Taughannock Rim & Falls Star Posts

Story

I couldn’t make it to the group run but went up to Taughannock in the afternoon for two circuits of the course while the kids were napping. I ran an FL50s loop yesterday, slept like garbage, and woke up with a cold this morning, so this run was really just to scout out the Challenge course. Oh yeah, I also drove 20 minutes to the park and realized I didn’t put socks in my bag so I ran sockless in my inov-8 trail shoes and shredded some epidermis, but the alternative was not running at all. The trail was so dry I could’ve worn any road shoe and been fine.

I ran the first counterclockwise and the second clockwise. I found the latter so much easier—the stairs are over with sooner and you’ll end by running downhill instead of up. The Gorge Trail was jam packed so I had to flat Frogger with like 300 people and make some split-second decisions to avoid colliding with anyone, even though I wasn’t running very fast. I probably won’t run this course again unless it’s super early or just before dark to avoid crowds like this.

On the second circuit impounded the final downhill to snag a negative split. Afterward I opted not to drop in on the Dawson’s at 4 p.m. :grinning:and instead went home and gorged on leftover homemade chili.

1 Like

Aw, Pete, you’re always welcome here! Even with shredded epidermis. We have Band-Aids.

Just a quick heads-up for @Challengers who might be parking at the Taughannock Overlook in the wee hours: on the NextDoor site, a runner reported that their car was broken into around 6 AM while they were on the trails. Perhaps best to hide any valuables if you’re running out there at off times.

https://nextdoor.com/p/QGWXsRwmXT-c?utm_source=share&extras=MjYwNDIyMjg%3D

Story

After two extra long days at work with no chance to exercise, it was fun to hit the trail again today with @scottpdawson! Today was my maiden voyage in my new Hoka trails shoes that Xander sold me after my run last week. I ADORE them. Scott and I twinned by accident and … since Xander has run this course 6 times in just a few more days than that, and returns from each run saying how much he loves trail, he has decided to sign up for the challenge!

1 Like

Story

I convinced my friends @teressa.naylor and Lynn Trudell to sign up for the challenge and today was our first chance to do a course the three of us. Lynn and I started 15 minutes ahead of Teressa (hiking) and Teressa ran to catch us. This was a great afternoon hike in the last week of our step challenge at work. Additional steps and a challenge course and hanging out with friends. Win/Win/Win.

2 Likes

Story

This was a Loehr classic “while we are at it” situation. Jamie and I headed out to Taughannock this morning to do the 24 mile bike as training for his intermediate distance Cayuga Lake Triathlon this summer. Half way there we realized we ought to run the Taughannock challenge course afterwards, “while we were at it”, since we would be right there. Luckily we each had running shoes in addition to our biking shoes, though no bike locks. Since the park was literally like Grand Central Station (see photo) this glorious spring morning, Jamie felt it was safe to leave the unlocked bikes on the back of the car. Lucky for us they were still there when we returned.

My legs are still surprising sore from our Lick Brook/Treman escapade (my quads are actually
painful to touch) and definitely felt like jelly for the first half mile of the run, after getting off our bikes, yet slowly but surely we persevered. It truly is the ideal spring day!

Shop Local

On our way back home we stopped at Greenstar for a “Happy Birthday” smoothly treat for Jamie. He also discovered a vegan chocolate oreo cake “while we were there” which means I’m off the hook for baking a cake this afternoon (maybe I’ll take a nap instead :crazy_face:). We did consider running the Inlet Trail course “while we were there”, but quickly thought better of it!

2 Likes

Story

Today is my 60th birthday and now I am running races for the 60+ crew. My goal was to finish every course once before my birthday to get credit at age 59 (success two days ago, finishing with the Lick Brook Treman monster run) and now I want to run them all again as a sixty year old. Today was the start of that plan and tomorrow we’ll run Lansing with the group. Just FYI - Liz Hartman is doing the same thing as she turns 40 in June.

I also have a goal to do the intermediate length triathlon at Taughannock with the Cayuga Lake Triathlon race. I have run the sprint distance for about ten years so this is going to be my stretch for a year. So Caitlin and I started the day biking 24 mile course out from Taughannock, past Lucas Winery, and then down to Sheldrake Point and back. Doing the Taughannock Rim trail run gave me confidence that I can do the 10K part of the triathlon after the bike ride. Now I just need to get my training in for the swim!

Shop Local

We picked up some treats at GreenStar after our bike/run, including a birthday cake. See Caitlin’s post for the picture.

1 Like

Story

All’s well that ends well. I might have had a little too much wine and laughter last night but still got up early enough for an intense sweaty GRIT class at FLX Fitclub this morning, then grabbed a coffee at Gimme!, and made my way to the upper parking lot of Taughannock Falls, where the North Rim Trail and South Rim Trail meet. I walked around and around that area but couldn’t find the start sign. :thinking: :upside_down_face: I checked my Run Go Directions, which I thought made it look like I was in the right spot to start - but where was the FLRC Challenge Sign??? Armed with my Run Go (which didn’t tell me I was in the wrong spot and that I was wrongly under the impression that the course started here), I took off with a gentle jog to make my way down the South Rim Trail. All went well. The day was heating up with sunshine but there is plenty of shade on these trails. It was especially nice and cool running up and back along the gorge trail. Then I had come back to Rt 89 and hit the stairs to begin my way up the North Rim Trail. Whew! I really my previous night’s shenanigans and GRIT class there, but slowly and steadily ascended the stairs and hill. Much to my surprise, as I approached the Welcome Center by the falls overlook, my Run Go directions were telling me that I had arrived! Indeed, I had arrived and there was the elusive FLRC Challenge Sign!!! I took a photo of the falls and check trail directions on Run Go again - this time seeing that I was now at the actual start location. Whoops!/LOL. So started jogging again to continue up the North Rim Trail to where I had started and counted my time there. Overall, I completed the course and its mileage, just not the way it was meant to be so I’ll probably be re-doing it at some point. :smiling_face:

Shop Local

After the Taughannock Rim trail, I went to the Falls Tavern in Trumansburg where I had Today’s Special: BBQ’d Beef Brisket over Mac & Cheese. The brisket was tender and delicious and the mac and cheese was the real deal - just like my mom used to make, with plenty of sharp cheddar cheese in the sauce. Yum! I also drank A LOT of iced tea to get refreshed. :grinning:

1 Like

@Gretchen it’s all about “covering the ground” - as long as you get all aspects of the course covered, you do not need to start and stop at the sign. I personally would rather do this course starting at the bottom with the gorge trail, up the north rim and finish with a fun downhill on the south rim.

Story

When I was training for Cayuga Trails 50 years ago, I did crazy stuff like this run multiple times. Once, 4x! Today, 2x was in the cards. I started by doing up/down/up, then switched it around to down/up/down for a nice downhill finish. Happy to keep the splits between the halves pretty even, within a minute of each other. The heat of the day was already present at 10a so I was happy to finish when I did! Got to say hello to @gmallinger as I started: he was finishing his effort for the day.

Shop Local

The day’s schedule called for other pursuits before shopping local, but after polishing off the lawn (with my reel mower, to add more insult to my screaming calves) and helping with a cake delivery, I got to hit up Viva Tacqueria with Amy and friends. All in all, a great day!

1 Like

Story

This morning I headed out to the Challenge Course that is closest to my house. Sundays are typically my longer run days, so I decided I would run the course then continue in the area for more mileage. I started at the the trailhead of the Gorge Trail, ran the Gorge Trail, headed up the South Rim, and down the North Rim. After completing the course, I ran the Gorge Trail again then crossed 89 to run around the edge of the lake in the park for 8 miles total.

Several thoughts ran through my head: 1) STAY ON THE TRAIL!! I’m talking about other people I saw while I was out running. This really bugs me for safety reasons and also for preservation of the natural area. 2) Was I on the course trail or the ‘tourist’ trail?! You know those short loops that take you to a scenic vantage point! 3) I think we Challengers need to come up with a secret wave or something to identify fellow Challengers on the course. 4) I need to run a lot more trails!

No local shopping for me today though yesterday I took my kids for haircuts at a local salon, picked up a few perishable items from Shur Save, made two stops (Napa and Stover Lumber) looking for bolts for my husband, and finally picked up some treats at Gimme Coffee where I tried the Coconut Lime Bread. Yum! It seems like this should count, but it wasn’t on the same day as my run. Maybe I should have ran the track yesterday! :thinking:

2 Likes

A post was split to a new topic: Ways of identifying fellow Challengers?

Story

I signed Ben (my partner) up for the Twilight 5k race and now he needs to train :rofl: so today I dragged him to Taughannock to run the (much harder) challenge course. For someone who does not run frequently he did a great job! Today was another perfect day for a run and those stunning views of the falls and the lake totally make it up for the tough uphill parts.





Shop Local

Lots of shopping today! We stopped at Purity for burgers and fries, and at the Finger Lakes Running store for some new running gear. Both Ben and I got new shoes. I’ve been running the trails with my Nike Zoom Vaporfly which is a bit ridiculous. I do more road running but I wanted a better pair of shoes that could work for some light trail running as well so I got a new pair of Brooks Ghost. I also got some gels because tomorrow I want to tackle the dreaded Lick Brook & Treman FLT course so I figured I needed some nutrition. We’ll see how it goes! :crossed_fingers:

2 Likes


FYI Challengers!

Story

And … the base/gorge trail is open again! It took them part of today to finish cleaning it up, but now it’s all ready for a weekend of fun. @amy-dawson and I hit this after work today, a fine way to kick off the weekend. Kind of nice to have the trails mostly empty after the busy-ness of Cornell grad and Memorial Day crowds!

Shop Local

We shopped local, but not what you think. After a quick clean-up, we headed to Groton for a cake delivery. Why not stop somewhere on the way home? It was the wrong time of day when we did the group run at Lansing, but today it was the RIGHT time of day for Salt Point Brewing. We had a delicious duo of Lansing Fog NEIPAs, paired with a simple margherita pizza and caesar salad.

3 Likes

Story

After 3 days of the trail being closed, and me being too busy to actually run during those 3 days, my legs weren’t too exhausted. Despite telling Scott I was going to run this slow because I was tired (which I was), from the first step my goal was a PR. I have been motivating my students via athletic stories lately and the story I spun for myself while running was that I had the best run ever and it was blazing fast. I refused to look at my watch and just ran by feel. 3/4 of the way through, I encountered police wandering the area and kind of freaked out a bit. I said, “that doesn’t look good” as I ran by them. I attempted to run fast on the downhills (I’m petrified of downhills) and I tried to run most of the time (I succeeded in this - just walked all stairs). It was good. I got the PR but didn’t beat @teressa.naylor. We have been motivating each other to try harder lately - it’s a fun little push to have some friendly competition in my life and it’s making us both stronger. A super fun run to end the week.

Shop Local

After the run, I had to deliver a wedding cake to Groton. @scottpdawson drove while I babysat the cake in the backseat. Our reward for running and delivering the cake safely was to check out Salt Point Brewing. We joked that if the Lansing Center Trail wasn’t so muddy we’d log a stroll on it for some miles, but instead we just enjoyed a beer and some pizza and salad before heading home by way of scenic lake road choices.

2 Likes

Story

Took Dior in the trailer (she actually ran most of the way out and back, riding only when there were other dogs or bikers!) and biked out to Taughannock via the BDT. We parked at the overlook and ran the challenge course. It was a beautiful day to be outside, glorious, sunny, breezy. The park was quiet as it was fairly early. Boy that last uphill is a butt kicker!

3 Likes

And when I saw your photo before reading, I was thinking, “She biked the Taughannock course? Holy cow!” But biking to the course and then running, all with your dog, who could apparently hitch rides whenever she wanted—now that’s a great story.

Story

Taughannock was a giant puddle this morning after all the rain last night. I parked at the lower lot, figured I’d do the Gorge Trail first as a flat/easy warmup, then up and around clockwise. I was still pretty sore from Tuesday, so I decided after 1/4 mile to call this a recovery run. Pretty uneventful on the South Rim Trail. I saw a pair of Challengers around mile 4 at the upper lot getting ready to start, but I was in the middle of throwing down a 6:58 final mile, so I couldn’t stop to chat. So much for recovery run!

Shop Local

Fresh ingredients for a turkey BLT (or 2)

1 Like

Story

I headed out to this course on Friday afternoon to start the weekend. Though I’ve been in Ithaca for a year now, I had never been to the upper/rim part of the park and only been to the lower trail during the PGXC Taughannock race.

Despite the beautiful clear weather, surprisingly few people were there! I saw one couple on the way in who had just come from Buffalo for Gorges (good luck!!) and then maybe only 5 other groups, even on the flatter trail at the bottom of the gorge. Instead the chipmunks, which let me get amazingly close, kept me company.

My original plan was to mostly hike because I’m still coming back from having a very nasty disease. But once I ran up the first hill, I was hooked and ran almost the entire way except the stairs and the steepest part of the final mile.

Shop Local

I headed to the U-Pick garden at Stick & Stone Farm in Trumansburg and picked these herbs including lemon balm, mint, chives and more! I forgot my bag and had to carry them in my shirt:

2 Likes