Keep Going
Hi all, anyone doing this race on Sunday? I'm also doing Blues Cruise next week and treating this like a no frills but fun taper run.
100 milers are my favorite
I was looking at this one but it's on my weekend to work so there was no chance.
I ran Blues Cruise last year and was going to sign up again this year. That plan was derailed by a ankle sprain that happened in August. I can run on it, but it still gets painful after 4-5 miles and I didn't really want to spend 20+ miles hobbling on it. Please post a RR on these.
I hope things go well for you. If you haven't done Blues Cruise it's a fairly nice course. Very little if anything that can be called technical terrain. Have fun.
Thanks Daydreamer1! Hope the ankle heals up and your out running long again. I trained at Blue Marsh all summer and love the trails there. Did the loop 4 times. I thought it was somewhat technical, then I went and ran The Dam Full Trail Marathon out in Mifflinburg PA two week ago and that was running in a rock garden. Took me 6 hours to run that marathon course and it was the best time I had running a race ever. So I totally agree Blue Marsh is tame when it comes to the techy parts.
I thought it was somewhat technical, then I went and ran The Dam Full Trail Marathon out in Mifflinburg PA two week ago and that was running in a rock garden. Took me 6 hours to run that marathon course and it was the best time I had running a race ever. So I totally agree Blue Marsh is tame when it comes to the techy parts.
Glad to hear you had a good time at the Dam Full. I do a lot of training on the 1/2 portion of the course. That's another race that is often scheduled on my weekend to work so I've only been able to actually do the 1/2 Marathon race once. If you think that race is technical you should sign up for one of the Hyner races or the Megatransect. Even more hills, roots and rocks.
I considered the Hyner for 2015 but I'm already penciling in Garden Spot Village Marathon then Ironmaster's Challenge to prep for Dirty German 50. Throwing in Hyner would probably kill me ...I did have a blast this morning running the Cuckoo. The trails there are tame compared to others, which was fine by me. It was a nice recon for what the Dirty German will be. I was shocked I was able to finish in 2:21 which is really fast for trails for me anyway. I actually ran a trail half faster then a road half! . I did the Bird-in-Hand half a few weeks back at 2:21:30 but it was like running in an oven. Oh well any run you finish healthy is a good run. Seeing the folks there doing the 12 hour Cuckoo was really cool. Kinda wished I was doing that maybe next time.
Le professeur de trail
Keystone - Considering Hyner then Iron Masters?? There are some folks who do it. Personally I would not because it might just kill me. I think this year they were the same weekend and I knew some that did both. That's crazy unless of course you use them as B2B for a 100.
I am aiming for either Hyner or Iron Masters for next year. I have been injured for a while and I figured they are a good goal to work towards. Hyner is my absolute fav but the weekend it falls on might not work for me.
GL at BluesCruise. It is a great course. Of course you know this, but it is made better by the incredible volunteers.
BTW, where are you located?
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
I am aiming for either Hyner or Iron Masters for next year. I have been injured for a while and I figured they are a good goal to work towards. Hyner is my absolute fav but the weekend it falls on might not work for me. GL at BluesCruise. It is a great course. Of course you know this, but it is made better by the incredible volunteers. BTW, where are you located?
Best of luck on recovering from your injury. I was injured for only maybe two weeks with a cranky IT band last winter and I was one cranky SOB. So I consider myself lucky nothing worse has happened..knock on wood. Hmmmm maybe I should ditch the road marathon and do Hyner instead...Decisions decisions... Since you know that beast, what do you think? Ditch Garden Spot marathon and do Hyner 25k or 50k as a training run for a 50 miler?
Thanks for the well wishes for this Sunday. Looks like nice cool temps and should be dry so that's a big +1 right there!
I'm in Southeast Pa. Just south of Allentown. I do a lot of trail runs at Green Lane Park and do long runs at Blue Marsh.
My opinion? Absolutely ditch the marathons and do Hyner. But like I said I love me some Hyner. It is a brutal beast but easy to fall in love with. But realistically it depends on what 50 miler you are training for. Now that I go back and look it's the DG. I don't know that course first hand but I think it's relatively tame (flat). Hyner is the opposite. So maybe Hyner is not your best option... but it's so much fun. If you want "time on your feet" then Hyner (or Iron Masters) are better options. The hills will naturally slow you down so you pull a slower 50k time than what you will this weekend at BC. For example, BC was my first ultra. I ran a 5:50 back in 2011. I ran the first Hyner 50k in April 2012 at 8+ hours. I ran Hyner again in 2013 at 7:35ish. So...you see it's difficult to compare.
I run out at Blue Marsh occasionally. I sometimes have to travel to the Reading area for work so I sometimes time it right and will travel right by that area and take a "lunch break" to run. Only works if I am able to skip going back to the office and head straight home after though. In fact I have a trip out that way on Friday....hmmmmm...decisions decisions.
Thanks for your insights on Hyner. I enjoy the climbs on the trails so Hyner 50K is certainly something I would like to do. But I also want to do Ironmaster's. So I was thinking of doing the 25k at Hyner to get a taste then doing Ironmasters. To me that's doable. But there is really only one way to find out I guess right? I actually wanted to do the Green Monster this weekend but I'm thinking not because it's a 3+ hour drive for me and that's a bit much I feel. If it was a 2 hr drive I would be there. But oh well maybe next fall.
There was a guy at Blues that did the Mega on Sat. then did BC on Sunday and finished way before me. That's knarly and super impressive.