A lot happened last week, @Challengers! Most notably, Pete Kresock was the first to complete the 2026 FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge, running all 10 Classic Challenge courses in 11:49:12. However, because he was working the runs around family needs, he snuck in just under the wire of the 24-hour limit with an elapsed time of 23:55:17—only 4 minutes and 43 seconds before the cutoff. An impressive achievement, and for those who might be pondering it, Pete said that he thinks this might be the easiest 100K Ultra Challenge yet.
As a result, he kept running afterward to join the group running Ellis Hollow Creek Crossings before the club pancake breakfast hosted by Tonya Engst and Dave Kania. We had 53 people come to the breakfast and a few more who only ran, making it one of our larger non-race events.
This week also saw three more completions, with James Dean and Tonya Engst finishing the Classic Challenge and Melissa Wallace completing her 25-course Personal Challenge, with an emphasis on trail courses. Great running, all!
The top of the leaderboard saw only two small changes, with Andrew Flyak moving into third for Most Courses with 36 and Sarah Giesy tying Caitlin Loehr and Tonya Engst for third place in Community Stars.
Additional notes:
-
Fascia Release workshop Saturday: I highly recommend Cadence Dubus’s Fascia Release for Runners workshop at Stewart Park on Saturday from 10-11 AM. I can’t make it this year, but last year’s event was extremely useful for identifying and dealing with leg pain. Please RSVP!
-
Ludlowville Loop group run Sunday: Once you’ve rehabbed your legs on Saturday, you can put them back into circulation with Sunday’s group run on the 11-mile Ludlowville Loop course, hosted by John Hummel, who has run it nine times already this year. Thanks, John!
-
Beebe Lake course closed Aug 24–Sep 4: Thanks to Dina Maxwell for forwarding news about a Cornell construction project that will close the Beebe Lake Foot Bridge. I can’t think of a good reroute that would maintain the distance, so I’d encourage anyone who needs it for a Personal Challenge to run it this weekend or delay until after September 4.
-
Patrick and Theo Milano finish the Stroller Challenge: Kudos to our first parent-child pair to complete an informal Challenge of 10 courses that can be run with a stroller. Mik and Miles Kern are also tackling this Challenge, and they’ve done 6 of 10 courses so far (with some fast times!).
-
Photos of the week: Melanie Smee took this great group selfie (groupie?) on the Abbott Ascent course, and Pete Kresock witnessed a big tree falling onto the power lines over the Black Diamond Trail, with some debris crushing the wooden railing next to the trail. If you hear a loud cracking sound in the wood, look around!
Until next week, keep covering the ground!