Singletrack Fun at the 2025 Thom B Trail Runs

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On Saturday, 115 runners across three race distances took part in the 33rd running of the Thom B. Trail Runs at Hammond Hill State Forest. Conditions were mostly favorable and completely (un)predictable, as clouds gave way to sun, then rain, then back to sun again. 

Eighty-five runners completed one 8.5-mile loop (“loopers”), nineteen finished two loops for a total of 17 miles (“twoopers”), and eleven intrepid souls tackled three loops plus a baby loop to complete the full 26.2-mile marathon distance (“throopers”). Runners ranged in age from 11 to 83, with 11-year-old Logan Timmerman placing a strong 14th overall in the 8.5-mile race. Even more impressive was 61-year-old Lori Johnson taking first overall for women in the 17-mile race. 

Full results are now posted, and don’t miss the great race photos from Paul Houle!. Please share any you took, too!

Loopers Podium (8.5 miles)
Men
Overall: Tom Benner – 1:02:43
Open (under 40): Gus Pendleton – 1:03:34
Masters (40+): Dave Kania – 1:10:25
Vets (50+): Michael Olson – 1:14:15

Women
Overall: Bella Burda – 1:08:13
Open (under 40): Sarah Woodyear – 1:09:27
Masters (40+): Doreen Fanton – 1:13:27
Vets (50+): Julie Barclay – 1:24:41

Twoopers Podium (17 miles)
Men
Overall: Isaac Mazzeo – 2:13:06
Open (under 40): Blue Shapiro – 2:20:53
Masters (40+): Brian Lee – 2:22:30
Vets (50+): Ofer Leshed – 2:41:36

Women
Overall: Lori Johnson – 3:07:44
Open (under 40): Emily Frazee – 3:09:50
Masters (40+): Jean Rodgers – 3:15:53
Vets (50+): Melissa Wallace – 3:35:17

Throopers Podium (26.2 miles)
Men
Overall: Chris Petroff – 3:49:34
Open (under 40): Ryan Allen-Parrot – 3:59:38
Masters (40+): Scotie Jacobs – 4:00:44
Vets (50+): Steve Jesch – 4:20:58

Women
Overall: Claire Glover – 5:11:16
Open: Perrine Pepiot – 5:24:45
Masters (40+): Kuwanna Dyer-Pietras – 5:30:53

No race could happen without volunteers, and I want to extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who made this one possible. Adam Engst led the timing team and stepped in as equipment lead, while Heather Cobb and Bob Talda (the Yeti) served as assistant timers. The setup and registration crew—Caroline Rasmussen, Lucia Chen, Diana Hackett, Shanthi Mariappan, and Pete Kresock got everyone checked in and ready to go. Lauren and Patrick Milano kept the food flowing, while Ian Golden and Michelle Dardia held things down at the aid stations and on the course as marshals. Paul Houle took photos. David Rossiter swept the course, ensuring that no one was left behind. And cleanup was handled by Adam Engst, Lucia Chen, and Spencer Hill. Special thanks also to Gary McCheyne for mowing the field and helping with equipment prep.

As a first-time RD, I could not have asked for a better race, and I am thankful for each and every person who gave their time to run, help, and cheer!

FLRC’s Strides of March Closes Out Indoor Track Season

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Apologies for the late recap, folks, but our final track meet of the season was a big success. We had 208 athletes from 14 teams recording 477 results for the day. Full results and hundreds of fabulous photos by photographer Paul Houle are now available. 

60m Dash

Logan Aman of the Candor Running Club blazed to victory in the 60m with a time of 6.58 seconds. Nhlakaniphu Shezi of the Mustangs Track Club took second in 6.84, and Rocco Coulibaly finished third at 7.02 (with Ryan Haisler at 7.03 and Sebastian Bartischevich at 7.04—too close for hand timing to call). For the women, Jalasia Demember led with 8.02, followed by Cornell Track & Field Club member Suraya Chalabi at 8.20 and Milla Gonzalez of the Mustangs Track Club at 8.23. The event saw competitors from ages 1 to 75, with 75-year-old David Chambers finishing in 12.07 and 1-year-old Theo Milano crossing the line in a PR of 1:10.86.

200m Dash

The Candor Running Club’s Logan Aman continued his sprinting dominance of the day by winning the 200m in 23.66 seconds. Cornell Track & Field Club’s Luke Szathmary secured second place with 23.86, and Sebastian Bartishevich took third in 23.96. Odessa-Montour’s Janne Anderson was the top female finisher at 29.54, with sisters Charlotte Hulsey (30.76) and Gretchen Hulsey (31.32) completing the women’s podium. 72-year-old Ken Hodges impressed with a 40.12 finish, while 3-year-olds Emma Gulliford and Mae Viola-Cain completed the full lap in 1:25.20 and 1:32.80 respectively, with Mae decked out in a fabulous princess dress.

1-Mile Run

In the mile, we had a heck of a matchup. Nolan Chiles had seeded himself at 4:16 and Alexander Simpson at his PR of 4:19, and Simpson was hot to break his PR. Chiles led a fast pace through 1300m before Simpson unleashed an astonishing kick to win. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make up for a slow fourth lap, so Simpson crossed the line 4:19 yet again, followed by Chiles at 4:21. The Cornell Running Club’s Callum Coots rounded out the men’s top three at 4:29. For the women, Liz Hartman led the field with an solid 5:47, followed by 12-year-old standout Cora Hayes in 5:48 and Kate Hulsey in 5:59. 72-year-old Ken Hodges recorded a strong 7:30.

3000m Run

The 3000m was a tight race for most of its 15 laps, with the top three runners staying in a pack until Samuel Breckenridge broke it open to win a time of 9:22. Gabriel Diamante finished second in 9:27, and Gavin Bowers took third at 9:38. Despite running alone in the fastest heat, Emily Miller led the women with a strong 10:44, followed by Liz Hartman at 11:14 and Erica Griffin at 11:35.

4x200m Relay

The Cornell Track & Field Club dominated the 4x200m relay event with Riki Sampson anchoring his team to the FLRC season’s best time of 1:38, besting their February Flash Dash time by 1 second. Not far behind was the Mustangs Track Club in 1:42, while Elite Aura Farm took third with a 1:44 finish. Of the 24 teams, 9 broke the 2:00 barrier for the 800m race.

High Jump

The Cornell Track & Field Club’s Luke Szathmary cleared 5 feet, 8 inches to win the high jump competition. Rocco Coulibaly took second with a jump of 5 feet, 6 inches, and Jakobe Foster of Candor Running Club finished third at 5 feet, 4 inches. Candor’s Ayasha Schweiger led the women with a height of 4 feet, 6 inches, followed by Gretchen Hulsey at 4 feet, 2 inches and Jalasia Demember at 4 feet even.

Long Jump

The Groton Project’s Ross Bush leaped to victory with an impressive  distance of 19 feet, 2.5 inches. Michael Fetzko of the Mustangs Track Club took second at 18 feet, 4.75 inches, and North Penn-Mansfield’s Brayden Johnson completed the men’s podium with a jump of 18 feet, 4 inches. Lindsey Morse from the Candor Running Club led the women with 15 feet, 6 inches, followed by Cornell Track & Field Club’s Megan Wong at 15 feet, 3 inches and the Mustangs Track Club’s Jaidon Brodie at 14 feet, 1.25 inches. 

Thanks to Our Volunteers

Kudos to our volunteers for making the meet a success. Tonya Engst, Carl Franck, and Jesse Koennecke arrived early to help with setup. Tonya continued to manage the registration desk and answer questions alongside Rebecca Lambert. Patrick Boyle reprised his role as our starter though his enhancement to the electronic starting pistol only survived the first event, Tristan Lambert made a successful debut as head timer, and Heather Cobb and Rich Bernstein coordinated the heats. Jesse Koenecke kept HyTek Meet Manager running smoothly for results with help from Jamie Loehr, Molly Doruska recorded bib numbers for longer races, and Crosby Woods counted laps and ran the backup timer. Our sprint timing team consisted of Charlie Fay, Ian Golden, Sandy Gregorich, Christopher Guillen-Chacon, Nora Golden, and Carl Franck. Paul Houle took tons of great photos. Special thanks to Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club for overseeing the high jumps with the capable assistance of Carl Franck, and to Brett Shelton of SOAR for the long jump with support from Sandy Gregorich.

And we just can’t resist sharing this photo of a couple of kids reveling in their recycled trophies. Keep donating your extra medals and trophies at the running store, and we’ll keep giving them to little kids after their races.

That’s it for our indoor track season this year, but tune on June 17 for our Sunset Circuits meet at Groton High School, followed by Trackapalooza, also at Groton, on July 19. Thanks for joining us!

Super Frosty Loomis returns with record number of participants and two course records

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On February 8, FLRC was proud to kick off our 2025 trail race circuit with our first Super Frosty Loomis snowshoe race in three years. The weather was perfect, with plenty of sun and temperatures in the mid-20s. Where the past two years lacked sufficient snow for a race, conditions this year were great, with a well-packed course thanks to the COE Winter Adventure class that hiked the 5K the day before. We had 26 finishers in the 5K and 24 in the 10K, a record number for the event. 

In the 5K, Seth Bywater finished first with a time of 25:50, setting a new course record by a whopping 3:20. The women were led by Julie Barclay, who finished in 32:46. In the 10K, Martin Brice led a tight pack off the start and pulled away at the end to win with a fast time of 43:31. On the women’s side, Sarah Woodyear took first place in her first snowshoe race with a time of 51:19, breaking the previous course record by 7 seconds. Full results are now available.

Many thanks to all our volunteers who made the race possible! Most notably, Martin Moravek and Eric Maki directed traffic and helped park cars to squeeze as many people into the limited space available. Tonya Engst managed bib pickups. Adam Engst handed out rental snowshoes and helped novices put them on correctly. Adam and Bob Talda timed the race. Joel Cisne and Wilderness Search & Rescue watched over the racers on the course to make sure everyone made it back to the finish line. Finally, Gretchen Gilbert, Jon Lewis, and Ben Dickensheets swept the course and picked up flags. Special thanks to Charlie and Ann Leonard for the use of their driveway and their land where the start/finish are located, as well as the Hammond Hill-ton warming hut, and to Rob Kashik and Dion Snowshoes for the rental snowshoes.

Check out the photos in the Yogile album! We’ve uploaded some great shots from the event, and we’d love for you to add your own.

189 Athletes Brave the Weather for FLRC’s February Flash Dash

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The weather was truly dreadful on Sunday, with heavy rain following heavy snow. Nevertheless, out of the 300 people who registered, 189 athletes braved the elements to enjoy the warm, dry track in Barton Hall. Eleven teams fielded runners, including the Chenango Forks Running Club, GIAC Navigators, Groton Project TC, Ithaca Running Club, Morrisville State College, North Penn-Mansfield, Odessa-Montour, SOAR Running Club, Troy Track & Field, Trumansburg Track Club, and Wyoming Elite Track Club.

Full results and hundreds of fabulous photos by photographer Paul Houle are now available. Please share any great photos you captured!

60m Dash

The 60m race was the most popular event of the day, featuring 90 finishers across 15 heats, including three 1-year-olds who toddled down the track with their parents. Get ’em started early! Overall winner Max Kuwaye certainly wasn’t toddling as he claimed first place in 6.87 seconds. Close behind were Morrisville State College’s Nhlakaniphu Shezi, who finished in 6.90 seconds, and Thomas Eison, in 6.93 seconds. In the women’s race, Piper Hoprich of North Penn-Mansfield dashed to first place with a time of 7.68 seconds. She was followed by Jalasia Demember, who secured second in 8.20 seconds, narrowly edging out Scarlett Graham of North Penn-Mansfield, who crossed in 8.30 seconds. Note that while we are confident in the positions, the limitations of hand timing mean that the precise times might differ from what fully automatic timing would have recorded.

200m Dash

After 16 heats of the 200m, Siyel Bowman of Morrisville State College won the final heat of the day with a time of 23.42 seconds. Riki Sampson of the Cornell Track & Field Club was close behind, finishing at 23.58 seconds, while Brayden Johnson of North Penn-Mansfield secured the third spot with a time of 24.44 seconds. On the women’s side, North Penn-Mansfield’s Piper Hoprich earned her second crown of the day by finishing first in 27.18 seconds. Makenna Keough took second place with a time of 28.30 seconds, and Karson Mackey of the Groton Project finished third in 29.14 seconds.

800m Race

The outcome of the 800m was never in question, with Ithaca High School and Bucknell College alum Alexander Simpson taking the lead early and gapping the field in the final lap with a ferocious kick to win in 1:55. Riki Sampson of the Cornell Track & Field Club finished second in 2:00, followed by Groton Project’s Ross Bush in 2:03. For the women, 42-year-old Liz Hartman set a grown-up PR to win in 2:39, outrunning teenagers Ava Jones of the Wyoming Elite Track Club and Stella Mason, as well as 12-year-old standout Cora Hayes, who finished in a near dead heat with times of 2:40.00, 2:40.19, and 2:40.29.

1 Mile Race

In the mile, Michael Ventricelli of Morrisville State College quickly outpaced the field and ran alone for the win with a time of 4:37. The race for second place was much more exciting, as Harry Greene clocked a 4:51.25 to nip Johnny Schellenger’s 4:51.61 at the line. In the women’s race, Sara Bronson took first place with a time of 5:27, while 12-year-old Cora Hayes ran an impressive 5:44 to secure second. Liz Hartman claimed the final podium spot with a time of 5:46.

High Jump

The men’s high jump was won by Hunter Heyden, who cleared 6 feet for first place. Rocco Coulibaly followed with a jump of 5 feet, 6 inches, while Nathan Fromme rounded out the top three with a height of 5 feet. On the women’s side, Deborah Ward topped the field by clearing 5 feet, with Nora Furry of North Penn-Mansfield and Makenna Keough both jumping 4 feet, 2 inches.

Long Jump

The men’s long jump was led by Max Kuwaye, who soared to a distance of 19 feet, 1.5 inches. Michael Fetzko of Morrisville State College came in second with a jump of 18 feet, 4.75 inches, and Brayden Johnson of North Penn-Mansfield took third with a jump of 17 feet, 11.5 inches. On the women’s side, Makenna Keough topped the rankings with a leap of 16 feet, 6.75 inches, followed by Megan Wong of the Cornell Track & Field Club at 15 feet, 4.25 inches, and Jenna Morningstar, who jumped 15 feet, 1.75 inches.

4x200m Relay

We always end the meet with a relay, and in the 4x200m relay, Morrisville State College A crossed the line just a nose ahead of an unattached team, 1:39.47 to 1:39.71. The race for third was almost as close, with Kachow just sneaking past Morrisville State College B, 1:44.22 to 1:44.66. Overall, seven teams broke 2 minutes for the 800m race, with three more at 2:00 and 2:01.

Thanks to Our Volunteers

Kudos to our volunteers for slogging through the rain and slush to make the meet a success. Tonya Engst, Alastair Hayden, Bill Begeal, Bob Talda, and Dave Kania arrived early to help with setup. Tonya continued to manage the registration desk and answer questions alongside Rebecca Lambert. Patrick Boyle kept honing his skills as our starter, Bob Talda did a great job as head timer, and Truck Rossiter and Charlie Fay coordinated the heats. Dave Kania and Jesse Koenecke kept HyTek Meet Manager running smoothly for results, Bill Begeal recorded bib numbers for longer races, and Jon Lewis counted laps and ran the backup timer. Our sprint timing team consisted of Tristan Lambert, Kate McCormick, Ian Golden, Sandy Gregorich, Christopher Guillen-Chacon, Jamie Loehr, Isabel Seeley, and Kelly Miller. Paul Houle took photos. Special thanks to Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club for overseeing the high jumps with the capable assistance of Jamie Loehr, and to Brett Shelton of SOAR for the long jump with support from Leo Nakaranuruck, Dirk Swart, and Sandy Gregorich.

Our third and final indoor track meet of the year—the new Strides of March—is coming up on March 16. If you’re looking for a final indoor time for the year, want to get the kids running around the track instead of the house, or just want to make up for being stymied by February’s weather, we look forward to seeing you! After that, the next opportunity will be the Sunset Circuits meet at Groton High School, tentatively set for June 17, followed by Trackapalooza, also at Groton, on July 19.

 

Two World Records Broken in the 2025 Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile

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The Finger Lakes Runners Club hosted its longstanding Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile on January 18, 2025, celebrating the 56th edition of this premier masters race at Cornell University’s Barton Hall. With 68 runners competing across six heats, the meet delivered numerous exhilarating performances.

Along with the usual fast times and thrilling finishes, this year’s race featured two world records! In the first race, 85-year-old Sandra “Sandy” Folzer set a new world record for the women’s 85-89 age group with a time of 9:45.24, smashing the previous record of 13:00.96 set by Ivy Granstrom of Canada in 1999 by an astounding 3 minutes, 15.72 seconds. A few minutes later, 90-year-old Hartshorne regular Edna Hyer crossed the line in  15:10.31 to break the women’s 90-94 world record, improving on the previous mark of 15:15.28 set by Betty Lindberg in 2019 by 4.97 seconds. 

Full results are on the FLRC site with age-grade percentages and times. Leone Timing’s results are also worth a look for their split times and position changes. Don’t miss the fabulous race photos and race videos! (You can also click the header links below to watch the associated videos.)

Race Results

Combined Section 1: The first race of the day saw a determined effort from 67-year-old Joseph Sullivan, who crossed the line first in 8:46.19. He was followed by 76-year-old James Miner at 9:10.57. Christine Klein, 60, was third overall and led the women with a time of 9:34.13, but Sandy Folzer took fourth en route to breaking the W85 world record—she had come in knowing that she could beat it. Less certain, however, was Edna Hyer, who needed a last-lap kick to collect her W90 world record.

Men’s Section 2: In an exciting race, 63-year-old Steven Hoover chose the final lap to kick past David Dickensheets, 61,  to win in 6:06.49. Dickensheets had led the seven laps before that, but he rallied to take second in 6:07.44. Loren Davies, 57, claimed third place half a second later in 6:07.93, edging out 60-year-old Gary Williams in 6:09.26. Spider Rossiter, 73, clocked an impressive 6:22.57 to secure the 70–74 age group victory, with Ken Hodges and Tim McMullen, both 71, not far behind in 6:46.29 and 6:50.54.

Women’s Section 2: The women’s second heat featured a standout performance from Mary Swan, 63, who finished in 6:44.92. A spirited duel for second place saw Teresa Vanek and Rebecca Elias, both 51, separated by less than a second, with Vanek finishing in 6:50.28 and Elias in 6:51.25. The remaining runners kicked in together in a tight pack, with Betsy Stewart, 61, crossing in 7:12.50, followed by Andrea Wigfall, 61, in 7:13.39, and Laura Helmerick, 65, in 7:14.42.

Men’s Section 3: 59-year-old Francis Burdett, coming back from a hip replacement, showcased his experience racing on the world stage to take the lead at 400m and run away from the field in 5:53.94. He was followed by Chuck Shields, 65, in 5:56.08 and Derrick Staley, 66, in 5:57.80, both delivering strong age-graded performances.

Men’s Section 4 (Elite B): Patrick Boyle, 41, took the lead just after the 800m and held the lead to take first place in 5:17.70. Joe Mora, 63, claimed second in 5:19.69—good for the third place age-graded percentage of 88.07%, while Peter Frazier, 46, completed the podium with a 5:23.43 finish. Notably, Keith Davies and Casey Carlstrom, both 65, finished in a virtual tie at 5:42.97 and 5:42.98, respectively.

Women’s Section 3 (Elite A): Sascha Scott, 49, continued her streak of Hartshorne wins and added to her illustrious resume, which includes the American W45 indoor mile record and outdoor 1500m W45 record. She took over from the rabbit with 800m left to finish in 5:07.91, earning the top age-graded percentage of the day at 93.05%. Karen Bertasso Hughes, 40, finished second in 5:26.13, good for the third-place women’s age-graded percentage of the day at 82.10%. Jennifer Selig, 42, placed third with a time of 5:33.91. Behind them, Anne Riordan, 40, came through in 5:35.28, followed by Alison Schwalm, 47,  in 5:40.95, earning the second-highest women’s age-graded percentage of the day at 84.25%. Liz Hartman, 42, rounded out the top six in 5:42.97, good for a PR, closely followed by Donna Langerfeld, 38, in 5:43.92. Jade Barth, 45, finished in 6:04.21, just edging out Debra Vertoske, 48, at 6:05.40. Closing out the race was Julie Barclay, 51, in 6:25.13.

Men’s Section 5 (Elite A): The final men’s race went out hot and stayed that way, with 41-year-old Sam Morse leading from the gun to secure his second Hartshorne victory in a row in 4:29.46, the fastest winning time since 2014. 49-year-old Nicholas Conway followed in 4:35.31, achieving the highest men’s age-graded percentage of the meet at 90.86%. Louie DiNuzzo, 42, took third with a strong 4:36.23 performance. Close on their heels, Mark Williams, 52, a three-time Hartshorne champion and the holder of the M50 indoor 800m world record, clocked 4:43.34, with Ken Crawford, 40, finishing in 4:44.40. Chuck Terry, 42, and Jon French, 41, took sixth and seventh in 4:47.95 and 4:48.87, respectively. Scott Weeks, 52, crossed the line next in 4:52.95, followed by Peter Boyd, 50, in 4:59.38, rounding out a highly competitive race.

Volunteers

Hartshorne requires a significant volunteer effort, starting with race director Adam Engst and assistant directors Charlie Fay and Tom Hartshorne. Victoria Fitzsimmons, Philip Hathaway, and Tonya Engst arrived early to set up. James Miner and Laura Taylor ably managed the registration table. Shana Snyder serenaded us with the national anthem, Bruce Roebal reprised his role as clerk of course, and Jan Hunsinger started all the races. Tonya Engst coordinated volunteers. Our speedy rabbits were Bella Burda, Patrick Milano, and Adam Pacheck. Steve Gallow took hundreds of photos, and Jorge Cuevas was our videographer. John Whitman counted laps, Bob Talda read lap splits, and Rich Bernstein monitored the finish line. Aaron Proujansky, Ben Dickensheets, Tom Hartshorne, and Jesse Koennecke helped keep bystanders off the track during the races. Marte Reps coordinated the award luncheon with check-in help from Joanne Button. Thanks to you all!

Sponsors

Finally, we’d like to thank the sponsors who made this year’s Hartshorne possible. It takes a lot of money to put on a national-level meet like this, with rabbits, an announcer, extensive race photos, video of all the races, a post-race banquet, and cash prizes to attract some of the top talent in the US and Canada. The race’s 2025 sponsors include Sean Nicholson, Joe Daley, the Hartshorne Family, Javier Martinez, Cayuga Health, and Bangs Ambulance. Also, thanks to Cornell University for allowing us to race in Barton Hall, the Cornell Track & Field Team for letting us compete before their meet, and Leone Timing for world-class timing services. The masters running community is tremendously appreciative of their support. Just because we’re not so young anymore doesn’t mean we don’t take our racing seriously!

See you next year!

FLRC’s 2024 Accomplishments

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One of our big goals with FLRC is to provide opportunities for runners of all stripes, flavors, and persuasions. Whether you enjoy trails, roads, track, or cross-country, prefer social workouts or races, like to run by yourself or in large groups, or gain satisfaction from volunteering at an event, we have a place for you. Nowhere does that become more obvious than when we look back at what we accomplished together in the last year. 

The club had a fantastic 2024, coordinating a race or a group run every weekend, along with a coached workout every Tuesday night and a series of additional Monday and Wednesday track workouts in the winter. Club membership grew to an all-time high, and we ended the year in our strongest financial shape ever. All these accomplishments were made possible by volunteers—that is, by you!

Here are a few stats to give you a sense of the breadth and depth of FLRC’s accomplishments in 2024.

  • Races: Although we were sad to cancel Super Frosty Loomis for the second year in a row due to a lack of snow, we put on 24 races during the year with a total of 4,081 finishers from:
    • 7 trail races with 728 finishers (up 68 from last year)
    • 10 road races with 2,293 finishers (up 229)
    • 6 track meets with 992 finishers (up 279)
  • Cross-country: We coordinated FLRC and High Noon teams in the five-race PGXC series, placing second overall in the PGXC Club Cup rankings behind only the much larger Syracuse Track Club, our highest place ever. Highlights included:
    • 76 runners and 239 race participations for the season (down 2 people, up 10 participations)
    • Pre- and post-season gatherings of about 30 people each
    • Hosted the third PGXC race at Taughannock Fall State Park for 230 runners from around the state 
    • FLRC’s U19, Vets women, and Super Vets women won their divisions for the series
    • Two FLRC and High Noon runners won their age groups overall for the series, with another five placing second and two more placing third
  • Group runs: We organized numerous group runs, workouts, and team events with over 3,300 participations for the year (up over 500 from last year), including:
    • 23 weeks of MITHACAL MILERS indoor track workouts with 1,267 participations (up 166; with lots of kids as part of the Family Running Program)
    • 12 weeks of Monday/Wednesday winter track workouts for scholastic runners with an estimated 559 participations (first year)
    • 14 weeks of Summer Speed workouts with 354 participations (up 179)
    • 11 weeks of XC workouts with 362 participations (up 91)
    • 9 FLRC Challenge group runs with 197 participations (down 15)
    • 7 weeks of Sunday Skunkday runs with 198 participations (up 29)
    • 15 general group runs with 184 participations (down 4)
    • 9 race course preview group runs with 63 participations (down 22)
    • 115 attendees at the FLRC Annual Picnic in August and 54 at the Winter Trail Festival in December
    • 6 weeks of the Happy Holidays Scavenger Hunt online game in November and December, generating oodles of amusing photos on the forum
  • Volunteers: Over the past two years, we’ve found the Helper Helper volunteer management system essential for volunteer coordination and communication. It also makes it easy to pull out some astonishing stats. These don’t even include board meetings, committee meetings, club infrastructure work on equipment and merchandise, and informal discussions among club leaders. These stats also probably underestimate the amount of time race directors put in.
    • 240 people volunteered for at least one FLRC event, but we had a great collection of super volunteers:
      • 54 people volunteered more than 12 hours (1 hour per month—up 4 from last year)
      • 24 people volunteered more than 24 hours last year (2 hours per month—up 8 from last year)
      • 8 people volunteered more than 48 hours last year (4 hours per month—same as last year)
    • 2,738 hours volunteered (over 3 person-months!), including:
      • 353 hours for Skunk Cabbage 
      • 325 hours for Finger Lakes 50s
      • 201 hours for group runs and workouts
      • 164 hours for Trackapalooza
      • 155 hours for the Monster Marathon
      • 125 hours for an average indoor or outdoor track meet
      • 105 hours for the Hartshorne Masters Mile
      • 35 hours timing non-FLRC races for the community
  • Donations: We donated or helped coordinate $20,270 in charitable donations, including:
    • $7,370 for Loaves & Fishes (through Turkey Trot donations)
    • $2,300 for the Ithaca Youth Bureau track and cross-country programs
    • $2,000 in scholarships for two graduating high school seniors
    • $1,800 for a porta-potty on the Black Diamond Trail from May through October
    • $1,750 for Wilderness Search and Rescue (for helping at our trail races)
    • $1,200 for the Four Town Ambulance and First Aid (the profits of the Fillmore 5K)
    • $1,150 for the Friends of Hammond Hill trail work (acted as fiscal sponsor)
    • $1,000 for the Finger Lakes Trail Conference (Finger Lakes Trail maintainers)
    • $900 for a porta-potty at Hammond Hill from May through October
    • $800 for the Cornell Botanic Gardens (in relation to the FLRC Challenge)

In addition, the three community races we timed raised a total of $8,886 for their organizations.

  • Fundraising: Although most of our donation expenses are funded through income from race registrations, we also offset some through direct donations from the community. Plus, sponsors always make the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile possible. Thanks to everyone who donated!
    • $7,700 raised from track sponsors
    • $4,200 raised in donations during race and membership registrations
    • $650 raised in direct donations
    • $500 donated from our PGXC participation
    • $407 raised for the trail porta-potties
  • FLRC Challenge: In its fourth year, the FLRC Challenge once again gave numerous local runners structure for their running from April to September. Some stats from the leaderboard:
    • 199 signups, with 140 people completing at least one course
    • 106 completions
    • 3 completions of the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge, 12 completions of the Tough Trail Challenge, and 6 completions of the Tough Tarmac Challenge
    • 2,650 total runs logged
    • 13,222 miles covered
    • 509 run report “star posts” from participants sharing with the community
    • $1,572 awarded across 202 prizes to 47 athletes
  • Online presence: As much as we’re all about interacting in person, an online presence is essential in today’s world. Accomplishments include:
    • Grew the FLRC Forum to 1,367 members, up 122 from last year
    • Hosted 4,685 forum posts for the year
    • Racked up more than 115,000 page views by actual people on the forum
    • Increased the size of our photo library by 30 albums and 9,243 photos
  • Club governance: With hard work behind the scenes, we: 
    • Massively increased club membership from 872 last year to a record 935 at the end of 2024
    • Managed over $215,000 in assets, including $187,000 of investments that generate revenue to fund FLRC’s philanthropic efforts
    • Brought in two new board members to replace departing members and fill gaps in the board’s skills, experiences, and demographics

Let’s see what we can do together in 2025!

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Ithaca 5&10 Sees Largest Field in 20 Years, New 10K Course Record

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We had great weather—cool and a little breezy—for hosting 421 finishers at the 2024 Ithaca 5&10, the largest field in at least the past 20 years. Pre-race setup and bib pickup went smoothly thanks to numerous volunteers, and nearly 30 kids kicked off the day’s events with a 1-mile untimed fun run on the paths between Ithaca High School and Boynton Middle School. The 5K and 10K started together 45 minutes later, taking over Cayuga Street temporarily before funneling down to run their way towards the Commons, back on Tioga Street, and around Boynton. The 5K runners finished into the IHS bus lane, and the 10K runners kept on for another loop. 

The 5K proved to be a bit of a grudge match from last year. Callum Coots of Missoula, MT (below left), dropped 66 seconds from his 2023 time to win in 15:39, with last year’s winner, Luca Corea of Rockville, MD, taking second in 15:56 despite lowering his time by 10 seconds. Jack Frank of Philadelphia, PA placed third in 16:23, a 28-second improvement on his sixth-place finish in 2023. On the women’s side, Diane Makovic of Western Springs, IL (below right), ran 18:42 for the win, edging Ella Whiffen of Madison, WI, who crossed in 18:51. Third place went to 42-year-old Liz Hartman, last year’s overall winner, in 19:44.

The men’s 10K, which served as the RRCA New York State 10K Championship, also saw familiar faces. In both 2022 and 2023, our winner was Henry Williams of Ithaca, who competed in the Olympic Marathon trials earlier this year, followed by Max Jaffe, also of Ithaca. This year, Jaffe turned the tables, dropping 1:43 from his 2023 time to win the race in a course record 31:24. Williams didn’t make it easy, though, breaking his own previous course record by 19 seconds, finishing second in 31:40. Third place went to IHS alum Alexander Simpson in 32:54. The women’s RRCA New York State 10K Championship title was claimed by Sarah Woodyear of Ithaca in 39:14 (below), with Anne Dygert of Brooktondale second in 39:42 and Dorothy Wong of Pennington, NJ, third in 42:47.

Full results are available, along with a slew of fabulous race photos from Jamie Love.

Special thanks to all the volunteers who made it happen, starting with race director Gary McCheyne. Thanks to club members Bob Talda, Tristan Lambert, Columbia Warren, Kathy Putnam, and Makoto Endo for setting up and taking down the course. Tonya Engst managed bib and shirt pickup, which was ably staffed by Rebecca Lambert, Dave Kania, Joe Nolan, Ducson Nguyen, Mark Booth, and Kathleen Sullivan. Adam Engst managed clothing sales, Karen Ingall coordinated the fun run, Sarah Drumheller and Molly Doruska provided food, Tim Ingall was lead biker, and Ian Golden announced all the finishers. Runners from the Cornell cross-country team helped Makoto Endo, Steve Nathans-Kelly, Aaron Proujansky, and Truck Rossiter course marshal at the many intersections in the race. Water stops were staffed by Pete Dady, Gretchen Gilbert, Wendy Bollum, Lola Schuler, and Ryan Allen-Parrot, and Bob Walters and Columbia Warren handed out tickets for free ice cream to all finishers. We appreciate Leone Timing for recording times and places, the Ithaca Fire Police for managing traffic at the busiest intersections, Purity Ice Cream for scooping for all the runners, and Ithaca High School for providing the venue.

We hope to see you at upcoming FLRC events, such as the Parallel of Latitude 8-Hour Endurance Run on September 28, the Danby Down & Dirty trail race on October 12, and the Turkey Trot prediction run on Thanksgiving morning. We also invite you to join our Tuesday night workouts and weekend group runs and race with us on our cross-country teams in the PGXC series.

Two Hollows Monster Marathon and Half 2024 Recap

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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 both distances.

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

Forge the Gorge 2024 Race Results

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Last Thursday evening, 97 runners met at Fillmore Glen State Park to participate in the 2024 Forge the Gorge Trail Races. Although it rained for an hour before the race, leading to wet and muddy conditions (some would say perfect trail running conditions), the rain subsided for the actual race, improving the experience for runners and volunteers alike. 

Full race results and some candid photos are now available. If you have any race-day photos to share, please upload them to our community album.

Results

In the 3-mile short course, 13-year-old Leo Lang of Skaneateles was the overall winner with a time of 23:52, his second FLRC trail race win of the year on top of Forest Frolic. Not far behind were Dan Augustyn of Mansfield, Massachusetts, who crossed in 24:29, and Dave Kania of Ithaca, who finished in 24:36. On the women’s side, 11-year-old Ada McKinzey of Trumansburg ran the fourth fastest overall time to win the women’s race in an impressive 25:43.  She was followed closely by Olivia Genson of Moravia, in 25:59, and Liza Ferro of Cortland, in 27:28. This race also saw finishers as young as 5 (Liam McKinzey from Trumansburg) and as old as 79 (the venerable Bob Congdon from Ithaca).

In the 8-mile race, the overall winner was Ithaca’s Banyan Love, who cruised to victory in 55:07, ahead of Dan Timmerman, who finished in 56:16, and Isaac Mazzeo, who crossed in 1:02:12. Banyan now leads both the Stonehead and Pebblehead categories on the FLRC Trail Circuit leaderboard, but will be transferring his competitive racing to the Paul Smith’s College cross-country team, leaving openings for other local trail runners. Sarah Woodyear of Ithaca handily won the women’s race in a time of 1:05:41. Emily Jones of Moravia crossed second in 1:16:19, followed by Groton’s Julie Barclay in 1:18:34.

Thank you to the volunteers!

Special thanks to all the volunteers who made Forge the Gorge a success! Adam Engst led the timing crew, supported by Bob Talda, Heather Cobb, and Jesse Koennecke. Course marshals Zsofia Franck, Pete Kresock, and Laura Helmerick ably directed runners along the route. Lorrie Tily and Pete Kresock expertly handled registration, and Inger Aaberg and Audun Dahl swept the course. Special thanks to the Jones family, Henry and kids Ella, Rosie, Lucy, Frank, and Magie for manning the water station for the 3rd year in a row. 

Thanks to all the runners and volunteers for helping make this an enjoyable and successful event!

Trackapalooza Invitational Sees Unprecedentedly Close Finishes

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The second year of our Trackapalooza Invitational track meet was again a success, with glorious summer weather on the scenic Lansing High School track. Full results are now available on the FLRC website, along with some meet photos from runner Sarah Woodyear when she wasn’t competing. If you have any photos of the meet, please upload them to our community photo album to share with others and document the day.

The meet was 20% bigger than last year, with 172 athletes competing in 395 events, many from 5 teams, including the Groton Project Track Club, Baldwinsville Harriers Track Club, Kingston Tigers, North Penn-Mansfield, and the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club. The increase partly came from adding the pole vault, thanks to Matt Scheffler of the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club, and the high jump, managed by Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club. Those field events joined the long jump and triple jump, coordinated by Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club, and the shot put and discus, managed by volunteers from the Groton Project. Special thanks to Lansing High School for letting us use the track.

On to the results! We had exciting finishes in almost all the races, with the top two runners in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m separated by a cumulative total of 1.61 seconds, the top four teams finishing the 4x200m relay within 3 seconds, and the top two pole vaulters tying. I’ve never seen so many close finishes in an FLRC meet.

  • 100m: Thanks to lots of younger kids, the 100m was the most popular event of the day, with 58 finishers. Andres Martinez claimed the win with an impressive time of 10.97 seconds, just slightly ahead of Joey McDonald of the Kingston Tigers in 11.08. (Post-race video confirmed that the first person across the line had jumped the gun.) Kristen Johnson of the Groton Project was the fastest woman in 13.56, followed by teammate Chloe Bishop in 14.38.
  • 200m: The 200m finish was even closer than the 100m, with Quinn Sweet outleaning Andres Martinez 22.46 to 22.53. Anneliese Hubbard took the crown for the women with a time of 27.21, besting Megan Snell, who crossed in 29.40.
  • 400m: Despite the longer distance, the 400m was nearly as close as the shorter sprints, with Nathan Glidden of the Baldwinsville Harriers running 51.73 to beat his teammate Christopher Zellar, who came through in 52.08. The top 11 runners all broke 60 seconds! For the women, Megan Snell crossed the line first in 1:07.80, one place ahead of trail runner Donna Langerfeld, who set a PR by running 1:09.65.
  • 800m: The 800m looked like a foregone conclusion, with Riki Sampson of the Cornell Track & Field Club leading throughout. However, local distance standout Lucas Baker unleashed a ferocious kick and closed to within 1 second before running out of room at the line. Sampson won in 2:00, with Baker second in 2:01. After her second place in the 400m, Donna Langerfeld doubled in the 800m, taking the women’s title in 2:31, with Reagan Burnham of Dryden High second in 2:39.
  • 1600m: The 1600m also offered plenty of excitement, with Will Boscia of Ithaca High (who placed high in the state in the 800m for freshman boys) leading through three laps before former Hartshorne Masters Mile rabbit Mik Kern took the lead. But Boscia fought back in the final 100 meters to outlean Kern at the line: 4:54.5 to 4:54.6. On the women’s side, Liz Hartman repeated her Trackapalooza win from 2023 with a 5:45, with Emily Jones second in 6:20.
  • 5000m: The 5000m looked like a two-person race until ex-Ithaca High runner Alexander Simpson broke away from eventual second-place finisher Joe Anderson. Simpson ended up running an impressive 15:46, a personal record, to Anderson’s 16:25. Sarah Woodyear took the win for the women in 19:30.
  • 4x200m Relay: In the final running event of the day, 14 teams competed in the 4-by-200m relay, laying down some impressive times. The Kingston Tigers won in 1:35.9—the fastest relay time of FLRC’s 2024 meets—followed closely by the Baldwinsville Harriers in 1:37.4. But it was far from a two-team race, with the Groton Project A team coming across third just one second later in 1:38.4 and an ad hoc Trackapalooza team fourth in 1:38.9.
  • Long Jump: The most popular of the field events was the long jump, with 42 athletes scoring. The jump of the day went to Logan Manor of the Kingston Tigers, who cleared 19-10.25, well beyond the second-place tied jumps of 19-02 from teammate Joey McDonald and the Groton Project’s Westin Walker. For the women, Kristen Johnson of the Groton Project jumped 15-05 to place first, followed by Lola Douglas at 12-11.
  • Triple Jump: The hop-skip-and-jump triple jump was limited to experienced jumpers, with Tom Pinkowski of the Groton Project clearing 39-08.75 for the win and Logan Manor of the Kingston Tigers placing second with a 37-11 jump. Kristen Johnson of the Groton Project claimed her third first-place finish for the day with a jump of 34-04.75, while Anneliese Hubbard jumped 30-00.25 for second.
  • Discus: In the discus throw, Brody Williams threw 124-09 for the win, with David Shea of the Groton Project second with a throw of 114-04. The women’s competition was a nail-biter, with Kaylee Kastenhuber throwing 85-10 for the win, with Tuuli Overturf just 2 inches behind in 85-08.
  • Shot Put: In the shot put, the Groton Project’s David Shea improved on his second place in the discus, claiming the win by heaving the shot 40-08 to surpass Leander Boreland’s 35-05. Tuuli Overturf also avenged her second-place result discus with a winning shot put toss of 26-01, proving to be the only person of the day who could beat the Groton Project’s Kristen Johnson, who threw 25-09 for second.
  • High Jump: Although the high jump didn’t attract as many athletes as it did indoors this year, Joey McDonald of the Kingston Tigers won it with an impressive 6-02 jump that tied the season’s top height and bested Hunter Heyden, who cleared 6-00. Lola Douglas jumped 4-06 to win for the women, beating Rose Johnson’s 3-04 jump.
  • Pole Vault: In our inaugural pole vault competition, Dominic Mikula and Moss Dengler cleared 15-06 to tie for the win, a foot above second place Gabe Snyder, who vaulted 14-06. On the women’s side, Alyssa Kelleher made over 10-00 even to claim the win, with Evelyn Jackson in second in 9-06. 

As always, FLRC track meets are the work of numerous volunteers. Thanks to Tonya Engst for helping prepare for the meet the day before and then managing bib pickup, ably assisted by Rebecca Lambert and Lauren Milano. FLRC equipment manager Gary McCheyne was also a big help by renting a truck and bringing FLRC tents, tables, and chairs to the meet, and Carl Franck, Alan Lockett, Kacey Strang, and Laura Taylor helped with setup. Former FLRC president Tom Rishel reprised his traditional role of starter in the hot sun, Patrick Boyle conducted everyone as head timer, Jesse Koennecke and Dave Kania reseeded heats and produced results, and Bob Talda and Rich Bernstein coordinated the heats. Laurel Gilmer counted laps and recorded bib numbers for the longer races, and we had lane timing assistance from Keith Eggleston, Carl Franck, Tristan Lambert, Verity Platt, Amalia Skilton, and Kathleen Sullivan. On the field event side, Ricky Stewart assisted Brett Shelton with the long and triple jumps, Jamie Loehr helped Steve Wagner with the high jump, Ted McCrone helped Matt Scheffler with the pole vault, and Kacey Strang helped the Groton Project team with the throws.

Trackapalooza is our final track meet for 2024, but we hope to see you indoors in 2025!