We’re in what would have been considered overtime the last few years, when the Challenge ended at the start of September. So while it was a sauna most of this week, enjoy the cooler weather for the next few months as we head toward the November 15 end date.
I was intrigued to see that we’re at 13,468 miles (with some that haven’t been entered, I’m sure), whereas in 2025, we ended with just 11,858 miles and even 2024 was lower than this year, with 13,221 miles. Way to cover that ground! Despite being semi-closed all week—it was supposed to be open after today—the Beebe Lake course became our third Classic Challenge course to break 1,000 miles for the year.
We’re now up to 27 finishers—19 in the Classic Challenge and 8 in the Personal Challenge. The Alexes (the married couple of Alex Morgan and Alex Guyon—regulars at the Tuesday night workouts and Thursday Night Social runs) finished their Classic Challenges with a shared Dryden Lake Lollipop (and I hope some ice cream) on the humid, rainy Wednesday last week. In the latter category, Melanie Smee closed down her 26-course Personal Challenge by running the tough North Country Half with Melissa Wallace, and Rachel Bezner Kerr finished her 10-course Personal Challenge with an East Hill Rec Way that belies the toughness of her other selections, which included Lick Brook & Treman FLT and the Forest Frolic 15K. Congrats to all of you!
At the top of the leaderboard, we have a new name: Adam Pesta has roared into second place for Most Points for men despite still having another course to complete. That comes on the back of first-place finishes for both Waterfront Trail and Dryden Lake Lollipop and second-place finishes for Beebe Lake and Ludlowville Loop. Columbia Warren holds onto third, and Chris Petroff remains in first. And don’t count Patrick Milano out—he has three more courses to finish for Most Points, but he’s been attacking times throughout the Challenge courses and currently holds first place on nine courses.
Other notes:
- Lime Hollow needs rerouting: Thanks to Julie Barclay for sharing that the Jack’s Way trail is closed for early hunting season. They’re doing “bait and shoot,” I gather, which means that you can’t run on it at all, even wearing orange. Julie plans to check out an alternative route and may be scheduling a group run for anyone who wants to check it off for a Personal Challenge. Stay tuned, but don’t drive out there expecting to be able to run it normally.
- PGXC course group run on Saturday: It won’t help with a Challenge completion, but this weekend’s group run is at Lower Treman, where we’ll preview our home PGXC course, which we’ll be racing on November 15. Yes, we’re aware that’s the last day of the Challenge. Too much running, too few days.
- Groton Labor Day 5K on Monday: Friend of FLRC Scott Weeks, whose Groton Project club helps immensely at our track meets, is hosting the 28th annual Groton Labor Day 5K on Monday. It’s a great little race and counts toward a Lakefront Loops 5K completion.
- Farthest Sweet 1600 of the year: Kudos to Jesse Koennecke for finding the open gate to a track in Prague, a whopping 4100 miles from the Commons. That’s our most far-flung Sweet 1600 of the year, and a new country for Pete Kresock’s Sweet 1600 map.
- Photos of the week: Check out the difference between Jim Hodges’ 8/30 selfie with Taughanock Falls in the background and Sarah Giesy’s shot from yesterday. Nice to see the falls getting turned up. Props to Joel Kresock for taking a picture of his father and brother, and it clearly doesn’t get any better than this post-Dryden Lake Lollipop photos of Tonya Engst, Jenna Rice, and Amalia Skilton.
Until next week, keep covering the ground!