Hey everyone. Attached is my race report from Ironmaster's 50K out near Carlisle Pennsylvania. First time I have ran here or been to this area and it did not disappoint. It was rugged as all hell but beautiful at the same time. Highly recommend this one if you like steep climbs, rocks, streams and rocks and rocks.... which I do.

http://keystonerunning.blogspot.com/2015/04/race-report-ironmasters-challenge-50k.html#more

Glad you had a nice time.  I marked 15 miles of the course on Saturday (not the Dead Womans Road section).  I was out there on Sunday fixing problems as Mt. Bikers had messed with the trail above Hammond Rocks (the ravine).  Markings were torn down for over 2 miles. Sorry if it was hard to follow in places, but one of the other markers is not a runner (a hiker) and from what I saw he had too much distance between markings.  When ever you saw a lot of ribbons, that was me .

 

I was the guy in the orange shirt and blue vest running the course in reverse on Sunday.  This is my home turf and I'm glad you liked our rocks and climbs.  People are usually very surprised how rocky and steep this area of PA is.

Thanks for the many flags AT! It was noticed. Yea it was strange some sections were marked great but certain areas and some intersections were total head scratchers! But it wasn't like it was preventing me from winning or anything haha. We found our way and that's sometimes part of the fun.  I don't see the orange very well for some reason, I always prefer the blue or long pink ribbons from the trees.

I knew the course would be rocky but I think I was surprised at how many dried leaves were on the trail covering the rocks. And the million steam crossings, holy smokes there were many! Really a great race though and It was surprising that I don't think we ran on any section of the AT. Pole Steeple was awesome I have to admit! Kinda wished we got to go all the way up.

 

The gravel 1/2 mile section after the lake and before the climb of Pole Steeple was the only AT section.   I talked to the RD about the markings and the need for people at confusing trail intersection.  They are primarily hiking people and are still learning the needs of runners.  Some people make the slight diversion to top of Pole Steeple (I think Jamezilla had a picture from there 2 years ago).  The park wants the race to stay away because it can get very busy up there on a nice day.

 

The open section that you liked is called Grave Ridge.  It's one of my favorite areas to run since you can see for miles and not see a single house or road.

Thanks for reading AT and thank you for volunteering out there.

Grave Ridge? Love the name! Yea that part was awesome. The views were spectacular. You are fortunate to have trails like that with vert like that as your home trails. The course really had a bit of everything with soft needle trails, technical singletrack and awesome climbs. Really what more could you want as a trail runner. Not much.. 

Congrats! Sounds like a great day.

 

Looks like you are almost halfway through your crazy race schedule for this year.  How do you think you are coming with your training for OC100 in October? Just curious.

 

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks boyjame! Thanks for reading.

I think I'm on target for OC pretty good. I'm basically following the Ultraladies 50 mile schedule then jumping into their 100 mile schedule. It's modified a bit for me though as my weekly mileage right now is topping out at 50 per week (a bit shorter then their original plan) then maybe I'll reach closer to 60 miles per week at the height of the summer. I feel good and I don't really push it during all these races. Just doing the typical supported long run thing with them all. It's an expensive way to go but it's just so much damn fun driving to a new place and running and meeting new folks along the way. I do speed work during the week and love to get vertical on the weekend either via races or on trails and so far that formula seems to be working.

I am starting to think I need one more fifty sometime late summer. I was considering the Baker Trail Challenge to fit into that.