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This was the first run that I did with an installed sign! Photo from April 14:
If you’re not used to running long exclusively on roads, this course is going to be hard on the feet. I had consistently been doing 8-9 mile long runs for about a month but many of them incorporated gravel or other non-road sections, and none of them were out and back like this course. While it was not the longest Challenge run for me by time, mentally it was definitely the toughest, especially as it rained several times during my effort. Glad that I did it but don’t think I would head over here again.
Campbell Meadows is very pretty though and I did follow the advice to soak my feet in the water…a nice wake up as it was VERY cold!
The run gods blessed me with a cloudy but Dry Morning for my long run 
The wind was a wonderful asset, (for once 
)
Saw so many song birds 
very little traffic
I really enjoyed this run, I am grateful it was easier than the Skunk cabbage course
A huge thank you to Melissa Plank and Evan Lodge for some motivation. This morning was wet and I was debating not running. I looked at the activity log (as one does) and saw they had logged a run. Well, if they can get up and run, I can too.
It was rainy, wet, and long. Seeing the turnaround was the highlight of the run, and it was a slog from start to finish. I am sure the super athletes here eat this one for breakfast, but for me it was a hard, slow run.
3rd run, as part of my longest long run of my training block. Rained most of the run 
but got it done, now I go into taper, and I’m 100% sure I’ll get a case of the taper crazies 
Taper tantrums are real! Good luck and have a great race in a few weeks!
I took the day off from work to tackle the longest challenge. I set a goal in my head to knock this out in 1:59 but alas, the stars weren’t aligned for me today. I ran a strong first half followed by a mix of walking and running during miles 7-13.1. This reflects my lack of experience running anything beyond a 10k.
Nonetheless, this was such a thoughtful route. I can hardly believe you managed to find a safe, flat, low traffic stretch of asphalt with a halfway point behind our local airport. Fantastic half marathon!
Well, I finished!
This one was tougher than I expected, and I had a really difficult time finding my stride. Literally everything was bothering me. I couldn’t get comfortable in my shoes, my vest was irritating my neck, my old army knee injury started to flair up around mile 6, and I didn’t bring enough water, but I finished! FLRC 2024 in the books.
Oh, and I saw a snapping turtle!
It was a beautiful cool morning for this challenge run, but very 
sunny:sunny:! This would be brutal on a hot sunny day. Jamie and I ran together for the first 10 miles at an easy pace then I picked it up to kick it in for the last 3 miles (as per my training schedule). Because the last three miles are mostly downhill, I was able to “fly-in” to the finish line 
.
We enjoyed passing @mclark with his dog Mia as they was starting out and we were finishing.
But the best part by far was exploring Campbell Meadows after we finished running. What a hidden gem in Ithaca!
Sunny roads:
Gorgeous meadows:
Wild flower of the run - the Yellow Flag Iris - non-native, sadly, but still gorgeous:
Team Loehr was both smart and faster than me and my pooch, smarter for starting earlier in the day before it got hot, and they both looked fresh and fast when they were at mile 11. The Fly-In course was thankfully pretty flat but I missed the shade of the trail runs.
Maggie (my 4-legged companion) and I have only one more challenge to do together - the 1600. I appreciate learning new trails and places this year, such as the Campbell Meadows.
Fantastic Fly-in! A rainbow of wildflowers, dragonflies, interesting old trees, so many birds, Fire and rescue training at the airport next to the course…but the best part was the Etna FD chicken bbq and boot drive!!! Gonna cost me a lot of time but you savor what
Had a long run planned for today so decided to head out to this course. Very pleasant run and hardly any traffic early on a Sunday. I have driven by the Campbell Meadows picnic spot numerous times but never had a reason to stop before. Only negative was the horse flies! But the wind picked up on Adam’s favorite stretch of road and they disappeared for a bit. Much flatter than expected.
And neither rain, gusty, wind, nor lack of hydration could stop me
Yes, I am insane … but what else is new?
will fill in details later as I do have job to do but here is the one photo I took of the glorious non-sunrise in the brief period of dry (my hands were too wet to work the phone the rest of the time.)
and to @caitlin-loehr - whom I saw heading out as I was heading in- hope you ran well!
Blockquote
And, as Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story…
When I first saw this course on the Challenge, I knew it was beyond me. I would have loved to have known about it years ago when I was training hard for marathons; it was a perfect 5X2 mile course. But now, well, I figured I was just going to run/walk or hike it soon after starting the challenge and be done with it.
But life kept getting in the way, and when it wasn’t life, it was the heat - I had to pass on several chances in the last 10 days because it was just too hot. So when I saw the forecast for today, and the one day respite it represented, I jumped at the chance, even though I had just ridden 9 hours on my motorcycle Sunday and was in less than ideal shape. My spouse actually supported the wild hair, agreeing to walk the dog so I could run and still get to work on time.
I was actually too tired to properly lay out items the night before, so I got up at 4:15 and spent 20-30 minutes prepping water bottles, extra clothes, making sure all the electronics were charged, etc. In particular, I started the RunGo app and found the route, wanting to avoid the issues I had with the Run Rabbit Run course.
I structured the drive out to the start to go by the turnaround point, where I dropped a string bag with a spare water bottle (string bag for the presumably empty water bottle I would be carrying at that point). I noticed that there was quite a gusty wind - it was actually chilly, and I began to wonder if I should have brought a jacket. But I relaxed at the start as there was no wind or rain, and the temperature seemed about perfect.
After the usual warmup I started running at 5:15 am - it was still a little dark for my taste, and I hadn’t brought any reflective gear because, well - but it wasn’t a problem. I was almost off Lower Creek Road before the first car went by, and by then it was already brighter. RunGo even worked from the start - well, sorta. I had barely left the parking lot when I was informed “Distance: 4 miles” and then a few seconds later “Distance: 5 miles”. I wasn’t sure what that was about - but I was getting directions, so I didn’t care. I suspect it had something to do with accessing the route at home, but will never know.
It had been a relatively long time since I had run that early in such pleasant coolness, and I was enjoying the experience, enough so that I didn’t notice that I was climbing up Lower Creek Road. I did notice that Wood and Sheldon went up, but not severely, and so I rambled up and then on down Niemi Road, which I liked as much as the brief stretch on Mohawk. I suspect this was in part because the cool morning kept the bugs from the Cornell Research pond away.
While I had run through the occasional sprinkle up to this point, it hadn’t amounted to much more than running through a fog. That all changed when I turned onto Snyder. Not only did I find the gusty wind, but now it was pushing lake effect showers into my path. Some of those showers were heavier than others, but none were hard enough to be a rain. And in fact, they served to strengthen my resolve, not dampen it (pun intended), What DID threaten to dampen my spirits was the realization that I had left the drop bag at the wrong intersection - I had no idea there was a “Cherry St Ext” as well as a “Snyder Rd” intersection with Warren Road. However, I was soaking wet, and still had some water in the bottle I was carrying, and I had plenty of water at the car - and I certainly wasn’t going to be sweating. So I laughed at my error and kept going.
I reached the turnaround, but it was too wet to try and take a picture. But almost on cue, the rain stopped, and the sun :almost: came out - and now I had a tail wind. I did manage to snap one picture near the turnaround as my hands dried out. I was in kind of a dumb stupor as my body took over and just settled into a rhythm, one that had the miles passing by much quicker than I had thought possible. I had set my watch with run/walk intervals, so I amused my self by switching the water bottle between hands on the intervals: left on the odd, right on the even. I also was carefully watching for cars, which surprisingly were very considerate and gave me a wide berth - perhaps they felt sorry for me? I wasn’t as lucky with the bugs along the Research Pond - I have the bites on my arms to prove it - but that didn’t last long, fortunately.
At some point along this stretch, I realized that I wasn’t getting directions from RunGo - not that I needed them - and that the distance was always “15 miles”. So I pulled out the phone and sure enough, RunGo had locked up at the turnaround - probably a victim of the rain - and so was in its own little world. This was just another source of amusement at this point in time.
Much sooner than I expected, I was turning off Niemi onto Sheldon - and though I was now at about 10 miles, I knew the next 2 or so were all down hill, and that they would literally fly by. It was at this point that I saw @caitlin-loehr heading the other, amusingly wearing the same blue Challenge shirt as I … and taking advantage of the same cool conditions as I, just a little later.
As I started down Wood, I began to wonder if I had enough in me to run to the finish. And on cue, the wind picked up and a new batch of lake effect showers rolled in. Thanks, Mom Nature, that was just the inspiration I needed. That, and the slowly dawning realization that it really was all downhill to the finish. As I neared the parking lot, I lost a few seconds fumbling with the phone, trying to get WebScorer to work in the rain, before just running to the sign, stopping my watch, then retreating to the car where I had a towel waiting that I used to dry my phone screen and my hands - and then finally scan the QR code on the sign.
I had a few misadventures on the way home, but nothing serious. And much to my amusement, I discovered that there was an update to RunGo pending…hmmm…
I finished the challenge! Woop de doop! As many do I guess, I left the longest till the end. The humidity lately has been destroying me on runs, but I am busy this weekend and knew there wasn’t another time for my long run, so decided to do it before work today. Lol. Not recommended. Not if you want a productive day at work!
Somewhat glad I hadn’t read the previous posts before running it! It was long, and some parts stretched ahead in a straight line into the distance, making me wonder if I could really keep my legs going that far. But oddly, the miles just passed and I almost enjoyed it!
FYI for anyone thinking about it - I started at the turnaround on Warren Rd/Warren Dr because I live just around the corner. There is a very convenient layby for parking on Warren Dr. You don’t get the downhill finish, but it’s nice at the halfway point too. The face in the photo below is a woman who reached halfway in ~90% humidity, 70 C temps, and who realizes her only option is to run all the way back. Glad it’s done. Probably won’t do it again haha.
So I started this morning with high hopes of a strong half marathon for my long run. The sun beat that out of me.
Had to break my run up into a separate brisk recovery walk. Then once the wind picked up I was able to run the last 3miles.
Total time according to the FLRC CHALLENGE timer 3hr:04min. I’m not unhappy with that considering all the walking 
and it’s still faster than my first HM back in 2021 
Oh yeah, and Hi to the other challenger I saw on the course 
I didn’t catch your name
As always I put my pride on the shelf and listen to my body when running in the heat. I won’t push myself into heat sickness.
Came home and made a delicious egg 
scramble with avocado 
toast 
so nutritious and filling after my morning activities.
Run number 2 of 5 for the Tough Tarmac Challenge today. I new it would be nice to get the longest course out of the way early, and if I had time before work, also knock off the Lakefront Loop. This was only second time on the Fly-In. I was expecting 13.1 miles of mundane backroads but it turned out to be much more interesting.
A mile into the run I passed the Etna Volunteer Fire Department, and watched casually as trainees practiced forcing their way into a junk vehicle by smashing if with an axe or hammer. As I continued on up Wood Road I forgot about it when my mind shifted to other random stuff, like when I passed that rustic geodesic dome house and it’s 26 acres. I tried to convince Hayley we should buy it when the place went on the market in the spring but she wasn’t sold on the idea.
Fast forward to mile 4, just before Neimi Road crossed Hanshaw. I saw a young couple standing on the side of Neimi. From a distance it looked like they were photographic flowers or something. When I got up close my heart jumped when I realized what they were looking at. I white sedan was flipped on its side off the road and down a 10-foot embankment, with the driver’s side all the way on the ground. No one else was around, so my first reaction was that it had happened moments earlier and someone was trapped in the car, possibly with serious injuries. Either that, or these two were out for a walk and find it there after it crashed the night before. The car was far enough down the slope you couldn’t seeing off the road if driving by. Perhaps it was already time for those firefighter trainees to see some real life extraction action.
I asked them if everyone was okay and if there was anyone else in the car. Due to a language barrier I wasn’t able to get any straight answers so I pulled out my phone and prepared to call 9-1-1 and hoped that emergency services were operational while so many computer systems were down. That’s when another older woman jogged over and told me help was already on the way. Turns out she saw the crash, checked on the passengers, and called 9-1-1 from her own car that was parked safely a little further down the road. In my panic I thought her car was just parked with no one in it. She explained that the couple were the only passengers and were not hurt. I continued asking all three of them questions about injuries until I was convinced everyone was okay. I lost several minutes while stopped with the clock running but it doesn’t matter.
The older woman and I agreed there was no reason for me to hang around since I didn’t witness the crash, so I continued on with the next 9 miles. On the way back through, a sheriff’s car and a tow truck were on the scene, so I just continued on with my run.
Oh yeah, the run. It warmed up a bit by late morning but he heat wasn’t miserable now that I’ve been acclimating for the past two months. It was a mistake though not to carry any gels — I could feel my energy level waning. The final three miles were mildly sloggy, but I was still 15 minutes faster than my only other run here, near the end of the 100k Challenge. No time now for the Lakefront Loop until after work.
Ideal temps for this course. 14 degrees (57.2 for the American reader) at the starts. 20 (68 Fahrenheit) by the end. Love the view by the airport. Lots of rabbits and more than a few deer. Came across this one either re-creating a scene from Bambi or the opening of the lion king. Not sure if I was meant to ride the bike or not but I didn’t bring a helmet.
It’s amazing just how much summer weather really affects performance! Last week was my slowest run of this course, and this week was my fastest, with a 15min finish time difference from last week 
Even with the full sun still today, it didn’t start getting uncomfortable till mile 10
Even with all my extra walk breaks I was surprised that I PR’ed this course by 3minutes 
Summer running really hides the gains you build during the heat 
Oh, perhaps I’m over thinking this, but what is the proper way to park here 
logically you can fit more cars if you park parallel with the road. But so often I arrive and people park along the back fence when you can park maybe 5 cars that way? I’m always worried if I park that way I might get blocked in. So I basically parked roadside to people room there prolly is never much of a rush but I would hate to accidentally inconvenience someone.
