Use this topic for posts that will collect community stars for the East Hill Rec Way course. You can also ask questions or make comments about this course.
Here’s how it works.
Click the “Post Using This Template” button below to create a new post with a Story heading and boilerplate text.
Replace the boilerplate text with your report for one or both sections. The Story header is key for distinguishing between posts and replies—don’t change it.
Your post must be on the same calendar day as your run as entered in the leaderboard.
Story
To pick up a community star, replace this text with a write-up of what your run was like, a photo you took on the run, a link to your Strava track, or something similar. Don’t delete the Story heading above.
I was super happy to be able to run this course first thing on the first day with actual running. My conditioning is terrible, so even though I wasn’t running that hard or even trying to, it felt like race effort. And since the East Hill Rec Way is one of my most easily accessed courses, I’m hoping to run it regularly to see how my fitness improves over the season.
No Challenge sign for a selfie, but I figured the START MI sign is appropriate in many ways!
Wasn’t feeling all that great this morning so picked something short and quick. Didn’t help that I misread the temperature and it was a little chillier than I expected. However, the run itself was quite nice.. I even managed a sub nine time! (probably the fastest I’ve run in quite sometime). Saw quite a few other runners out there enjoying the morning - but no dog walkers - must’ve been too cold!
Turn Back the Clock!
I broke 11 minutes with a ‘blistering’ 10:59 on the down hill. I felt like I was in my 50s again! It was a long mile. too, as I stayed on the gravel trail to the creek side of the paved path, which is on the outside of the bend in the path.
Return trip was rather casual to enjoy a Snickers and admire the beauty of the creek and early flowers.
Coal and Cindy agreed to their own personal dog challenge to complete the one mile East Hill Rec Way course, no small fete for them after a long winter of snuggling on the couch. After a quick start they settled in for leisurely stroll.
Great to be able to hit a couple of shorter Challenge courses from High Noon runs. First Beebe Lake on Friday with Steve Folsom (@sf433) and today East Hill Rec Way on the way back with Steve and Josh Brockner (@JoshB).
I finally got out for a walk from my office on the Rec Way today! It was great seeing so many runners out enjoying the nice weather while I was sweating in my polyester blouse. I wasn’t fast, but the ground was covered going out and coming back.
I usually don’t run this trail out and back, but now that it’s a Challenge Course where either direction counts, how could I not?! 2X!!
This run was reminiscent of my Seneca7 runs the weekend before last, out too hot (for me) out the gate. I wasn’t sure if the rain would hold out, and sure enough, the skies opened up around mile 2.5. I considered asking @adamengst if 0.5 out and 0.5 back would count for a single effort, but I already knew the answer to that … Since I would be soaked regardless, I opted for 1.5 more miles in the rain for a 4X effort.
One more Challenge course down for each of the kids. Our goal is all the courses shorter than 4 miles, which works out to an even 10.
We hit the Rec Way early, before it got too hot. There was some running, mostly from Joel, who’s practicing pacing himself so he can run longer at a slower pace without getting tired. Lots of stopping to look for animals, bugs, and whatever critters we could spot. The boys caught a frog 0.1 miles from the end and it was a huge deal, so we finished with a large negative split. I forgot to get a pic of them with the from, but it looked a lot like the one they found at home.
Theo and I checked off our 8th stroller course at the East Hill Rec Way. We started at the bottom end and cruised up in 8:53. Then we continued along the rail trail to Monkey Run Road to get some extra miles before turning around.
On the way back down I ran harder for a gravity-assisted time. We had to slow down occasionally in order to remind a certain someone to not try to lean over and touch the side wheels, and also because of a shaky front wheel. (For those who don’t know, most jogging strollers have a single front wheel that can either rotate freely about the vertical axis for easy steering or be locked in a straight position for running. Even when it is locked there is a bit of play, so sometimes it can vibrate back and forth when I’m running faster.) Despite the brief delays we covered the down direction in 5:50.
Got up early to get this course done before it turns into an inferno out there. The trail is lovely in the early morning, birds singing and the nearby creek and shade keep it several degrees cooler. The horse flies get up early too. Forgot to snap a photo on trail so here’s one of my celebratory bagel and iced coffee at CTB after. Stay cool kids!
Ever since I ran 4:40 on the track this year I’ve been eyeing Adam Pacheck’s all-time best East Hill Rec Way mark of 4:36 from 2021. Could I run 4:35 with some Newtonian assistance? This morning I went to find out.
I started with an easy out-and-back on the course to warm up, then changed into some racing shoes and did a few strides. I felt some lingering soreness from my 2 mile race 3 days ago but there was still some pep in my step so I wasn’t deterred.
I toed the line and started to race. At the 1/4 mile mark I glanced at my watch and saw my first split: 1:10. 1 second behind 4:36 pace, but it was still early.
If I slowed at all on the next 1/4 mile then 4:35 would be out the window. Knowing this I focused on maintaining pace and hit the 1/2 mile mark in 2:20. I was 2 seconds behind pace now, but I am a strong kicker so the goal was still in reach.
To give myself the best shot I would need to cover the next 1/4 mile in 1:09 or even 1:08, but I was working really, really hard. I wasn’t sure I’d be to able to keep a steady pace, let alone speed up. I stole another glance at my watch at the 3/4 mark and saw…
3:32. Not exactly good news. But I still had some unused gears and I was ready to use all of them in the last 1/4. I upped the pace as I ran past the marker. When I got within about 200 meters I started an all-out sprint for the finish. As my chest crossed the invisible finish line I stopped my watch. 4:39.
I ran only 1 second faster than my track PR and finished 4 seconds behind my goal time. Considering the lingering soreness, and the fact that I did this all by myself with no one to race and help me push the pace, I’m content with that result.
Nice running, Patrick! I strongly suspect that running completely alone makes it harder, and although the downhill definitely helps, I also think that straight races are trickier than they seem because you don’t have as many reference points to determine pace. We don’t even know if those quarter-mile markers are really accurate or not.
Well done, Patrick! I believe a second attempt will get it for you! My new East Hill Rec Way challenge goal is to do it one second less than double your best time.
It was a long mile. too, as I stayed on the gravel trail to the creek side of the paved path, which is on the outside of the bend in the path.
)
Just enough sun to get nice and sweaty before social interaction 
life of a runner 
