Greetings, runners! Signs of spring keep appearing, and it won’t be long before the skunk cabbages turn up their thermostats. In honor of their impressive thermal efforts, our next race is the long-awaited return of the Skunk Cabbage Classic on April 3rd!
UPCOMING RACES
Skunk Cabbage Classic 10K and Half Marathon returns on April 3rd!
The Skunk Cabbage Classic is back, and hundreds of runners have already signed up for the 40th running of Ithaca’s best-known spring race. Register today! The 10K and half marathon courses remain the same, but we have a new staging area under the overhang of the Schoellkopf Stadium Crescent. Besides being outside (but under cover if there’s weather) to reduce COVID-19 concerns, the Schoellkopf Crescent has lots of parking right in front of the stadium and in the Cornell parking garage. Race directors Vinny and Nichole Cappadora have been hard at work with the myriad details necessary to put on such a major race, and if you’re not running, they need your help—please add yourself to our Volunteer Sheet or contact them at skunk@fingerlakesrunners.org for more information.
FLRC Challenge to run from April 16th through August 14 in 2022
We have good news for those who enjoyed last year’s unique FLRC Challenge or missed out due to injuries. Race director Adam Engst has been hard at work developing new courses, new and even more inclusive competitions, and new swag for 2022. To keep things focused, the 2022 FLRC Challenge will take place over four months, from April 16th through August 14, and we’ll hold a proper award ceremony at the FLRC Annual Picnic on August 25th. Look for the main announcement very soon!
May Races: Women’s Distance Festival (May 8) and Thom B. Trail Runs (May 22)
Registration is open for our next two races: the Women’s Distance Festival 5K and the Thom B. Trail Runs. On Sunday, May 8th—and yes, that’s Mother’s Day—race directors Lorrie Tily and Chris Irving will be putting on the Women’s Distance Festival 5K on the Jim Schug Trail, starting and ending at Dryden Lake Park. Then on Sunday, May 22nd, race directors Joel Cisne and Gary McCheyne have the Thom B. Trail Runs on the trails at Hammond Hill State Forest. Choose from 8.5 miles, 17 miles, or a full 26.2-mile trail marathon.
Finger Lakes 50s 50-mile distance still has a few slots open
Although the 25K and 50K distances in our Finger Lakes 50s trail ultra have waitlists, a few more spots are still left in the 50-mile distance. The race takes place on Saturday, July 2nd, leaving you a few months to get your mileage up to where you can tackle a 50 miler.
FLRC RUNNER NEWS
Dave Kania, Sarah Ridenour place at USSSA Snowshoe Nationals
Congrats to FLRC’s Dave Kania and Sarah Ridenour, who recently competed in the USSSA 10K Snowshoe Nationals in Cable, Wisconsin. Dave finished 11th for men and was the 5th masters runner, earning a place on the US Masters National Snowshoe team should he want to compete at the World Snowshoe Championships in September in Argentina. Sarah finished 18th for women. Former FLRC member Cole Crosby was 2nd overall in the race.
Lots of local runners compete in the Syracuse Half Marathon
The recent Syracuse Half Marathon hosted nearly 2000 runners on March 20th, with many local runners and FLRC members participating. There are too many familiar names to call out without missing far more, so if you want to see how your friends fared, search the results for local town and city names like Dryden, Groton, Ithaca, Lansing, Newfield, and Trumansburg.
Former Cornell and Ithaca runner places 11th in the New York City Half Marathon
As long as we’re looking further afield, kudos to Ben de Haan, who recently finished 11th in the New York City Half Marathon, running an astonishing 1:02:24 (4:46 pace) alongside some of the best distance runners in the world. Ben ran for Cornell from 2012 through 2016 and continued his training and racing in Ithaca for several years—including some runs with the local High Noon Athletic Club—before moving to the Netherlands to run for the Dutch national team.
CLUB NEWS
FLRC Trail Circuit gets its own dynamic leaderboard
With inspiration from the popular FLRC Challenge leaderboard, coordination by FLRC VP of Trails Pete Kresock, and coding by club member Steve Desmond, FLRC is pleased to announce that we’ve launched the dynamic FLRC Trail Circuit leaderboard! The leaderboard will track results, statistics, and rankings from all nine of our Trail Circuit races. After each race, see how you measure up against the competition in the speed-based Pebblehead and Stonehead rankings and the mileage-based Boulderhead rankings. Anyone who runs at least one Trail Circuit race will appear on the leaderboard, and it will bring together your performances in all our 2022 races, starting with Super Frosty Loomis, whose results are up now. Series winners will take home some hardware at year’s end. To get a sense of what the leaderboard will look like later in the year, check out the 2021 Rankings in our archive.
Import or print your FLRC calendars today
When are your favorite FLRC races and other events taking place this year? Don’t guess—our dates do move around sometimes (we’ve already had to reschedule our June outdoor track meet to get a track). You can view the FLRC race calendar in three ways, so pick whichever works best for you.
- Subscribe to our Google Calendar so race dates, group runs, and other FLRC events (like the Annual Picnic) flow into your computer and phone calendar. Download and import this ICS file for most calendar apps; subscribe to fingerlakesrunners@gmail.com if you use Google Calendar.
- Check the home page calendar on the FLRC website, which lists all FLRC events alongside other races in the area. Anyone can submit a local race to our home page calendar.
- Download a PDF of our attractive print calendar, suitable for posting on a refrigerator or bulletin board near you! Speaking of which, could you do us a favor? If you know of any bulletin boards in the buildings or businesses you frequent, could you print a copy out and post it?
Group runs on 1st & 3rd Saturdays and some Thursdays
Whether you’re training for Thom B, looking for long-run company, or entirely new to running, FLRC group runs offer low-key companionship. We have several options in the coming month, with more coming soon:
- Saturday mornings: Heather Cobb manages our first- and third-Saturday morning group runs, with various courses around the area.
- Thursday evenings: Mickie Sanders-Jauquet coordinates all-comers group runs on one Thursday night each month, followed by drinks and dinner afterward. Others have picked up the baton to fill in other Thursday nights throughout the month.
Check the Group Runs & Workouts forum for details on these and other group runs, and remember to sign the 2022 waiver the first time you attend an FLRC group run.
FLRC scholarship application deadline approaching on April 8th
If you know a deserving high school senior who runs track or cross country for a school in Tompkins or a surrounding county, alert them to the FLRC Scholarship Program, which will be awarding two $1000 unrestricted scholarships in 2022. FLRC membership is not required, but applicants must submit a letter describing their academic, extracurricular, and running achievements. They should include any plans for a running career beyond high school and the personal benefits gained by participating in the sport. Applicants must also provide two letters of recommendation, one from a teacher and one from a coach. Please do not send complete transcripts or additional material for consideration as these will not be reviewed. Materials should be set to FLRC Scholarship Committee, Attn: Lorrie Tily, P.O. Box 185, Locke, NY 13092.
FLRC Forum FAQ #6: How do I get less email from the FLRC forum?
If you’re not a fan of email, you might find yourself receiving more messages than you’d like. You have complete control over how much email you receive, but keep in mind that if you disable all email, you will likely miss important announcements if you don’t visit the forum’s Web site regularly or use one of the apps.
First, if you turned on Mailing List Mode in your Emails preferences, turn it off. Then, set forums/categories for which you want to receive email to Watching or Watching First Post.
Second, refer back to the previous FAQ for a description of the Watching and Watching First Post notification levels. For any category or tag that’s sending you email, remove its name from the Watched or Watching First Post list.
Third, in your Emails preferences, note that you can adjust the frequency of the Activity Summary that alerts you to popular topics and replies. By default, it’s set to Daily, but you can instead choose Weekly, Every Month, or Every Six Months.
That’s it for now, and we’re looking forward to seeing you at Skunk Cabbage in April!
—Adam Engst, FLRC President and VP of Track