Pete Kresock has completed the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge!

@Challengers, this run is going in the record books. On June 21st, Pete Kresock (@Petorius) completed the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge, running all ten FLRC Challenge courses in a single 24-hour day. Unlike our first finisher, @Jesse_Canfield, Pete took the approach of getting up early to knock off a few courses before going home to take care of his twins and get them to daycare. Then he went out to Virgil for Forest Frolic and worked his way back east, hitting Thom B and Pseudo Skunk Cabbage during the heat of the day. Heat was the least of his problems as ferocious thunderstorms blew through the area, downing trees and branches and knocking out power all over.

I’ll bring the play-by-play discussion back into this thread for posterity, and I’m dying to hear Pete’s full race report once he recovers from this astonishing achievement. If my calculations are correct (and dropping out the extra mile on the East Hill Rec Way), it took Pete 11:59:58—amazing! You can check the numbers (pulled from Strava) here, and Pete, feel free to correct any that aren’t right for some reason or another.

I’d also just like to note that the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge exists in part due to Pete having the idea independently. I’d been thinking about it, but having Pete come up with it too and say he’d do it was a big impetus in making it real. Thanks, Pete!

Now I really have to get those FLRC Challenge sign awards done!

This thread’s been quiet for awhile so I’ll just say that I’m going for it tomorrow.

@adamengst — With any luck you won’t have to pull me out of a ditch on the side of Ellis Hollow. I’d at least try to call you with a race report before the buzzards have my innards though. It’s gonna be blazing hot.

Yes! get it Pete!

Way to go, @Petorius! For those @2021-Challengers who want to follow along with Pete’s progress, check the Activity Log.

https://challenge.fingerlakesrunners.org/Log

Looks like he started with the South Hill Rec Way at 4:30 AM, and has moved on to the Cornell Botanic Gardens and East Hill Rec Way to get some short courses out of the way.

1 Like

Amazing!! Good luck Pete, you’ve got this!!

1 Like

Since we’re all watching live now, I can see that Pete started Forest Frolic at 9:11am, which means we should see a result there in the next 20-30 minutes – my guess is Thom B after that (unless that one’s already done and just no cell service).

I agree that Thom B makes the most sense after Frolic. After that I wonder—Pseudo Skunk is the next closest course, but I could see sticking to shady trails during the heat of the day (so maybe Danby and Tortoise next) and leaving Pseudo Skunk until the sun goes down. And since Pete lives downtown, he might want to finish off with Black Diamond Trail and Waterfront Trail.

On my ride home from running at Cornell, I met Pete around 1:30 PM a few miles into his Pseudo Skunk effort and kept him company for a little while. He was looking good and running well, and he said he was about half done in terms of miles, since he had indeed knocked off Forest Frolic and then Thom B already. Some of his logistics were predicated not on what would be easiest, but on working around his twins’ daycare schedule and location (which was on the way to Frolic). The main problem he’d had was a fall on Thom B where he might have strained or possibly even broken (but it wasn’t swelling yet) something in his hand.

He was playing the rest of the courses by ear due to the storms that are slated to roll through later in the day. Rain didn’t perturb him, but he didn’t want to be on the Danby trails in a major storm, for instance.

2 Likes

he’s still going for it, hailstorm and all: Pete started Black Diamond at 9:18pm and only has Danby left after that

Thanks for whoever fallowed the progress and posted about it here or elsewhere! A few notes here before I zonk out for the night…

I finished the final course on the Black Diamond at 23:13, making the total time, start to finish, 18:43. I tried to add the numbers while running that one and I think I totaled about 11:30 in cumulative time on the courses.

@steve-desmond I did Danby as #7, hoping to beat the storm. It decided to roll in early as I was halfway through and going up to the pinnacles. The thunder was nerve racking for sure, but there was no quicker way outta there than to finish the course. It cooled down a lot and I was running through streams on the rest of the trails. I think that one didn’t post to Webscorer until later due to lack of cell service.

By the time I got to Buttermilk for #8, the storm had passed and the cooler temps made the most pleasant run of the 10. (I completely missed the first storm through the valley and the power outages when I was running Skunk. No storm out there at the time.)

For the Waterfront, loads of big trees had blown down and caused major damage to Stewart park, including the suspension bridges. I manage to pass through and complete the course, I the city will probably have the bridges blocked for awhile starting tomorrow.

I’ll write some kind of full report another time. Right now I’m struggling to keep my eyes open.

3 Likes

Holy cow, I honestly had no idea I was only 2 seconds under 12 hours. It looks like you pulled those numbers from the moving time on Strava instead of what I got by scanning the QR codes in Webscorer. I got 12:25:10 using the Webscorer times.

I forgot to mention yesterday: my actual time for Thom B was 1:39:37 according to my watch. Unlike the other 9 courses, I wasn’t able to scan the QR immediately after finishing. My phone somehow locked up with the “iPhone Disabled” screen and it made me wait a few minutes after finishing before I could unlock the phone and open Webscorer to scan the QR code. (I didn’t even know about this feature. Apparently the bouncing around in my pack made the phone think I was trying to enter the wrong passcode so it locked with a countdown timer.) I decided not to edit my Webscorer time in case it caused any controversy. I don’t really care about the 4:26 time difference. It’s the RD’s call about whether or not to change it. The actual elapsed time is on Strava 9.1 mi Run Activity on June 21, 2021 by Pete K. on Strava

Do the Webscorer times (apart from Thom B) match your watch, @Petorius? If so, that would imply that Strava is dropping out some time because it didn’t think you were moving.

We should probably go with the Webscorer times rather than Strava—I think I didn’t do that for @Jesse_Canfield because several of his routes hadn’t posted to Webscorer when I was doing the calculation.

The RD’s decision is that you can edit your time for Thom B—that’s a completely unexpected technical problem and you shouldn’t be penalized for it. :slight_smile:

3 posts were split to a new topic: Moving/active time in run-tracking services like Strava and Garmin Connect

Thanks again to those who followed my day here or on Strava, and anyone who sent positive vibes my way. I posted a semi-detailed write-up on my blog at The Long and Winding Trail: The FLRC 100k Ultra Challenge for anyone interested in how it went.

So who’s gonna be the next to knock out all 10 in a day?

A great report, Pete, and the Ultra Challenge sounds almost reasonable when you write about it like that. :slight_smile: I was wondering how you had dealt with the trees down at the Waterfront Trail.

I think it’s time for the ladies to show us how it’s done. @heathercobb3 has said she’s planning for an attempt at the Ultra Challenge, as did @Francine_Barchett. And I have to assume that @gplwoo will knock it off at some point with Sam the Dog.

1 Like