Pictures to be added when computer shit is working right .

♩       ♪        ♫           ♪         ♬     ♪            ♫       ♪     ♩.         ♪             ♫     ♫   ♪

You  know  Dasher  and  Dancer and  Prancer and  Vixen,  Comet  and Cubit and

♫          ♪       ♩                ♩       ♪      ♫       ♩.

Donder  and    Blitzen ...... But   Do   you   recall??? Stop, stop, cut, cut!!!! Right melody, Wrong lyrics. Let's try this.

♩            ♪        ♫           ♪     ♬          ♪     ♩.          ♪        ♩     ♪         ♫     ♫        ♪        ♫   ♬

You  know  Rothrock and Hyner and Mega, Worlds End and Green Monster and  Call of

♫     ♪               ♩  ♩   ♪         ♫   ♩.       ♩        ♪       ♫     ♪   ♩     ♩.            ♬      ♪      ♫

the Wilds...... But do you recall????? The easiest one of them all??? Dam Full Marathon

That's right folks. The Dam Half and Full Marathons . Two nice races that we don't hear much about. Nice races that sell out but just don't have the cachet of the above mentioned races. Races that just happen to be run on the same trails that I use for a lot of my training. Several years ago I did the Half but since then it's always been on my weekend to work, this year I was off work, so I got the opportunity to do the Full. And yes, that tune was running through my head while I ran. Maybe it's time to commit me .

The race starts and ends in R.B. Winter State Park. From a scenic view point this is the nicest part of the course. The park has a nice lake and some nice picnic areas, although the tables are getting old. The area surrounding the park is state forest land with quite a few trails. Recently there has been quite a bit of trail work going on. New blazes and sign posts and a few new trails have been cut. I think some of this is being done by the Mtn bikers. Unfortunately there are a lot of trails that never get used.

The full marathon starts at 7am with the half leaving a hour later. The full uses the same course as the half with the full splitting off at the 6.2 mile mark and doing its own 13.1 mile loop. This is a very accessible course for spectators, as all but one of the aid stations is next to a road. I only saw one and that was DW. She stopped by the 11.5 mile station to resupply me with Tailwind and Perpetuem. The day before the race we drove up so I could show her where it was at and get my bib number. I also asked what bib number Keystone Runner was going to have.

We got to the race just early enough to visit the restrooms, apply the finger nail polish and get lined up. I found Keystone and introduced myself. I approached him, looked at his bib and told him that if I took #461, divided by two, Multiplied by six and took the square root of that it told me that he was Bryan. While going through this spiel, he was looking at me like I was crazy .  I'll plead guilty to that.  Chatted with him for just a few moments and off we went.

The race starts with a loop through the park, than heads out into the state forest. Right at the beginning it was apparent that there was a bandit running the race . Trotting along with everyone else, not even bothering to try to hide. Guess she thought that since the guy she was with was registered, she could run too. No one really seemed upset about it. Maybe it was because she was short and had a kind of "pit Bull" look about her.  I had started at the back and after the first several hundred yards I was getting concerned, I was still at the back. Often I'll move right up and pass some people. Going into the race I was thinking that it was actually possible for me to get a DFL. Some years it seems like none of the hiker types really do the Full, opting for the half instead. Soon though I did pick up a few spots.

Once on the state forest lands the trail drops down into a hollow where there are several small wooden bridges. It had rained the night before and they were ice skating slick. A couple of near falls ahead of me but no actual falls. The first climb is over a low ridge. It's steep enough but too short to be difficult. Dropping over the other side we came to the Mid State trail. This portion is not really scenic and is very moderate. I fell into a group that was chatty and the 3 miles passed quickly. We then headed back north on a side trail to the next two climbs. The first one is rather steep. Here is where people really started to slow down. The runner that the bandit was running with said that he might take the option to switch to the half. Not sure if he was joking or not but they ended up doing the full. At the bottom of the second climb I passed a runner and for the next 6.5 miles I didn't see anyone else, just like a training run. At the 6.2 mile mark was a aid station where the full course split from the half.

From here the trail was a grassy road followed by a wide single track that ended on a gravel road.

I've often wondered what I would do if I met Mrs Bear and her cubs coming the other way

Nice Plush running. Just watch out for the horse poop

After that it was about 1-1 1/2 miles of gravel road. For me no cars and no runners.

A lot of new work on this trail. For some reason done with heavy equipment

The course then turned south on another grassy road, went over a ridge then turned onto some new single track. This was newly created last year to bypass some private land. I'm glad it's there because it leads to a really nice trail up through a hollow. Some rocks but mostly soft trail through the Hemlocks. All uphill but easily runnable and I was just cruising along feeling pretty good. Well, I did have some GI discomfort but not anything that was holding me back.

Plush, cool running through the Hemlocks

I topped out on the road and went a short distance to the next aid station at the 11.5 mile mark. DW was there with my Tailwind and Perpetuem. Since it was just me there I was able to chat with the two people there and let them know that I appreciated their efforts but my stomach doesn't always do so well with certain aid station food.

After filling up with water it was off to the races. Here it was back onto double track for about a mile. Then the trail turned slightly uphill. Again it was runnable. This is what makes this course bad for hikers. The majority of it is runnable. If your legs aren't in shape to run and you normally power hike a lot you will end up far behind. I had trained for this by running a lot of the flat sections and even doing 13 mile road runs. It was paying off. Near the top of the grade the trail gets just steep enough that I chose to walk. Dropping down the back side of the ridge the trail looks runnable, but every time I have run this section I end up rolling a ankle, unless I'm using poles. Today I was not using them but did have my ankle braces on. Most of the rocks are firmly in the ground but there are some loose ones and they are about baseball size. Along with that there are a lot of tips pointing out that are also rather small. Land on one of those and over goes the ankle. After a close call or two I walked down the hill for about 500 hundred yards. Through here I caught and passed another runner. It looked like he might have been cramping, when I talked to him he merely smiled and pumped his fist like saying, "good job" but didn't reply. I saw him later when he finished and don't think he spoke much English. He looked Korean. Where's Sandy when you need him???

6-7% downgrade, easy running, easy ankle rolling territory, at least for me.

After the downhill is over you end up on a rolling grassy road. Because of horses and bikes using it the footing is not always the nicest, still It is easy to just run along and I just put it into cruise control at a easy pace and kicked out the next two miles or so.

Several miles of this. Slightly downhill.

After this you turn onto a trail that I don't think is used for anything but the race. At first it is blazed but then you lose the blazes and there is no discernible trail at all. I want to go back later and see where the blazes end. At first it's running through the creek bottom on plush forest floor.

Once through this section there is no footpath, just a few blazes and the flags on race day. I'm thinking about doing some maintenance here next year.

Then it heads up hill through a boulder field. This is a boulder field that I hate. The boulders are over grown somewhat and moss covered. It's a perfect placed for snakes and it's difficult to not put your hands down. Apparently there are snakes in this area because the race site mentions to be careful.

Dropping down the other side the trail was nice single track that comes to a wide spot with a fire ring. Here the orange ribbons directed you to turn right, but then the ribbons changed to yellow. I played around for a minute or two trying to make sure this was the way to go. The last time I was on this part of the course was several years ago three days before the race. The course had been flagged but someone had messed with the flags that year. After a bit I headed down what I remembered being the right way and after about a mile I came up on two boy scouts who confirmed this. Again the trail opened up into a wide double track.

After the 16.9 mile aid station you again head uphill on double track. Not real steep but still a power hike. At the top more runnable jeep trail, then onto a section of narrow single track. After topping out there is a downhill that reminds me of the Rothrock trails. Rocky and steep, just not as long. At the bottom I started catching another runner. We crossed a road and back onto more double track, this section very rutted and rocky. Some running with a lot of walking. She was able to stay ahead of me until we got to the next aid station. This is also the 6.2 mile aid station and we were now back on the 1/2 course. I filled up with water and added my Tailwind. Both of us started out on the grassy road at the same time chatting as we ran. This was her first trail race and the only training she had been able to do was down at the shore. I told her to try Hyner and some of the other, tougher races. Soon we came to a steeper part of the road and she slowed to a walk. My legs were good so I kept running. Then I really started feeling like a bear attack was on the way. I had to slow to a walk and she passed me. I left her go and started looking for a secluded spot. A lot of open territory so I had to walk back into the woods quite a ways. While doing so I took off my waist pack. By the time I was in a secluded spot I was feeling fine. Oh well, head on down the trail. After about 5 minutes things were feeling the same way but I kept on going.

About 3 miles total of roads like this

There is then a short section of gravel road before the next aid station that is normally very easy to run but my GI tract wouldn't let me run. At the aid station I topped off my bottle and headed over to some real nice single track. Going down there I kept having the feeling of a bear attack. At some point I thought that maybe if I took off my waist pack I'd be able to make it to the final aid station. After about a 1/2 mile of carrying my waist pack I started to feel much better. Apparently the pressure of the belt was causing me to feel bad.

White Deer Creek Trail. 2 Miles of slight downhill. All runnable even on tired legs.

The single track ends at a dirt road and the last aid station. For some reason the stations are only 2.2 miles apart. This one was run by a bunch of rowdy kids from the Bucknell University track team. Sounded like St Paddy's day in a college town!!!!

Leaving there the road heads uphill and I normally run this section. Today I wasn't able to run it all and looking over my shoulder I saw three people were starting to catch me. I wasn't too concerned because the steepest climb was right ahead and I was starting to feel fairly decent. This is my course and the hill I always climb. I'm used to the boulders and how to handle them. So up the hill I went and left them in the dust. This is a hill that is on par with Hyner, Rothrock, COTW etc. At first it's dirt then big, solid boulders.

20-30% grade with lots of this.

My abdomen was feeling sore so I wasn't able to push as hard as normal. I attributed the sore abs from rolling around under my pickup getting ready to tear the engine out. Half way up I passed some half marathoners. I was quite disappointed that these were the first. I passed them and hit the small boulders at the top.

About 100 yards of this junk. Some are stable, some are not. Lots of overgrowth for the rattlers.

Took my final swig of Perpetuem and headed down the hill. The legs were great, the stomach not so much. I should have been drinking more but couldn't get it to go down. Almost down at the bottom the trail becomes nice double track. Here you are back in the park and these trails are maintained for little kids. It's broken up into three sections by roads. I planned to run the first, walk the second, then run the third to the finish. At this point I had decided to not try to eat anything at the finish. I just felt like I would probably get sick. The first section ended and just as I was about to cross the road, I dry heaved. Hard and loud. Anybody within a half mile probably thought I was being murdered. And then my stomach felt.........perfect. So off I went at full speed. After having 26 miles in my legs I was turning out sub 8 minute miles. I crossed the finish line in 6:19 and change and felt like I had just run 8-10 miles!!!

I walked up to the car then came back down for some chicken. As I was heading over to a table Keystone came over to the food line and we talked a few words. While we were eating the Bandit came trotting in and both her and the guy got medals. What's up with that ???  I had to wear a bib to get one. Guess she's cuter then me!!

I would have loved to finished in under 6 hours and probably should have. I wondered if I would have worn my vest if my GI tract would have been better. I typically don't wear the waist pack for this long of distances. If someone wants to do a fast trail marathon this is the one. Sometime I'll have to break the mileage down by road, double track and single track. There is very little true single-track and even most of that is not very technical. I could have chosen to do Blues Cruise. Blues Cruise is more scenic, but you also end up with a lot of double track and there you are out in the sun a lot while a lot of this course is under the canopy of the trees. This is certainly a good race for someone's first trail race.

Thanks for reading.

Cool race! Sounds like you had a pretty good day especially if you felt like you only ran 8-10 at the end.

Any water crossings on the course? Or were they dried up?

Thanks for sharing.

Great job and congrats on finishing strong and feeling fresh. Wow, very detailed RR, I felt every ankle twist!!!

It sounds like the guy was Korean, they usually pump their fist and say "fighting"!!!  Not exactly sure the origin, but I guess it is their they way to encourage the fight against the struggle.  I get it alot when running the hike/bike paths.

Thanks for the RR.

Well my ankle had been feeling pretty good before the race, but now it's bothering me again. Looks like I'll be doing a bunch of short stuff for the next month so that should give it time to heal.

FTYC -- It's easy to make it sound easy because, well, it is easy. At least compared to most of the races I do.  There are a lot of cool areas on the hot days, but then there are areas where the humidity is just trapped under the tree.

Jame -  The first time I ran this course was just after a hurricane had brushed the area. Some places I was wading through knee deep water.  It's kind of like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. If we're getting rain it can be quite wet just from water running down the trails and laying in the low spots. There are several water crossings but this year they were almost dried up. Didn't get my feet wet once.

Warden - Between watching for rattlers laying in the low shrubs and trying to balance on the rock you do tend to stay focused.  I've cramped one or twice in the middle of that and of course it was always my calves.  FWIW, as much as it looks like snake territory and I keep a good look out, I've never seen one there.

Sandy - I looked to see where he lived and his address was actually from a area that I occasionally work in. I suspect that he was a engineer that was over here for 5-6 months. There was a company in that area that had an affiliation with a Korean company and was bringing engineers over here for training.

NH - We'd be glad to have you back again.

Congrats DD!  Despite the stomach issues, it sounds as if you had a great race.  And thanks for sharing all the pics.

Nicely done! I haven't dropped in in awhile, but it's nice to see a PA race report first thing. Glad your work schedule finally aligned with hitting a really stand up race. I know how the shuffle goes, I raced way too much this season and paid for it in lots of picked up Sunday shifts, but I don't have kids and my family is all very far away so that's ok for me I guess. You are lucky to have RB Winter as a local spot. I ran the half and I definitely agree with your sentiments on the course... This was by far the least sadistic race I've ran all summer, but the Boulder fields definitely broke things up for an occasional much needed hike break.  I personally left this course hurting pretty bad, but I pushed it really hard.  It's the shortest distance I've ran in awhile - that combined with the sheer runnability got me a little greedy.  Nice trail half PR for me, but I spent the following few days feeling pretty banged up.

That bandit situation is pretty wonky - I just don't know how people think that's ok? Maybe if they were completely self contained, but not only is it rude to the 400+ others signed up, but to the community as a whole.  If I knew that was happening it would definitely bother me.

Anyway, congrats on a strong finish despite all the nags... Also - the ab soreness thing --- this race totally did that to me and I was not rolling around under a truck last week.  I attributed to the fact that the climbs were pretty quick and you could power up them? I don't know.  Mine hurt for days following though!

 

I had scanned the signup list before the race but missed seeing that you were going to be there.  Looks like you put in a good time.  Didn't you also run the Mega?

 

As far as the "Bandit" situation goes, well, I'm a little surprised that you're the only one to pick up on that. Then my clues must have been a little too subtle.  As soon as I saw her I thought of Queen and Earl.  So, yes, the "bandit" was some kind of pit bull mix. I must say I think she was in better shape than her owner at the end, and she did look cute with tongue hanging out and a medal hanging around her neck .

Ok I am rather thick headed ... Lol I didn't pick up that clue that bandit was a dog either.

I actually ran most of the Dam Scramble with somebody's pit bull mix... Her name was Pink. For whatever reason dogs gravitate to me. Might be the same dog though? I don't mind those kinds if bandits.  I'd bring my own, but most people get nervous when 2 100 pound Rotties come tearing at them like wrecking balls. Haha. They just want love though.

I did run Mega... That was a treat. By far one of my favorite races ever.  There was an infamous bandit there too, aptly named Mega. I had the pleasure of meeting her mother Laurie after a local race.  That's a tough pup, and Laurie is awesome too. But yes, it was a busy summer, I just have shut up and put the miles in.

Keystone - GL.  I suspect you are almost in full taper madness.  It's about to get real! I hope it all works out for you.