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I decided last minute this afternoon that I’d give the FLRC challenge a go again this year …(thinking nothing can be as bad as the Treman monster course from 2022 that I barely survived 
)
This course is closest to my house and boy is it beautiful and flowy with some lovely downhills and a few punchy uphills. @Banyan_Tree helped me navigate as he also was in part responsible for helping to create the course, and thank goodness for that. Definitely need run go to attempt it otherwise for the first time.
! I hadn’t run in many months so it wasn’t a fast run…nor am I in this for speed whatsoever. More just for fun and a way to get out and use our Canicross gear. 
And yes I’ll be doing these courses with my pups Frodo and Forest in tow. Lovely day…be mindful there’s ALOT of ticks out this time of year!!! And a few muddy spots and downed trees, all easy enough to get around. Dogs loved it! Even found some bones among the way! 
Sadly had to run earlier than the group run, but a very pretty course! Melissa and I missed a turning because we were enjoying the flow so much 
Beware when the purple turns into orange, the marker is on the opposite side of the tree and very easy to miss!! We must have not heard the RunGo either. But still made up the ground and had fun. Will be back to do this one again 
It was a beautiful morning to do my last run (for a while!!) with the club 
. Lots of pale spring buds and a few hiding fiddlehead ferns. @tonya-engst @twalsky @KimJ @Cecelia_Madsen @jennarice @lgilmer and I got off course…several times, but nothing like as bad as yesterday. Wood chips and firm grass at the start give way to singletrack later in the course, but nothing is very technical - it was doable even with the miles of the last few days on my legs and a big bruise forming from my close encounter with the ground at Hammond Hill.
Thank you so much @tonya-engst for organizing and for the certificate. This was the best part of my 3 years in Ithaca 
and I’m so glad I will be back to visit in June!
I’d never been to Lindsey Parsons before, and I will definitely be back. It’s scenic in a charming way. The single track is more flowy than rooty. The woods are lovely, with all sorts of interesting trees and plants. The fields are rolling, and the far views are gentle and inspiring. There are lots of little hills—fairly steep, but by the time you get used to going up, it’s time to go back down. This might be my favorite Challenge course of all time.
I did this run in a group run that was a “last run” for Amalia Skilton, since she is leaving Ithaca for a job in Scotland and she will be missed. This run was also her final run of the 2024 Challenge courses!
I enjoyed the casual, group run atmosphere where we worked together to figure out the complex looping course, and I appreciated the spread of snacks at the end, with several homemade selections and peanut butter cups, orange juice, fruit, bagels, and more. Saying good-bye to a runner who you’ve enjoyed having around is never easy, but good company and good food make everything better.
Coming and going—some of us are a little lost… (it’s supposed to be a challenge…):
Stopping for a photo opp…
I stopped to take a photo of an interesting tree (photo came out so-so), but everyone else thought I was taking a photo of them, so I grabbed one.
Looking at tiny, unfurled fiddlehead ferns
The view over the field, nearly done
Finally… pics or it didn’t happen. We were discussing hair, and I shared that mine used to be rather red, and I people said they wanted to see a picture.
That’s awesome that you are out running Canicross with your dogs on the courses. I have been working to run more with our border collie, River, using our Canicros gear, but it hasn’t been fitting very well. I was wondering what type of gear you use if you don’t mind sharing. And now I am motivated to try and get he out on a couple of the courses with me at some point as well.
Great day for a gentle loop in the woods! I wasn’t able to join for Amalia’s last run so I meet a couple friends at the trailhead earlier, and we got to see Amalia and the group off at the end. Directions were clear, but we got to chatting and I missed a turn someplace, so we added a little extra distance at the end to make sure we covered the ground. We overshot a bit (4.9 miles) but who cares, we were just out for the exercise and views. Perfect weather and not too much mud. Happy trails, Amalia!
Lindsay, Lindsay, Lindsay!
I love this course! Much appreciation to whomever suggested it for The Challenge! Can’t wait to run it at night and pass the Devil’s Trident Tree three times:
Does anyone know why this is along the trail? Is it there for dogs?
I took a rather lengthy lunch break at Brookton’s Market on the drive from Hammond Hill to Lindsay-Parsons. My first time there - a nice friendly place!
Just recovering from some mystery “sinus head thing” I had last week, I am finally feeling better, but not quite ready to run yet so I hiked this today. I have lived in the area over a decade and never stopped here 
It’s wonderful. Exactly what I needed today. 
RunGo did have a weird hiccup on me though 
With one mile left to go, it suddenly decided I just started the course in the very middle of the last loop 
still had the time accurate though
Hmm. I think this is the first time we’ve used RunGo on a course with multiple loops that cross several times. It’s possible that it doesn’t do very well in that scenario if it’s looking purely at where you are and what direction you’re going, and not also how far into the course you are. I’ll see if I can get that out of RunGo support.
Hi Kyle,
I use the nonstop dog wear brand. My Frodo Aussie is full grown and wears a size 6 and forest I haven’t bought official gear for quite yet because he’s still a puppy and shouldn’t really be “pulling” quite yet. There is a flx canicross group on FB based out of Rochester and they have fitting workshops etc it’s how I got started and Brian Ess and his partner are great and also have border collies :). I’m all about getting pups together to run here in Ithaca! It’s a lot of fun!
Gotta know your left from your right
Summary: had a great run on dry, well-blazed, very runnable trails that were mostly sheltered from the strong south wind that was bringing warmer weather to the region…though the last couple of hills on the last leg back into the parking lot were into that wind so took a little more oomph to finish. In many ways, the course reminded me of the Green Lakes 50 mile course that I ran for years on family vacations, with the mix of grasslands and woods - just not the same amount of climbs (which I wasn’t complaining about!)
HOWEVER, while I ran all the components of the course, I didn’t necessarily run them in the right order - or in the right direction. About a mile in, I was zoned out and turned LEFT at the first yellow+orange trail junction instead of right…RunGo tried to warn me, briefly telling me that I was off-course, then telling me I was rejoining at 2.4 miles…which I assumed was a glitch based on the multiple loops. It wasn’t until much later, after passing the purple trail junctions and hearing that I had a mile to go that I began figure out what I had done. Fortunately, I was able to follow the map on RunGo to run the parts of the course I missed. Figured, in true trail running fashion, that I could count the run as I did run all the trails…
So I have to come back and run the proper course - and soon, before the bugs and mud come out. But I can see this will be a nice course in the heat of summer.
As a side note, another runner was out doing the course - the right way - and not once, but twice. There was a time…
And I do regret not stopping to take one picture - that of a lone white flower along the long part of the orange trail; I missed it on the second loop.
also there were quite a few ticks on us at the end so stay vigilant!
Yeah, the Finger Lakes Land Trust guy who gave me permission for the course warned about ticks on this course too. Be careful, everyone!
Definitely lots of ticks there…we counted 46 we pulled off between Frodo and Forest 
thankfully they have some solid tick protection that if they get bit they die…but still…yiiiikes!! 
tick check everything this time of year for sure
Had fun running this course. It’s super beautiful here. I’ve only been here once to hike and do some photography. The off canter trails were a challenge for the ankles. We managed to get off course but we made up the distance. Tatyana is responsible for planning our runs then it’s up to me to navigate and I continue to fail.
Just a reminder, @Kyle_Reynolds (and for everyone else too!), that star posts must start with a line that contains nothing but:
## Story
You accidentally just made the word bold, as in **Story**, which won’t work. Sorry if this is a little fussy, but the leaderboard can only know that you’re posting a story (and not just kibbitzing) if you include that line. I fixed it for you so it’s showing up properly on the leaderboard now.
The Post Using This Template button at the very top of this thread will generate a properly formatted boilerplate post for you with a click. To scroll to to the top quickly, click or tap on the topic title (Lindsay-Parsons Star Posts) at the top of the screen.
This was a lovely course and the RunGo directions were perfect. I’ve driven by the preserve many times and am very glad to have had this challenge course as a reason to finally stop and see how beautiful the preserve is. I hiked, as I’m running in the Syracuse Mountain Goat tomorrow.
In the late 1990s there was a somewhat popular song that reminded us to always wear sunscreen. In many ways it wasn’t a very good song. Why do I bring it up? Because on this course, always wear bug spray. ALWAYS. It’s such a lovely but challenging route. It will be one of the places I miss when I return to Canada.
Gerald
This is such a nice course! Scenic, well maintained smooth trails, nice views, fun grassy segments. Simon had been there hiking with Ian a few times in the past, but somehow I missed those hikes, and it was my first time here. I was glad Simon knew the trails well, and RunGo was perfect. We saw a few challengers finishing up right when we were getting started on the first stretch (yesterday). Looking forward to coming back here again.
