Registration for Monster Marathon and Half—reimagined for 2023—opens Jan 1 at noon

What: Now’s the time to start laying out your 2023 race schedule. Make sure to hold a spot in your lineup for the reimagined Monster Marathon or Half Marathon—the Two Hollows Monster.

Where and When: After years of running the Monster Marathon at Treman Park, we’ve returned to its traditional date on Labor Day Weekend, and also are returning the race to the Kennedy State Forest between Virgil and Harford, NY, home of the Forest Frolic runs and Virgil Crest Ultras (and the trail monster…). This third incarnation of the Monster Marathon takes place on well-maintained trails in the western section of the Kennedy Forest, between the ‘two hollows’—Daisy Hollow and Babcock Hollow. The terrain includes long, rolling single track, a few twists and turns, and several challenging hills, including one in the last two miles of each 13.1-mile loop. Save something for the end! You’ll pass through shady hemlock groves and fern-carpeted hardwood forest with a few long views to inspire you. Even runners with years of Finger Lakes experience may have never run on these trails, so it’s a great opportunity to take in something new.

What Else Makes This Experience Special: We are keeping the unique ‘monster’ age- and gender-based start times that allows an earlier start for older/non-male participants, and a new nonbinary gender category (see start time tables on the race website). The compact footprint of the course, staggered start times, generous cutoffs, and aid stations every 3–4 miles make this a decent first trail marathon or half, for those who are prepared for some long, beautiful, and sometimes tough miles. It’s also a nice last practice run, on similar trails, for the significantly harder Virgil Crest Ultras the following weekend, as well as a good pairing with the early-summer Finger Lakes 50s.

Hydration: There will not be cups available at the aid stations. All runners must carry some sort of personal hydration system throughout the event.

Staggered Start Info: The Two Hollows Monster Marathon and Half Marathon feature age- and gender-based early starts. Men under age 38 start with the race clock, but women, nonbinary runners, and men 38 and older head off earlier, with the individual head starts determined by the World Masters Athletics Age-Graded Tables. The win could come down to a kick to the finish between a 65-year-old grandmother (101-minute head start) and her 40-year-old son (4-minute head start).

Register: Learn more at the race website and register at the UltraSignup page beginning at noon on New Years Day.

Questions? Contact race directors Nancy Kleinrock, Steve Vanek, and Steve Shaum at monster@fingerlakesrunners.org

happy trails,

—the RDs

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Please enlighten me: what are the physiological (not social) characteristics of a “non-binary” runner that allows you to set a handicap time? We know from a large body of evidence and physiological study about differences between males and females: hormone levels, bone structure etc., and about ageing (lower hormone levels = less power etc.). Isn’t “non-binary” a social category of gender identity, not a biological category such as sex and age?

The club is in the process of developing an official gender policy statement that expresses our dedication to inclusion of all people who wish to run with us. As part of this, we are gladly offering registrants the nonbinary gender option that race registration platforms are making available and, just as we accept at face value each registrant’s submission of name and age, we similarly accept their declared gender. The Two Hollows Monster races are the first within the FLRC stable of races to be explicitly inclusive of nonbinary runners when it comes to awards. This year’s head start structure is an experiment, and it is the race directors’ intention to engage with any nonbinary registrants regarding their feelings about the in-between head start table and if they would find a different structure to be more appealing.

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