Triple Hump Star Posts

[adamengst]

Use this topic for posts that will collect community stars for the Triple Hump course. You can also ask questions or make comments about this course.

Here’s how it works.

• Click the “Post Using This Template” button below to create a new post with a Story heading and boilerplate text.
• Replace the boilerplate text with your report for one or both sections. The header is key for distinguishing between posts and replies—don’t change it.
• Your post must be on the same calendar day as your run as entered in Webscorer.

Story

To pick up a community star, replace this text with a write-up of what your run was like, a photo you took on the run, a link to your Strava track, or something similar. Don’t delete the Story heading above.

[Petorius (Pete Kresock)]

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I got out of work early enough today for a Triple Hump circuit. It’d been a few years since I last tackled what I call the Mount Pleasant Traverse. Turns out that road hasn’t gotten any flatter.

On Hump I I shifted to low gear per RunGo Rachel’s recommendation and was immediately abetted by a sizable tailwind. On the ascent I realized this is one of my only times running this road outside of the winter months, with nasty, biting wind and snow piled up on the shoulder.

Hump II had me racing a slow moving Kubota to the summit. I had a slight head start and could hear the groaning motor slowly gaining. The elderly guy creeped past on the shoulder moving with traffic, only to peel off into a field about 100 meters from the apex. No doubt he was intimidated by my ferocious final kick and decided to cut his losses and save the gas. Or he had work to do in said field. Either way I won by forfeit.

Hump III was a real slog, but the downhill was smooth sailing, as was the return leg down Ringwood. As I approved the turn onto Ellis Hollow Creek I spotted @adamengst heading east on his ElliptiGO, but he was out of earshot before I reached the corner.

I finished the run with enough time for a nostalgic loop of the 2023 Challenge’s Ellis Hollow Creek Crossings, which included a @steve-desmond fly-by. I’m also proud to be the first Challenger to post a Stone Car pic. Bonus points to anyone who gets pics of the car and the red phone booth from the same Triple Hump run.

[dennis-s (Dennis Stadelman)]

Pete, you Tri-hump-phed! Way to go.

[gillian-haines-sharp]

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Walked this one with Dior. We did it in the opposite direction going up Ringwood. She is very pleased to be halfway through the challenge.

[msmee (Melanie Smee)]

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Definitely a love/hate relationship with this course! I needed to get a long-ish run in before going away for the weekend so plumped for this one. Turkey hill definitely blew the cobwebs off and for a few minutes I somewhat regretted my decision… It felt like a run of two halves - the first 5 miles were pure survival, the last 4 were a downhill cruise hoping my knees didn’t buckle underneath me.

Passed @gillian-haines-sharp at the top of the first hump! It was a beautiful day for it, and there were birds and wildlife everywhere, including a free ranging pig halfway down Ringwood!!

I was aiming/hoping for under 2 hours and even with quite a lot of uphill walking I managed it (yay!) but in my haste to get to work ‘not too late’ I forgot the stone Beetle, so maybe I’ll have to go back again.

[melissawallace]

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This was my last course of the challenge and I had planned to start at 6am to be home to see kids off to school. It was really hard to get up but I knew this was the best day for me to run this course if I wanted to try to finish the challenge in April. My legs were tired from a bit of uptempo at Town and Gown yesterday plus walking the Lakefront 5K course. The hills were tough and made me question my choices. I thought I was at the 2nd hump but it turned out to be the 3rd. Party. The long downhill on Ringwood was hard on the leggies but my lungs and heart rate loved it. I ran on the shoulder to lessen the impact a bit. Glad I got it done but not sure I’d like to repeat this one! No stone beetle but I’ve seen it before and I think I remember where it was…

Yay for me, I didn’t finish the challenge the last 2 years due to lack of inspiration/motivation but it worked out well this year with training and the personal mindset to get them done as quickly as I can.

[patrickmilano]

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I wanted to take advantage of the mid 50s temperature today to do a hard run on one of the longer courses. The rain had surely muddied all of the trails so I went to Triple Hump. I drove the course first to get the lay of the land. Then I parked, did a 2-mile warm up jog, and changed into an old pair of Nike Vaporflys. The super shoes make faster paces feel a little easier and they lessen the pounding on my legs.

I wanted to run under 1 hour (about 6:30 pace or faster). On a flat course that would be a moderate effort for me, but here I’d have to make it up the hills without losing too much time. I banked some time by running the downhill first mile in 5:43 and braced myself for the humps.

My 1 hour goal would be won or lost in the next four miles. The first climb up Turkey Hill felt pretty good. My legs were still fresh and it wasn’t steep compared to what was coming. I enjoyed a brief downhill stretch and then turned onto Mt Pleasant to start the first real hump. According to my Strava mile 2 was the steepest split on the course (292 ft). I covered it in 7:14 and noted that I had averaged just under 6:30 pace for the first two miles. It felt sustainable.

I continued to grit out the rest of the humps and covered miles 3, 4, and 5 in 6:49, 7:26, and 6:40. I ran a little harder up the third hump (which is thankfully less than half a mile long) knowing that my climbing muscles would soon get a long break.

I was happy to crest that final hump. I figured I’d be able to run sub 6-minute pace the rest of the way without too much trouble. Mile 6 flew by in 5:38. Then came the absolutely crazy downhill section on Ringwood. On a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 is running and 10 is falling off a cliff, it was about a 2. With gravity on my side I covered mile 7 in 5:16, which is the fastest mile I ever run outside of a race. Mile 8 was a comparatively chill 5:35.

Up to this point I had felt surprisingly good, but the gentle uphill in mile 9 revealed that my legs were actually quite tired. Knowing that the finish was close I dug a little deeper and did my best to defy the “slow down” sign near 8.2 miles. I covered mile 9 in 5:41 and threw down a little kick to make it back to the sign in 57:07.

https://www.strava.com/activities/14379364046

[ruth-sproul]

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This is one hilly route !! Beautiful countryside, but I walked more than I ran because of the HILLS HILLS HILLS

[Paula_Klaben]

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This was one very hilly course. Great to get the reward of the steady downhill on Ringwood.

[caitlin-loehr]

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I decided to put the 9.2 mile Triple Hump smack in the middle of my 14 mile run this morning. What fun!

Some humps!

This is a welcome sight. Humps conquered!.

[Gretchen (Gretchen Gilbert)]

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Triple Hump complete! When temps show a high of 60F, it’s a good morning to complete the longest paved Challenge course. There was plenty of walking on the hills and there were more than three humps. But it was a gorgeous day to take on this course. I liked that the big humps were front loaded. What goes up, must go down, so eventually you enjoy a lot of nice easy downhill making your way around Mineah Rd., Ringwood Rd., and then back on Ellis Hollow Creek. I really enjoyed this course. Five courses down and Five left to go. They’re all lower mileage. Whew! Feelin’ lucky.

[gillian-haines-sharp]

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Dior and I ran Triple Hump this morning. It was so foggy! I was contemplating attempting the Tarmac Challenge today, but wasn’t sure yet.

[Petorius (Pete Kresock)]

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I saved the toughest tarmac for last. Compared to a lot of the ultras I’ve been doing this morning’s challenge seemed to fly right by in no time. It wouldn’t be a long road run though without getting rained on, if even just a little. The first mile went smoothly enough and then the work started. I spent most of the titular hump mileage thinking about @Kilian_Weinberger’s aleph-two pun from this course a few weeks ago and possibly laughing out loud at its sheer nerdiness. The Ringwood downhill took awhile because my legs were sore and I wasn’t in any huge hurry. I scanned the fifth and final sign and immediately spotted a snake in the grass next to the signpost. I took this non-venomous snake shot to show my kids and am posting here because I forgot to take any other pictures en route to the half challenge finish.

[dennis-s (Dennis Stadelman)]

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Squirrel!
I am awed by those who run these courses fast. I really enjoyed reading Patrick Milano’s @patrickmilano posts for this course and the Town & Gown Up & Down. It was interesting to read how he prepped before starting, and the training discipline behind it is certainly impressive. My story is quite different. Patrick could have lapped me at least once on my Triple Hump loop.

My first dog was an old mutt named Rebel. We lived in a creek valley with steep wooded hills on one side and open meadows on the other. Rebel and I would go on random adventures exploring this territory. I’m sure we never got more than a mile from the house but it felt much farther to 7 year old me. I’m in my 60s now and not much has changed, except I don’t have a dog. Instead, the dog runs within me and my running style favors a dog distracted by a squirrel… and Triple Hump is full of ‘squirrels’! Further, while I don’t slow to sniff every few feet and don’t pee on everything…okay, an enlarged prostate necessitates the latter every mile or so if I am staying hydrated…, I do stop frequently to take pictures or go look at things.

I found over 16 different types of wildflowers along the road, to go along with the numerous yard flowers.

There were many birds, including several yellow finches (?) flying and chirping on the climb up Hump 1 and around the intersection of Mineah and Ringwood roads. There were future trails to explore in Frost Ravine Natural Area, Ringwood Pond Natural Area, and the gravel road to the radio towers at the top of Hump 2. There was a turtle nest with several egg shells alongside the road after the turn onto Ringwood, millipedes, a propane tank mailbox, an observatory, some old abandoned buildings in the woods, and the second most creative repurposing of old bicycle tubes I’ve seen:

(First place goes to bicycle tube suspenders.)
A very cool stone house on Mineah is followed by the prettiest yard and cottages two houses farther down the course; the owners were out tending to the flowers and plants, and my compliments on the results of their effort drew big smiles.

I did take one small detour to find the stone car. Very cool!

This is close to being my favorite course of this year’s challenge, but it is definitely the most interesting! The humps aren’t really that bad. Hump 2 has a bit of stutter to it, as there is a ‘flat’ section in the middle. Upon reaching the summit of Hump 2, be sure to turn around and savor the view!

Next up: Town & Gown Up & Down!

[lbt1 (Laura Taylor)]

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Amy and Scott D. gave us a nice verbal preview of what to expect, so the number/size of hills and required effort was no surprise. Even so, this was really hard. Not too hot and pleasant wind were all that kept it from feeling like torture!

I was so happy to have Scott run this with me, as being out alone for a long time, trail or road, is not something I feel comfortable doing.

Anyway, this is number 9. One more challenge remains (Treman). Hope to complete that (as a hike) the weekend of July 12/13.

[mplank (Melissa Plank)]

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I think someone wants to destroy us with vert this year
Today was absolutely amazing though.
I’m so satisfied with my pace despite all the vert.

Failed to find the car though.
Maybe when I walk it with Matt
Let’s see if I did any typos on these

[tonya-engst]

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I ran to the top of the world this morning!

Thanks @lgilmer for a great run, and thanks @pjboyle26 for the water stop!

[SarahG (Sarah Giesy)]

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I am keenly aware that I have (now had) 3 of the longer courses left to finish the challenge which likely means weekend runs. I’d been watching the weather, and I thought it looked like Saturday would be a decent day for a run.

I settled on the Triple Hump Course because I have a race next weekend with decent elevation gain. And I certainly got that today!!

I got a later start than I had hoped, and it was warmer than I expected. I ran the entire climb up Turkey Hump. The. I turned on Mount Pleasant where it felt like I walked more than I ran. I was so ready for the downhill, but the thought of the remaining mileage was daunting. It went pretty well until the final mile or so. I was gassed, under fueling likely contributed.

Glad to have this course done!! Just the two longest trail courses to go!!

[sryan004 (Steve Ryan)]

What a beautiful morning to tackle Triple Hump. Cool and sunny. The views across the fields along Mtn Pleasant are spectacular. The scenes along the road are either encouraging or the inverse depending on which way you look.