Story
On this unseasonably warm afternoon, I biked out to Dryden to run my last two Challenge courses. I locked up my bike at South and Weber and headed south at around 6 min/mi pace to start Dryden Lake Lollipop from near the mid-point. After looping the lake and passing back past my bike, the more grassy surface north of Main St slowed my roll a touch. After reaching the turn-around in Freeville, the slight uphill on the way back conspired with the heat and my high intensity last few days to really start to sap my steam. In the end, I gritted it out to finish with a new course record of 1:20:08 (6:08/mi), complete my Classic Challenge, and take the top spot on the leaderboard. After taking a few minutes to take a gel, refill my soft flask, and rehydrate, I headed off at a much easier pace on Jim Schug Trail to complete my 44th and final Challenge course before biking home at sunset. This year, I’ve run or biked from my apartment* in Ithaca to all 44 courses.
*I bused partway to/from Ludlowville Loop, but I plan to return fully by bike sometime in the next two-weeks to take a stab at the course record.