So by now, I had decided to go for the tarmac challenge. Not the best day considering the air quality, but at least the morning fog had lifted, so there were good views from campus. Fall Creek looked like chocolate milk after all the rain. Alumni weekend was in full swing at Cornell.
The T&G U&D remains my home course for the next two weeks, when we’ll finally be done moving all our stuff to Lansing. I’m surprised more people aren’t running this one repeatedly, given the scenery and central location. I half ran, half walked the opening climb and then slow cruised through the rest, somewhat fatigued from the cumulative 17 miles this morning. I’m not used to seeing the campus so quiet, even on a Sunday morning.
Matt and I decided to have a leisurely walk off this course today. The drizzle ended just as we started. The houses/architecture of this area is amazing. Didn’t take a lot of photos but drank it all in for myself. I love the mix of trail and road for this one. Though the climb up to campus is rough, might not come back to run this one.
Squirrel II
Again, this course was full of so many pleasant distractions, I just couldn’t run through some of the sections. This was my first time on most of the Cascadilla Gorge Trail and I continue to be amazed by the richness of scenic trail options around Cornell! The climb is a bit of work but not too bad with charming houses on one side and the gorge on the other. I did notice steps and a trail down in the gorge itself - perhaps a future Challenge course will utilize this when construction at the upper end is completed - call it the Cascading Cascadilla Cass-kicker! 
Anyway, it was a serene pleasure to hike along this scenic gorge.
It is always a joy to run across the Cornell campus, even on a cloudy day:
The houses along Highland Road, especially through Cayuga Heights, are amazing! I took several pictures as discreetly as I could, but feared I might be suspected of casing the places. 
No pictures of the houses here but are these supposed to be water buffalo?
The most impressive thing on my descent of Remington Road was the elderly woman biking UP the hill - not sure I could do that anymore.
I don’t live in the Ithaca area but have visited several waterfalls in the regiiom. I feel a bit foolish that until today, I did not realize an actual Ithaca Falls existed! It is quite an impressive waterfall!
The front yards and curb sides on the return on Linn Street surprised me with the impressive flower gardens all the way up to and including the Joe Nolan house (Thanks, Joe!).
My plan yesterday was to run the tough tarmac challenge, however with the heat and humidity, and the time crunch I was in, I decided to hold off for another day in the near future:) So instead I ran this course around 4pm and got completely cooked. 
When I started running the temp was 89, with a feel like of 93, I could feel it. I liked this course overall, but unfortunately I made a couple of wrong turns throughout, tacking on a couple extra minutes, making multiple stops mid run to look at the directions:/ Now that I’ve ran the course, I’ll definitely try to put down a quick time soon:) There was also another participant on this course today;) Can you spot it in this picture?
Ahh what a cute lil snake!!
This was last night:
I stopped halfway down the stairs to the basement with a partial head of lettuce in my hand. I have no idea what I was doing as I was planning to put the lettuce in a bowl for the heifers and the last thing I remember saying that I would do was make my lunch and finish getting my steps for the day. None of which involve the basement.
And it was foreboding of today’s run …..
I didn’t review the course very well and had the wrong route in my head. I was close to the creek and couldn’t hear Rachel well. First I went up the Cascadilla Gorge Trail, all the way to where the trail is closed. I retraced my steps, looked at the map, and started back on course.
Then I missed the turn from Cascadilla Park Rd onto the trail. So, even more elevation and backtracking.
I think Rachel has laryngitis or something as I had a hard time hearing her even with the volume turned all the way up. I was briefly turned around on campus and knew I couldn’t trust myself in Cayuga Heights, so I ran with my phone in hand more than I would have liked to.
I was glad to finally make the turn downhill while still dreading the flat finish.
As I was walking a short cooldown, I realized that I didn’t have my sunglasses with me. They are magnetic, designed specifically to attach to my eyeglass frames. Before completely freaking out, I decided to walk back to my car and check for them. 
They weren’t there. I remembered having them at the base of the Gorge Trail when I checked the the route after my first detour, but my brain immediately went to doom and gloom that I had dropped them somewhere along the almost 6 mile loop and would have to retrace my steps to find them (which I would not be doing today!!). Thankfully, I found them on the stone wall where I had checked the route.
Today I definitely covered the ground and then some. I was able to use the map from Garmin to figure out the time that I was actually on course!!
I have been slow so far in trying to complete the Challenge courses, so I organized a small group run to help me check off my third course. When I woke up this morning and heard the wind howling and saw the weather app predicting thunderstorms, I worried that our run would be a no-go. But a little wonky weather did not deter our group! In fact, the wind died down and the scattered showers kept the heat and humidity at bay. Thanks for a great run (listed L to R) Francis, @twalsky, @Marie_Donnelly, @tonya-engst, @jennarice, and @Sandy!
Running with @KimJ and crew today was amusing and surprisingly comfortable in the rising heat due to unexpectedly falling rain. I wanted to get in my long run this morning, so I ran about two miles before the group run, and then another two afterward, with some company on the afterward part.
Since today is supposed to be one of the last cooler days in a while, I decided to get this one ticked off after work. The course runs nearby my office, and while mapping out different ways to join up with it from there and get to my car, the mileage would have added up to 7.5-8 miles. I decided instead to walk the mile from my office to my car, and then park closer to the course on Heights Ct., near @jonlewis’s house. (Ironically I crossed paths with him and Sarah down by the high school.)
The Highland Ave section is nice and flat, followed by a long downhill past the schools and into Ithaca. I scanned the sign by Joe’s house (alas, no snek friend could be found this time) and continued to the gorge.
Woof, what a climb. I huffed and puffed my way up, and when I got to College town my phone notified me it had a low battery. Well shoot, it didn’t occur to me to charge it during the day, and I was worried it would die before I finished and I wouldn’t “cover the ground” for a completion! So I spent some time catching my breath and uploading the .gpx file from the course website I to Garmin Connect. I had to stop and save my activity on my watch in order to sync it and load the course.
All worked out, and I was able to finish the course with a little more than 10% left on my phone. I was actually closer to my car than I thought - and surprised myself as I started to pass Heights Ct. and saw my car parked there.
I was able to tackle this course this morning, trying to improve my earlier time in June. I felt a lot better today, as when I ran this course originally the temperature was in the low 90s. 
The biggest success for me today, was that I never made a wrong turn! 
I improved my time by roughly 5 minutes, mission accomplished!
I had the week off as part of a family staycation, so planned to re-run this course one last time with my enthusiastic sidekick, Charlie, and our new hands-free leash.
We stopped in the gorge for a chance to cool off after all the vertical. Charlie displayed all her athleticism fetching sticks from the pool.
It was very humid but a gorgeous day! The lake views throughout were fantastic!
Heading down Highland and Remington was a breezy respite from the first few miles of climbing. Wearing the waist belt/leash worked surprisingly well and I did not fall on my face 
Another fun adventure in the books!
@tonya-engst reports that Remington is closed for paving today, so it would be best to avoid until the end of the workday at the least.
I’ve been contemplating a run I call the “Triple Treat Challenge” since last spring when I realized that “Town & Gown Up & Down” nearly kisses the course for “Fall Creek Trails.” And, the “Horse Barns” horse track shares a stretch with “Fall Creek Trails.” A person could do all three as one continuous run, and it would be easier than the “North Country Half,” plus shorter (I estimated, a bit haphazardly). I didn’t consider adding the IHS track - last spring it was usually closed. And adding the Cornell track would make it too long for me, though if someone else did that, it would be called the “Triple Treat, Triple Track Challenge” (@Petorius and all-you-ultrarunners…)
@rebeccamlambert had already agreed to run “Fall Creek Trails” with me today, but she is the kind of friend who you can suggest more than doubling a run to make it “more fun,” and she will agree. She agreed even though she is also running “North Country Half” tomorrow, so she is a friend indeed.
We met down at Joe Nolan’s house by the sign and made our plan. We would both use our usual tracking apps to capture the entire run, but Rebecca would also run a stopwatch on her iPhone to capture each time we left one course to join another by hitting a lap button - we would both be in charge of remembering to hit the button. I had confirmed with my husband and Challenge RD @adamengst that since we were leaving a Challenge course by foot to go run another one, that the time when we were “paused” from the first course did not count against that course’s time. This is because we could have driven between courses or rested and run each one separately, and that would be easier than our “triple treat” approach.
We set out. According to Strava, I got my best time ever going up Williams Street on the “up” part of the first course, so that’s the bonus of running with a friend at the end of a summer of long-run efforts. All was well for the first 9 miles - we ran on the first course up and over to the top of the suspension bridge, hit the timer app’s button, ran to Beebe Lake, hit the button and joined the “Fall Creek Trails” course, ran to “Horse Barns,” hit the button, etc.
When we got back to the top of the suspension bridge, we went into the Art Museum to refill Rebecca’s water bottles. This is about when I noticed that my diaphragm felt kinda tight. I had noticed that on a few long runs recently where around 9 or 10 miles I would feel tight and have to make myself relax and blow out a lot to get things working right again.
We continued through Cayuga Heights and I started to have a tough time. I couldn’t get my breathing right. I felt better on the long downhill, but by the time we were on the sidewalk by Boynton, I had to stop and walk a little. We did some walk-running, and then I started wheezing audibly. First time in my life. I felt like I couldn’t get a good breath at all. My son has asthma, so I tried to relax and not panic, but I was kind of thinking that it could be time to get medical help. Fortunately, after a couple hundred feet of just walking, the wheezing stopped and I could breathe okay. Not great, but okay. We walked back to Joe’s. Back at the car, though, my vision went weird. Black spots. Maybe a tunneling feeling. I sat down. Rebecca made me eat some of everything she has - carbs, electrolytes. My vision cleared after a minute or so, and I felt happy-fine, like someone who has just finished what turned out to be 13.14 miles on a not-too-hot sunny day with the lake a dark, lovely blue color to admire from afar.
I’m not sure what happened medically, but I certainly had a memorable and overall fun morning.
@Challengers The word from @amalia is that construction next to Cascadilla Hall (at the top of Williams Street) is making it hard to get through. I can’t quite visualize all the possibilities, but if necessary, it’s fine (if a little longer) to cross Eddy at the top of Williams, go up on the left side of Dryden Road, and then turn left on College Ave. Something like this:
Amy and I just did this. The sidewalk is indeed blocked off, but there’s a pedestrian passage through the Judith Eisner Pavilion. When you get to the construction barricade, there is a sign pointing to the entrance to the pavilion, you go up a circular staircase, and then you are smooth sailing.
After my tarmac challenge effort on Triple Hump, I drove over to the start of this course, stopping at the Collegetown Bagels on Pine Tree Road on the way (for a dry bagel, I am unpracticed in the ultra art of eating then running).
My legs had been feeling pretty fresh up to mile 8 of Triple Hump, and as I walked up the Cascadilla Gorge Trail and Williams St, I didn’t feel too tired. Once getting onto College Ave, I switched to running - and dodging the Cornell freshmen. Not the easiest going, but not too hard and I started feeling much better on the long downhill on Remington.
After finishing I decided to reveal my challenge plans to the world since I was now over halfway done in terms of mileage! I emailed @adamengst about the street closure and texted @twalsky @jennarice @Cecelia_Madsen for moral support.
FYI.
Community Notification - Coyote Bite Cascadilla Gorge Trail
On Monday, August 25, 2025, at 6:45 p.m., Cornell University Police responded to Kimball Hall, 134 Hollister Drive, in the City of Ithaca for a report of a person who was bitten by a coyote. The person reported to be traveling west on the north side of the Upper Cascadilla Gorge Trail near the Trolley Foot Bridge when the incident occurred.
@Challengers Two warnings about this course:
The path by Cascadilla Hall is closed for construction, but @scottpdawson says: “The sidewalk is indeed blocked off, but there’s a pedestrian passage through the Judith Eisner Pavilion. When you get to the construction barricade, there is a sign pointing to the entrance to the pavilion, you go up a circular staircase, and then you are smooth sailing.”
@SarahG shared an alert about a coyote bite on the trail above Collegetown. If you run this course, avoid contact with wild animals. And be prepared to throw in a surge if you see any. “On Monday, August 25, 2025, at 6:45 p.m., Cornell University Police responded to Kimball Hall, 134 Hollister Drive, in the City of Ithaca for a report of a person who was bitten by a coyote. The person reported to be traveling west on the north side of the Upper Cascadilla Gorge Trail near the Trolley Foot Bridge when the incident occurred.”
