Greetings, runners! FLRC’s summer racing season is well underway, with the Twilight 5K, Tortoise & Hare trail race, Finger Lakes 50s, and our June and July outdoor track meets in the books. Plus, FLRC Challenge runners have logged over 10,000 miles so far. You can look forward to more trail and track fun this summer, plus group runs in between races.
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UPCOMING RACES & EVENTS
July 30th: Forest Frolic returns to Virgil’s Kennedy State Forest
Race directors Pete Dady and Mike Stone are hard at work getting everything ready for Forest Frolic on July 30th. Whether this is your first or fifteenth time on the trails in Kennedy State Forest, it’s a great opportunity to enjoy either a 7K or 15K distance. We’ll have post-race refreshments and professional photos of runners and volunteers frolicking in the forest, so sign up today! Forest Frolic is part of the FLRC Trail Circuit—check your results on the leaderboard.
August 11th: Join us for a post-race pizza party at Forge the Gorgeous
Less than two weeks after Forest Frolic, you can hit the trails again in Moravia’s Forge the Gorgeous! Race director Alan Lockett has a slightly different course this year to accommodate trail changes at the top of Fillmore Glen State Park, but the distances are increasing only a little, to 4 miles for the short course and a bit under 8 miles for those who finish the first loop and then head back up the gorge. Whichever you choose, stick around for the post-race pizza party. Register for the race and reserve your slices soon!
August 16th: FLRC’s third track meet of the summer at Lansing High School
Looking for a race that doesn’t involve hilly trails? Come run FLRC’s August outdoor track meet at Lansing High School. All ages (seriously!) and abilities (really!) are welcome in the club’s low-key track meets. When you’re not running, you can enjoy watching some of the area’s best runners compete against one another, with VP of Track Adam Engst announcing every race live. Join the fun!
August 25th: Enjoy FLRC’s Annual Picnic and FLRC Challenge Award Ceremony
It’s all about friends, free food, and festivities at FLRC’s Annual Picnic at the North Shelter in Treman State Park. Chow down on catering provided by Fitnell Farms and cheer along as we run down everyone’s accomplishments in the FLRC Challenge and hand out medals to those who completed all ten courses. The picnic is free, but please RSVP by August 10th so we can estimate the right amount of food to order.
August 27th: Get your head start in the Monster Marathon and Half Marathon
It’s a little further out, but given the distance, we wanted you to get the Monster Marathon and Half Marathon onto your calendar for August 27th. To switch things up in these trail races, race director Dave Kania takes an unusual approach: age- and sex-based early starts. Men under age 38 start with the race clock, but women and older men head off earlier, with the individual handicaps determined by the World Masters Athletics Age-Graded Tables. The win could come down to a kick to the finish between a 65-year-old grandmother (101-minute head start) and her 40-year-old son (4-minute head start.) The 13.1-mile out-and-back course uses some of the same trails as the FLRC Challenge Lick Brook & Treman FLT course, so it’s a great way to test your summer fitness.
Pencil other FLRC races onto your fall running calendar
September may be back-to-school time for lots of folks, but for those who aren’t on a scholastic team, FLRC has plenty more racing opportunities. Enjoy the Ithaca 5&10 on September 11th and Danby Down & Dirty a week earlier than usual on September 24th. And the FLRC (women) and High Noon (men) teams will be competing in five races around New York in the annual PGXC Upstate Cross Country Series—join us!
RACE RESULTS
There’s still time to complete the FLRC Challenge!
It’s not too late to join over 160 local runners in the 2022 FLRC Challenge, which encourages you to run or hike ten scenic courses around the area as many times as you like, competing for time, age grade, distance, and number of efforts, plus our new-in-2022 community star posts that have been eliciting amusing stories, lovely photos, and even rap poetry (plus limericks). Forty-nine runners have already qualified for their finisher’s medal, we’re well on our way toward 11,000 miles as a group, and Pete Kresock just claimed a custom FLRC Challenge course sign to commemorate having completed the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge (all ten courses in 24 hours!). You can sign up anytime before the FLRC Challenge ends on August 14th, and the award ceremony will take place at FLRC’s annual picnic on August 25th.
Twilight 5K results and photos
Kudos to Twilight 5K race director Mickie Sanders-Jauquet, who hosted 364 runners—including numerous FLRC-sponsored Girls on the Run groups—on June 8th at a new course around the Allan H. Treman State Marine Park and Cass Park. Newcomer Giovanni Grano set the new course record with a blazing 16:06, followed by Alexander Simpson in 17:40. The women’s race was a tie, with Melissa Weiner and Erin Goodrich finishing together in 22:41. Check out the wonderful photos from the race by Steve Gallow and Susan Nye-Bleiler.
Tortoise & Hare results and photos
In a feat of organizational prowess, Mickie Sanders-Jauquet turned around and directed the Tortoise & Hare trail race at Buttermilk Falls State Park just 10 days after Twilight. The volunteers may have been shivering, but Dan Timmerman and Chelsea Benson heated things up with some seriously fast times. Dan won in 46:03 and Chelsea took first for the women and second overall in 51:32, almost a minute ahead of third place. Thanks to photographer Jamie Love for great photos!
June and July track meet results and photos
With five events each, there are too many winners in FLRC’s track meets to call out, so check out the June and July results for full details. The meets have been particularly family-friendly and relaxed this year, with kids as young as 2 learning the lanes, and adults in their 70s beating their goals. Jamie Love also took a bunch of excellent photos at the June meet.
Finger Lakes 50s results and photos
Finger Lakes 50s is by far the club’s most intensive trail race, with 25K, 50K, and 50-mile distances out in Hector National Forest. New race directors Vinny Cappadora and Nichole Cappadora put on a great event that attracted numerous ultrarunners from New York City and beyond. In the 25K, Cory Helder of New York won in 1:53:13, with Scotie Jacobs our first local finisher in third in 2:09:49. On the women’s side, Jessica Chichester of New York set a new course record in 2:11:28 (by 2:22), with Amelia Kaufman the first Ithaca runner in fourth in 2:21:51. In the 50K, Ian Ridgway of Holden, MA won handily in 4:28:34, with Peter Diebold the first Ithaca finisher in fifth in 5:56:12. Molly McGuckin of Ithaca was the first women’s finisher (and seventh overall) in 6:07:15. And in the 50-mile, Brendan Connell of Black Hawk, CO outkicked Reagan McCoy of Lock Haven, PA by less than 4 minutes to win in 6:33:50—Brendan broke the previous course record by nearly 13 minutes. Top local finishers were Jamal Diboun (8:06:48) and Aaron King (8:08:02). Maura Tyrell of Buffalo won for the women in 8:39:57—ninth overall—there were no local women in the 50-mile. And yes, Jamie Love was onsite again to take lots of photos of runners, volunteers, and spectators.
FLRC RUNNER NEWS
Gorges Ithaca Half Marathon and Cayuga Trails 50s results
They aren’t FLRC races, but race director Ian Golden is also a major force in the local running community and an FLRC board member, so his races draw lots of people from Ithaca and beyond—too many to call out individually, so check the Gorges Ithaca Half Marathon results and the 50K and 50-mile results from Cayuga Trails 50s.
Ellie Pell finishes high in the standings at the Western States 100
Very much worth calling out, however, is the performance of Ellie Pell, who finished 39th overall and 14th for women at the venerable Western States Endurance Run. Ellie, who also competed in the Olympic Marathon Trials in 2020, finished this 100-mile race in 21:37:12—an amazing accomplishment.
CLUB NEWS
Group runs switch back to 1st & 3rd Saturdays and some Sundays
Whether you’re training for summer races, looking for FLRC Challenge company, or entirely new to running, FLRC group runs offer low-key companionship. We have several options in the coming months:
- Saturday mornings: Heather Cobb manages our Saturday morning group runs, with various courses around the area. In August, these group runs will return to their previous 1st and 3rd Saturday schedule.
- Sunday mornings: FLRC Challenge director Adam Engst is coordinating occasional Sunday group runs on Challenge courses; check the forum for details.
- Tuesday evenings: A week or two after the Challenge finishes up, Adam Engst plans to restart Tuesday night MITHACAL MILERS workouts in the Cornell Botanic Gardens. Look for details on the forum.
- Thursday evenings: Mickie Sanders-Jauquet will be bringing her Thursday night Dash and Dine runs back in September.
Check the Group Runs & Workouts forum for details on these and other group runs, and remember to sign the 2022 waiver the first time you attend an FLRC group run.
Import or print your FLRC calendars today
When are your favorite FLRC races and other events taking place this year? Don’t guess—our dates do move around sometimes. You can view the FLRC race calendar in three ways, so pick whichever works best for you.
- Subscribe to our Google Calendar so race dates, group runs, and other FLRC events (like the Annual Picnic) flow into your computer and phone calendar. Download and import this ICS file for most calendar apps; subscribe to fingerlakesrunners@gmail.com if you use Google Calendar.
- Check the home page calendar on the FLRC website, which lists all FLRC events alongside other races in the area. Anyone can submit a local race to our home page calendar.
- Download a PDF of our attractive print calendar, suitable for posting on a refrigerator or bulletin board near you! Speaking of which, could you do us a favor? If you know of any bulletin boards in the buildings or businesses you frequent, could you print a copy out and post it?
FLRC Forum FAQ #9: When is it appropriate to start a new topic rather than replying to an old one?
The simple way to decide if you should start a new topic instead of replying to an existing topic is to look at the title of the topic. Does what you want to say relate directly to that title? If so, it’s fine to reply. If not, please start a new topic. If you ever find yourself typing the words, “I know this is off-topic, but…,” that’s an indication that you need to start a new topic.
For those who interact with the forum primarily via email, please don’t reply randomly to the first post (or summary) you find in your inbox. You’ll confuse readers (and likely won’t get a useful reply) if you ask an off-topic question in a topic about something entirely different.
One final piece of advice. If you want to communicate directly with someone who has posted in the forum, but you don’t want your message to be public for everyone else to read, click their name in a post, and in the bio that appears, click the blue Message button.
That creates a new message that looks similar to a forum reply but is addressed directly to the user in question. It even fills in the title appropriately and includes a link to the referenced post.
That’s it for now, and we’re looking forward to seeing you at group runs in August, along with our Forest Frolic, Forge the Gorgeous, track, and Monster Marathon races!
—Adam Engst, FLRC President and VP of Track