Okay, I've decided to think about doing my first 100-miler. I know there are many things to consider, especially with some of them having qualifiers, lotteries, etc. I am aiming to do one within a year or so, but I need it to be in the northeastern part of the US to pull it off. I'd love some recommendations about good first 100s in this area. (Or you could just tell me I'm nuts for considering this).
Occasional Runner
I would suggest Oil Creek 100. It's not easy, but you're fully prepared for it. I really think it's the perfect 100 miler for you.
Wow. I actually crossed that one right off the list from the start because I heard it's a tough one. Being over a year away though, maybe I'd be more confident with a bunch more races under my belt. I'll probably try and pick your brain some more about it at Labor Pains (I've upgraded my goal from 55 there to 100k)
Refurbished Hip
If you're a good runner in the heat, I would say Burning River.
Running is dumb.
Pine Creek Challenge 100k / 100M: https://sites.google.com/site/pinecreekchallengepa/
Wellsboro Pa.
http://www.valleyrunningclub.org/
No you're not nuts....
I haven't done any in the northeast (except a few miles on the Vermont course), but as an enabler, here is a list plus all sorts of other good info: http://www.run100s.com/
If you click on the "Schedule of the ... " heading, you get the list sorted by date and also has the states indicated.
Any other questions.... fire away.
tbd.
It has a lot of vertical gain but I don't think it's too hard for you. It's a great trail and very runnable. I had expected it to be much tougher based on the things I heard and read. I was surprised by how easy the race was. My biggest regret from that race was that I went out way too slow because I was intimidated by the course. I could have probably shaved an hour off my time if I had known what the course was really like. When you look at all the mid-atlantic 100's, I think it's the easiest of them all.
This one looks doable. I've never had issues running in the heat, so it's got some potential-thanks!
Pine Creek Challenge 100k / 100M: https://sites.google.com/site/pinecreekchallengepa/ Wellsboro Pa.
100 miles of rail trail is pretty brutal. That is such a beautiful part of the state, though, so I'm sure it's a gorgeous race. Thanks for the link.
No you're not nuts.... I haven't done any in the northeast (except a few miles on the Vermont course), but as an enabler, here is a list plus all sorts of other good info: http://www.run100s.com/ If you click on the "Schedule of the ... " heading, you get the list sorted by date and also has the states indicated. Any other questions.... fire away.
Thanks for being an enabler. I'll have to thoroughly check out that site. I'm sure as I get further into this madness I'll have a ton of questions needing answers. Thanks again!
Runnable is good. I like something that's not a pancake, for sure, but nothing too Hynerish for my first endeavor. I'll add it back to the consideration pile with Burning River.
Just doing my part to promote races within an hour and a half of my home! Ironically, there is lots of nasty climbing to be done in the state parks and forest to either side of the rail trail.
RealEndurance.com has a list of races based upon relative finish times. They compare the finish times for the same individual for the events completed in the same year, as compared to Western States: http://realendurance.com/ (Click on the link in the upper left corner). This will give you SOME indication of how challenging a particular 100 will be.
I would definitely say that you are a good runner, based on your two recent 50m reports, and you are more than ready to tackle a 100 in a few months, but give your body some time to recover from those 50s first. The first 100 is all about running your own race and getting to the finish line under the time limit. No 100 is easy, but you can gauge the difficulty of each one by comparing course records on the run100s site as well.
I will definitely check this out. What a great resource. Thanks!!