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A fun morning run with Jamie, picking up the course right at the end of our street. We even stopped for a swing at Piglet’s Corner, and saw baby horses and lots of goslings, this time far enough away to not be a threat to our safety.
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I just love this course so much, and we picked the perfect day for @Tom to experience it! We brought out matching dogs, naturally, and they were delighted.
It was finally blue skies (but the field around Piglet’s Corner is quite mushy, and the woods are slippery!)
A protective farm dog greeted us by the horse barns, but was called off - no worries there.
Looking forward to our next romp!
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I was able to do this run with my good friend, definitely fun to run on so many different surfaces:) I’ll need to run this course again soon to put down a fast time, now that I know all the turns:)
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I got this notice today from Tompkins Siren Alerts:
“Town of Ithaca will be milling Forest Home Dr, Judd Falls Rd, & McIntyre Pl beginning Wednesday, 7/23 with paving to follow next week. Weather could affect dates. There will be alternating single lane and intermittent full road closure. Seek alternate route.”
Is there an acceptable detour so we can still run Fall Creek Trails over the next few weeks? Bypassing McIntyre via Arboretum Road, or down Forest Home and then turn right up Judd Falls Road? Or what about cutting straight through the flower garden, which avoids adding distance?
As long as everyone is cognizant of and polite to those who are enjoying the flower garden, I think it’s fine to cut through there (High Noon does all the time) for a week. You’ll have to go into and around the rhododendron garden to get there.
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Got to run this course before the workout today! Really fun course, with all the different terrain and footing. I was feeling really good going into mile 4, on pace for roughly 38 minute mark, and then for some reason, I took a wrong turn. 
It cost me roughly a minute, and momentum:/ I came in at 38:59. Maybe will go at this one again, but still need to finish up the rest of the courses:)
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I’ve been having a lot of fun running this one early in the morning. Today I took advantage of the extra blood plasma I built up by running on all those 90-degree afternoons, moving easily without much effort. I was on pace for my fastest time on the course until I zoned out while rehashing the plot of God Emperor of Dune and followed the trail right toward Freese Road instead of left to the horse barns. This is the I’ve run my normal Monkey Run loop 50+ times, so I guess it was muscle memory taking over while my brain was focused on Frank Herbert. Oops. I lost enough time that I wasn’t able to regain it by pushing harder on the ensuing gravel and asphalt roads down to the Forest Home Walkway. I’ll have to give it another shot to hopefully score a few extra AG points for the Fab 40s.
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@sarahwoodyear reports that the Fall Creek Trails course is closed as you turn left off Judd Falls Road, which I presume means the trails down into the Wildflower Garden. She was able to get through with a bit of parkour, but it might be best to avoid until we can figure out what’s going on there.
@Challengers, if you want to run Fall Creek Trails soon, this weekend is a good time to do it since the stairs down to the Wildflower Garden will be closed again next week, at least during working hours. If you need to run the course when it’s closed, here’s the official reroute (which will be longer). It’s probably easiest to just avoid the course early next week.
BTW, to help the club maintain good relations with Cornell, please follow any posted signage about closures. I suspect all runners might be identified as FLRC people even if they’re just random students, but still… Thanks!
Here’s the word from the Botanic Gardens staff.
FYI- Mundy stairs are now re-opened for the weekend. The middle and top sections are mostly done, but need some details attended to next week. But, they are certainly passable and improved, and all barriers of closure removed for the weekend. I rebuilt the mid-way slanted section that Tim and I worked on, to bring them level as best as I could, but what a can of worms that whole hillside is, pun intended!!!
We will close the stairs again early next week for the bottom few steps and those detail spots to improve, but the remaining repairs are simpler and won’t require the stairs to be closed overnight anymore, I don’t think.
Finger Lakes Running Club folks can be pretty determined on their challenge course, which includes the stairs and other CBG areas. They need to relax a bit about it all, and learn to simply respect posted signage. I had to turn back a couple audacious students who ducked under multiple barriers and ignored a ridiculous amount of signage in their quest for running glory.
Until next week, stay safe and enjoy your inseparable connections to nature!
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I typically run in the mornings this time of year but needed to get some work done in the am, so I packed my running gear for a pm run.
I haven’t taken advantage of this course being about a block away from work. I started by crossing Judd Falls and headed to the Mundy Wildflower Garden. The stairs were open, but this was around 7 pm. I did see the barrier off the side of the trail.
I again tried to be more “in the moment” during this run. I noticed how warm it was on the pavement in the Arboretum and the coolness once I exited the woods and ran the perimeter of the field. The sun was in my eyes on the farm road and Bluegrass Lane to Warren, and a few things snuck up on me.
First, there was a photo shoot at Piglet’s Corner. Then I came upon an empty stroller near the horse paddocks. I thought it was a strange sight until I crossed paths with an adult and who I presumed to be the stroller occupant. Finally, I came upon a pedestrian, but I couldn’t tell if we were headed in the same or opposite direction. Turns out it was the opposite.
I enjoyed the loop around Beebe Lake, and I was very excited that the end of my run was at Judd Falls!
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Beautiful evening with temps in the low 70s and the feeling of late summer setting in. Lots of good activity in the Arboretum, Mundy and the trails around Beebe Lake making it clear that students are back, but lots of quiet in the woods and fields. What a nice course. Glad I had a chance to run it for a second time. The stairs into Mundy were open this evening and the work appears to be complete. Nice job too!
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this morning I ran the Fall Creek Trails route again
and stopped to visit and admire the horses
Blast from the past -this is the amazing structure that used to stand near the stop sign that’s just past the horse barns - this photo I took in 2022
Anne finished her last Challenge course on Tuesday, and this evening we had a meal to celebrate both of our finishes
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For the past couple of weeks I’ve been watching my points total shrink every time someone lays down a new leading time on a course. I wanted to respond with a new leading time of my own and Fall Creek Trails was the only course that I hadn’t yet run hard from start to finish.
My run was a few days in the making. I had planned on doing this last Saturday, but my legs were overcooked from trying to make a big jump in mileage that week. I ran easy instead and decided to try again on Sunday.
On Sunday I felt much better. I started my time trial and was making good progress until I made it to the Byway. That little horseshoe of a road looks a lot like a driveway and my time-trial brain was unable to distinguish it from an actual driveway so I missed the bend back to Forest Home. I decided to run the rest easy, recover, and come back on Tuesday and do it again with no mistakes.
Rain on Tuesday forced me to reschedule again. I wouldn’t be able to run as fast on muddy trails and wet grass. So I came back today (Wednesday) after everything had dried out and finally made it happen.
I had a great run and managed to set the course lead with a 34:45. I also bumped my average age grade over 65% with this run. This has been a goal of mine for the last few years but I have always fallen short (64.25% in 2023 and 64.40% in 2024). It’s still not enough to compete with Caitlin (who is in a league of her own), but I’m still proud to own the #2 spot in that category for the time being.
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My Achy Breaky Legs
For better or worse, I decided to end my day with a circuit of the Fall Creeks Course. Whether due to 15 year old shoes or the drought-dry hard trails, my legs and ankles were hurtin’ when I started out on this course. This is a nice trail but darkening clouds were descending as I headed into the field
I run slow and quiet, and the wind probably dampened my steps. I could see there were some people at Piglet’s corner as I approached. Unfortunately, I was pretty near before they noticed me, which interrupted their 'amorous pursuits"
Best grass was growing near the fence tonight for these horses
Found myself racing the darkness for fear Cornell would close the arboretum gates before I could leave. Finished feeling a little beat up from the days running. Stopped at Dryden Creamery on the way home and Ben made me a milkshake with dark chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream… it was PERFECT!
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Still My Favorite Course
Flowers are smiling
Awash in glorious rays
Falls Creek Trails rule all
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@Challengers Thanks to @Dina_Maxwell for forwarding this note from Cornell about an unsafe condition that has closed the north trail around Beebe Lake.
Please seek an alternative route and exercise caution as the Beebe Lake Trail has a section closed with barricades due to an unsafe condition. Please respect all barricades in place. The section of the trail in question is on the Northern side of the lake.
If you need to complete Fall Creek Trails today, PLEASE respect the barricades. I don’t know where they are exactly, but I’m hoping you can go up the stairs to the observatory and around Helen Newman Hall.
If that’s not possible because the barricades prevent you from going over the bridge to the stairs, run out and back on the south side of Beebe Lake as shown below.
I just ran this course and then logged on to see this post. I avoided the closure by cutting through the woods on a discernible path, to avoid trampling vegetation, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
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One more run on one of my favorite Challenge courses. Still buzzed on cold brew and Akron, Ohio blues rock, I cruised through this one right to the trail closure on Beebe Lake’s north side.
Looking now at a map I can see the shortest bypass is up the steps past the observatory and down Cradit Farm through North Campus. In the moment I couldn’t figure out a better route than going partway uphill off the trail and following what looks like a deer path, while walking carefully to avoid trampling the vegetation. Near the lake’s west end I spotted 4-5 people on the trail and cut back down, assuming it was open there. Nope, they just all ignored the barrier and sign near Triphammer Falls.
I continued on without incident to finish course 2 of 5.
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