier.
After I completed that loop I made my way back to the intersection and took a right straight back to the dead-end overlook. I spent a little too much time looking for the rest of the trail before realizing that I should have turned left uphill to skip the overlook and then turned right. I probably lost about 45 seconds total to navigation errors.
After that I headed to the fields and it was mostly smooth sailing from there. I really like grass courses (speaking of, I would love a redux of Lansing Center Trails in 2026) so it was nice to be able to cruise around the field for a while without having to worry about slipping on hairpin turns.
The out-and-back to Fiddler’s was uneventful except for a fallen tree which I enjoyed hurdling (of course it was much lower than a regulation 36" steeplechase hurdle that I would not dare attempt).
Once I left the woods and started heading back to the start on the grassy trail it was clear that Ryan’s time was out of reach. Nonetheless I pressed onward and tried to finish strong. I reached the sign in 33:27.
Of course if I hadn’t made any wrong turns I would probably have run the fastest time, but Ryan also lost about 45 seconds to a wrong turn so his run could have been a lot faster too. Navigation can count for a lot in the Challenge!
Given that I had to walk a portion of this course on my first attempt, I thought I would give it another go. Apparently Rachel wasn’t ready to go run this morning as she refused to give me directions. Running with my phone in hand is not something I prefer on trail runs!!
I ended up taking the steep loop counter clockwise. On my “power hiking” ascent, I finally got Rachel to wake up after a third restart.
The course was dry throughout; I was a little concerned given the size of the puddles in the parking lot. Everything was nicely mowed, and there were just a few blackberry shoots hanging in the path of the field loops.
I let my mind wander and considered using mantras later on the course. I did think about hurdlers when crossing the downed tree. How do people run and jump repeatedly over short distances?? And the form. I just find it mind boggling!!
Also while running the out and back, I appreciated that this course is less technical, but …. after the turnaround when running downhill, I tripped, fell, skidded my body down the hill, and landed hard on my right side. I left a little piece of me (skin) on the trail. The scrapes and bumps hurt the worst at first and then I realized that I must have pulled something on my left side. I made my way back to the start, finishing 10 minutes faster than my first attempt.
I even survived a stop at Target for antibacterial first aid stuff during move in week!!
Never in 1,000,000 Years…
did I think I would head out for a trail run and leave my trail shoes at home, but… earlier this month I turned 1,000,000 years old, if you count them in the binary system, and I must be having some brain lapses, because… when I got to the Cayuga Cliffs trailhead all I had to run in was this 15 year old pair of Salomon’s with no tread remaining
Of course, Steve Shaum @SteveShaum would advise me to sew them up with dental floss so I could use them another 15 years!
The meadow trails are nicely mowed, with lots of yellow, white, orange, and purple wildflowers to ‘pic’. Since I saw the Red Hot Chili Pipers at the NYS Fair last night, I will include the picture of the thistle, which I think might be the national flower of Scotland
Orion above Sunrise still a dream away Coyotes howling
No better way to start the day than a pre-dawn trail run! Faint aura of the Milky Way, dew-drenched grass, coyotes nearby, raccoon scrambling up a dead snag, scent of skunk in the meadows!
Off to Town and Gown, etc. Breakfast first… what time does Joe get up?
I had a day to myself today while Hayley visited her family in Syracuse with the kids. Holiday tomorrow, not many chores to do at home, so the question is: what Challenge courses am fitting in on the penultimate day?
I considered a few possibilities — hamster-wheeling on the Groton track for 8-9 hours to try to nab that Sweet 1600 sign from @patrickmilano; Slogging through some absurd quantity of Varna humps to win the 3x Hump sign; keeping it short and going for best average at Cayuga Cliffs; or making amends for my opening day Tough Tarmac DNF.
Oddly enough (for me) a track ultra had no appeal, 15 to 18 Mount Pleasant humps even less so. Consecutive day race efforts on Cayuga Cliffs is more work that I’d like on Labor Day, and any number of way-faster-than-me guys could beat it tomorrow anyway. The Tough Trail Challenge it is then.
I knew I’d have time to finish the 50k within the time limit, so I challenged myself to try to best @stephen-jesch’s leading times for both elapsed time and run time.
Last night was a late one after seeing the Black Keys and Gary Clark Jr. at CMAC and then driving home. I got a late start on Cayuga Cliffs as a result. I drove around blasting Black Keys favorites and this (plus coffee) got me fired up for a reasonably good time on the opening course. I had the preserve to my self and cruised through while enjoying the crisp morning air. Eight completions now and I still disagree with Rebecca on the easier direction for the opening loop. Then onward to the arboretum.
Last time I was here I made some wrong turns. At the time I thought I’d be one-and-done here despite the mishaps, but since then it’s become clear that I need all the points I can scrape together. With that in mind I set my sights on Seth’s leading time of 31:45.
I did a 10-minute warm up on the road, changed into my trail shoes, and sped down the hill. I knew that mile 2 would hurt no matter what so I ran hard on the downhill 1st mile.
Mile 2 did indeed hurt. My legs were on fire by the time I finished the steepest part of the ascent. The gentler slopes up to the fields offered no respite. I kept trying to turn my legs over but I wasn’t able to get going fast again until I made it partway around the grass field. Once it leveled out I found my gears again.
Now that the most difficult part of the course was behind me I turned my attention to the next obstacle: thorns! On my last run here I had to slow down a couple of times to dodge or push away some thorny plants that had grown across the trail. This time I came prepared with a heavy glove that I had stuffed into my waistband. I put it on and it worked like a charm. I pushed straight through all of the prickly parts with no pauses or cuts.
The final out-and-back felt a little slower than I would have liked, but my legs were very tired. I powered my way back to the grass path and launched into a long kick for home. I squeezed every second I could out of the last half mile and finished in 31:18. Mission accomplished? I’ll find out at midnight.
My original plan for today was to start with a sub 5:02 Sweet 1600 to take the lead in the Challenge from Patrick Milano before taking on the Tough Trail Challenge. After striking out this morning at the Cornell, Barton, and IHS tracks, I headed home to regroup. Post choosing the Dryden track due to the more favorable bus schedule, I saw that Patrick had picked up several points by rerunning Cayuga Cliffs. For the Sweet 1600, I broke out my track spikes as—between my Challenge runs last week, the Charleston Distance Run (and a wedding) on Saturday, and a Lakefront Loops 5K yesterday right after an 8 hour drive—I needed all the help I could get. Given Patrick’s improved time, my 4:54 was not enough to take the lead. This left a decision: should I redo Cayuga Cliffs or Triple Hump? Since I really didn’t want to run Triple Hump after Saturday’s 15 mile road race, I settled on Cayuga Cliffs.
After busing to Lansing Town Hall, I biked to the Sims-Jennings Preserve (and lost all tension in my front derailleur right before I got there). Since the course is relatively rock- and root-free, I brought along my XC spikes. (This is probably the first time I’ve run in both track and XC spikes in the same day.) After some stretching and strides, I headed out blasting down the hill knowing that I needed to run 30:55 to take the lead in the Challenge from Patrick. After passing Gillian Haines-Sharp at the first intersection, I continued flying down the hill en route to a 5:29 first mile. After the grueling climb, I hit mile 2 in the meadow in 7:56 and knew that I was in great shape to hit my goal. I continued to push hard through the remainder of the course. After passing Cecelia Madsen in the final meadow, I finished in 28:18—thereby smashing my goal, beating Patrick’s time by exactly 3 minutes, and beating my previous time by just over 4 minutes. By picking up about a dozen points, I was able to take the (hopefully insurmountable) lead in the Challenge. Afterwards I biked to the mall and then bused to campus to take on Fall Creek Trails and Mulholland Waterfalls again. At this point, I threw in the towel on the Tough Trails Challenge as it was clear that I had neither the time nor the energy to finish (or fix my bike). Overall, I had a fun and successful 15 days of the Challenge.
(While someone—who will remain nameless on the forum—insisted that I could have used my Twilight 5K time for the Challenge, I did not as that seemed like cheating given that it was more than two months before I signed up for the Challenge…and it’s supposed to be a challenge after all.)
also there were trail snacks this time 
, though my hamstring is not happy 
.
