On Sept 1, the Two Hollows Monster Marathon and Half returned for a second year on the new course in the Kennedy State Forest, using segments of the Finger Lakes Trail and ‘international’ network of side trails within the forest (especially the Spanish and Swedish loops). Weather was seasonable and dry, with a cool misty setup starting at 6 AM to see the first runner out at 6:38. Temperatures started below 60, but then rose through the morning to just under 80 after noon. Conditions in the forest were shady and cool for most of the race, though as happened last year, the early afternoon may have been most challenging for those marathoners still out on course. The course was identical to last year, with a 9-mile Northwest section describing an out-and-back “question mark” folding back to a triple junction (‘fish hook” and “sickle” were other analogies we’ve heard, take your pick…) and a 4-mile Western out-and-back on a more tangled set of trails with technical footing and the challenging monster hill down to Daisy Hollow Road and back.
Out of 104 initial registrants, 78 runners started the race across the range of age- and gender-graded starts, with 15 marathon finishers and 58 half-marathon finishers. This represents an increase of ten finishers from last year, and we hope to continue building attendance in the race in the next few years. In addition to a beautiful run in the forest, runners received a post-race lunch that included sandwiches, fruit, beer, soda, and a suitably monstrous cake. Finishers received hand-crafted awards of hand-knitted hot pepper “medals” by co-RD Nancy and bottles of homemade “Monster Sauce” that co-RD Steve V. cooked up from his homegrown hot peppers (grown in soil, not fabricated from yarn). You won’t want to miss it next year!
In the half marathon, trail regular Donna Langerfeld of Port Byron took first with a 1:49:40 (all times age graded), with Cornell grad student Sarah Woodyear taking second less than ten minutes behind at 1:57:53. Neither time was fast enough to beat the course record set by (re-)founding Two Hollows race director Nancy Kleinrock last year at 1:39:35. Another Cornell grad student, Augustus Pendleton, took third, and race director Stephen Jesch took fourth, with Cecelia Madsen of Freeville fifth; the times up to eighth (Damian Clemons of Phelps) were all tightly clustered between 1:58 and 2:10. In the marathon, Ryan Allen-Parrot of Burdett set a new course record of 4:25:23, beating Steve Jesch’s time of 4:36:14 set last year. Sean Meissner of Perkinsville, VT was second in just under 4:28. Experienced ultra veteran Lori Johnson of Berkshire was the earliest starter and third finisher at 4:50, with Brian Wegman of Martville and FLRC board member Diana Hackett and Danby Down & Dirty race director Pete Kresock rounding out the places to sixth in a cluster of times from 5:05 to 5:24. A standout first marathon performance came from first-year Cornell student Michael Gallagher of King of Prussia, PA, finishing the rigorous Monster marathon course in excellent, relaxed form in 5:34. Welcome to the trails, Michael! We were also happy to see FLRC veteran Joel Cisne keeping it weird and keeping his return to the trail distance circuit on track (single-track, that is) at 5:32, just in front of Michael.
Full results can be found here for the marathon and here for the half marathon.
We’re monstrously indebted to the many volunteers who stepped up to help prepare and execute on race day, many of whom stayed for multiple shifts: Dave Kania helped the race directors make short work of marking the course the day before running in the half marathon; Stephanie Mulinos, Makoto Endo, and Diana Hackett helped with early setup and bib pickup. Ian Golden ran the Hilsinger Rd aid station heroically as a solo effort while the finish line/HQ aid station and post-race lunch tables were taken on by Eve Mercer, Stephanie Mulinos, Hannah Blair, Jon Marks, Tom Teeter, Adam Moody, and Jeney Wierman. Stephanie Mulinos tripled her volunteer commitment by also picking up lunch food and the famous cake in Dryden. Thanks, Stephanie, and also Pizza and Bones and Clark’s Grocery in Dryden, who supplied the sandwiches and cake, respectively. The FLRC timing team of Adam Engst, Heather Cobb, and Bob Talda pulled off another impeccable effort over many hours as well—we can’t thank them enough. Meanwhile, in the fun department at the bottom of the monster hill near Daisy Hollow Rd, the monsters multiplied in their native habitat since last year: Ithaca High School students Connie Zheng and Marina Okada, and Selina Cowan with her son and daughter, created a four-monster and one-mermaid) forest haunting committee to roar their approval to passing runners. Kuwanna Dyer-Pietras, Gerrit Van Loon, and Makoto Endo took on the crucial course sweep run and flag/marker pickup, even recovering our sturdy (ahem, a bit too heavy) “beware of monsters” sign. Huge thanks as well to Ryan Healy and the committed volunteer Wilderness Search & Rescue crew who tracked bib numbers and ensured our safety at key points through the course, and Gary McCheyne who helped us and even anticipated our needs with supplies. Local trail steward Alex Gonzalez also deserves enormous recognition for constructing and maintaining the trails in the “international” network as well as maintaining the main Finger Lakes Trail that passes through the area.
Photos of the race were captured by photographer Jamie Love. You can view them here and download any you like free of charge. If you have pix you’d like to share, please upload them here.
If you enjoyed the Two Hollows Monster Marathon, plan to join us next year in late summer 2024 (precise date to be set) and tell your friends about it. If you have any suggestions for improving the event, email the RDs at monster@fingerlakesrunners.org; we’ll take your thoughts into consideration. In addition, if any of you write a report for your own website, blog, or whatever, send us a link—we’d love to read about your experience.
Happy trails from your RDs,
Nancy Kleinrock, Steve Shaum, Steve Jesch, and Steve Vanek
Thanks to all the organizers for putting on such a fun event!