WTAC Fall Series 2023 - Recap

 

Wahaneeta Trail Race (Sep 23):  

8th annual Wahaneeta, and I think I've run every one of them.  This is our smallest race with the field size typically between 30 and 50.  (2020 was an exception with a field capped at 75 due to COVID state restrictions and with almost no other races going on, we got the 75.)  

It was a rainy morning, but it turned out to be just light sporadic rain instead of the forecasted heavier rain.  Still, I'm sure this turned some people away, as 30% of the registered field did not show.  The Niantic Bay 10K was also scheduled (rescheduled) for this morning, and they actually cancelled it because of forecasted rain!  That just seems absurd to me, and they rightly received a lot of criticism on social media for their poor decision.

With a wetter summer this year,
there was actually a stream crossing!
Still very shallow, but I'll take it.

We occasionally consider ending the race due to small field size, but the consensus this year seemed to be that people liked the small intimate trail race atmosphere.    A young guy named Brinik showed up and not only stole the show, but would figure prominently in the remainder of the fall trail series.

Small field for this year's drizzly race

A very small field of 30 toed the line.  Nick led out, with Brinik on his shoulder for the first lap.  I could see both for much of the first lap, and coming through the start/finish and starting my second (but slightly different and shorter) lap, I watched as Brinik took the lead from Nick on the dirt road up to the cabin.

Finishing up the first loop,
running as an island

Well, I had no expectations of overtaking Brinik, but I figured I could go after Nick.  Not even close.  I couldn't even keep him in sight.  Nick finished in 2nd, about 30 seconds behind the leader.  But I was more than a minute behind Nick.

Results:  22:51, 3rd out of 30.  Full results here.

With the rainy morning, we moved the post-race food and awards indoors to the cabin, and I have to say that turned out really well.  The cabin was warm and it was a real fun atmosphere.  My faux pas was not checking that our printer was out of black ink, and I wrongly concluded we couldn't print results because of it.  Jana suggested I change the font color to a color other than black, and try reprinting.  Voila!  Results in green worked just fine.  I'm pretty sure I would have never thought of that on my own.

Fun atmosphere inside the cabin

For overall winner's prizes,
one of our WLT board members baked two
apple pies and decorated them nicely for fall!

My brother Scott (left) from Georgia
was visiting RI for one day at the end of
a Boston business trip, and despite
not bringing running clothes, he wanted to
get in on the fun as well.  Said RI trails
were nothing like the trails near his house (Augusta).

Run for the Pumpkins (Oct 7):

This is a race that we took over the administration from the town and now co-host with them.  We switched this from a fledgling road race to a 5K trail race in 2015, added an 8K option in 2017 in an attempt to garner more interest, and then with some course restrictions due to a wetlands violation issue, revamped the 8K into a 10K in 2022.

Two big changes for this year were 1) we snagged Jersey Mike's as a sponsor as they donated enough subs to feed 125!, and 2) we provided nice tech caps to runners.

Tech cap giveaways!

The 10K starts two minutes before the 5K.  Otherwise due to a more difficult first and slower first section for the 10K, where the course merges it would put fast 10K runners behind slower 5K runners on a narrow technical single-track.  Last year we ran this race in a monsoon with many flooded sections, but this year the course was bone dry.

Our small 10K field of 22 got off with no issues, ahead of the much larger 50 runners in the 5K.  Similar to the Wahaneeta run, Nick led out with a ringer sitting on him for the first few miles.  Brendan Atkins, last year's Grills 10M winner, and Nick, eventually both pulled away from me and I could only see them on long straightaways.  On the Yo Mama trail (about 1.5 miles in, along the solar field) after a switchback I could see Thomas McLaughlin behind me, then Lars and Todd Gregory, but I had a good gap on them.

Start of our 10K race, 
Nick in white, and I'm in darker orange singlet AND orange cap about
two places to his right

Sometime after crossing over the Woody Hill Marsh, Brendan took the lead for good.  Similar to Wahaneeta, I knew I wasn't catching the leader but had my sights on Nick.  With several more switchbacks on the Leaning Chimney trail, I could see him several times and unfortunately he saw me as well, so there would be no gradually sneaking up and taking advantage of any unintended slowdown he might have.  Even though I could see him, it's deceiving on how far ahead of me he really was.  The only thing I was certain of was that by the time we got to the Hansel & Gretel trail, with just over a mile to go, I had gained on him.

As in past years, we had decorated some of the course
beforehand with a Halloween theme

With about 125' drop in elevation in the last mile, this should work to my advantage, and it did in terms of narrowing the lead, but unfortunately not quite enough to actually catch him.  Nick finished 1:20 behind the leader, and I finished just 14 seconds behind Nick for third place.  Again.  The next runner was almost six minutes behind me.

Results:  49:36, 3rd overall.  Full results here.

Finish.  We had setup the canopy over the
finish line to protect the clock from rain,
but we lucked out as the rain didn't materialize until the afternoon.

Awards table was festively
decorated for fall

Having Jersey Mike's subs for all
runners was a big hit (except that next
year we need a few vegetarian subs)

Grills Trail Race (Oct 28):

This was our 3rd consecutive year running the Grills Trail Races, with a 10-Mile and 10K option.  In the first two years of the race, parking was a limiting factor and we limited to 75 runners in 2021 and 100 runners in 2022.  Both years we sold out.  The only way we got the cars to fit in 2022 was to "jam them in" to the complaints of several runners.  This year we were lucky enough to secure additional parking from Joy Fellowship Church 1/2 mile down the road.  Their new parking lot is great, claims to host 80 additional vehicles, and they also offered runners use of their "real" and very clean bathrooms.  So, we lifted capacity restrictions, and unfortunately registration numbers declined slightly to 95.

The other big change we instituted for this year was a pizza truck.  This was a long process after one vendor pulled out, and another just over the line in Stonington rightly got fed up with all the extra permitting and money he would need to spend to meet RI and Westerly Fire requirements as there is no reciprocity across state lines for mobile food establishment licenses and fire inspections.  We eventually hired A Mano Pizza of Newport, and it all worked out great!

Obviously I'm biased but I think this is one of WTAC's best races, if not the best, largely because the race is ten miles long and entirely on dirt.

On the downside, we started the race at 63°F and it was up to 75° when I finished.  Not ideal for a race in any season, and certainly not on a late October morning.  This would be a warm race.

Start of Grills 2023 Trail Races

10K and 10-Milers start at the same time, and the first mile is all pretty flat on mostly double-track before the work begins in hillier and somewhat technical terrain.  Just before the course split a mile in, and before we go across the bridge and onto tight single-track, there was some jockeying for position.  Adrian Massie was leading at the course split, and trail newcomer and road master Liam Hillery went past us several of us to move into 2nd.  I went just head of Nick and behind Andrew LePage, who was in 3rd.

Once across the aluminum Polly Coon Bridge and onto the technical section of the Tomaquag Trail, I was right on Andrew's heels, but sensed him slowing on the more technical parts.  I bided my time on a long climb, and then on the downhill called out, "On your left!" and went past him.  As I did, I told him I knew he would pass me back again once we got off technical terrain.  Which he did, but I was surprised it wasn't until about two miles later.  I saw him for a while, but by now we were on flat and easy trails, and he soon was out of my sight.

Back on the Westerly side about 5 miles in now, I grabbed a water from the only water stop.  Cold and tasted great in the heat, and was only mildly annoyed that volunteers weren't handing out the water and you had to go over to the table and grab it yourself (we did get this rectified after I called it out).  A couple more miles in and I started to catch the 10K back-of-the-packers.  No issue at all at any time; I simply called out ahead of time and they gave me plenty of room to go past.

The lollipop race-track section was added only to get the 10M distance, but I like it now because it's the only chance in the race where you can gauge where your competition is.  I could see the two leaders (Adrian and Liam) on their way out of the racetrack as I was on my way in, and then just before I got to the racetrack itself, Andrew was exiting the racetrack just as I was entering it.  What I couldn't figure out is that I never saw Nick at all here, and the only thing we could both later guess is that he and I were both on the racetrack (it's only ~500m long and separated by birch trees and scrub bushes) at the same time in opposite sides.

The view at the top of Big Hill was really clear.  For the rest of the race, I passed a number of 10K runners, but never saw another 10M runner.  Every person I came upon was friendly and gave me room as I called out.  I was so dehydrated, hot, and wanted the race to end.  

As I came to the finish line, I was fully aware that my time would be off from last year, but I had no idea it would be almost seven minutes slower!  Ouch.

Glad to be finished.

Final result:  1:15:56, 4th overall.  Full results here.

My time would have gotten me 9th place last year, instead of the 2nd that I actually got, but the heat had the same effect of a much slower time this year with every runner that I spoke to.  Andrew was 2 1/2 minutes ahead of me, and Nick finished just 40 seconds behind me.

Good representation from WTAC today

Pizza was great!  Margherita pizza and
pepperoni were offered to all runners and volunteers.

Similar to Run for the Pumpkins,
our registration table / booth was nicely
decorated for fall

Li'l Rhody Runaround (Nov 19):

Well, this one didn't go according to plan for me, but I dealt with it with much better grace than I feared I would.  This would have marked my 20th consecutive Li'l Rhody, but as I had broken my rib the previous week on a really bad fall, it wasn't to be.

As usual, for the hours both before and after the race, I stay busy as Race Director and the time flies by.  It was during the race itself that I feared I would have regret from not participating and would sulk.  To try to combat that, I decided to go out on the course and watch and cheer on runners, and take some pics.  It worked.  Unlike the 4M course, the 8M is pretty accessible by car in several places.

I was able to see runners and take a few photos
at several different places on the 8M course.

We had 247 finishers between the 4M and 8M courses, and that's the highest number since 2014, so that was pretty exciting.  And we had lots of compliments on this race and the series overall.

On the downside, we had some saboteurs that attempted to ruin our race by removing many course marking flags and moving a sign to point down the wrong path.  We caught and fixed the misplaced sign just before the race, but did not notice the missing flags on another section.  Fortunately, the flag mayhem only caused a few runners to temporarily go off course and everyone was able to finish and seemed to stay positive about it, but it's something we'll need to ponder for next year.

That's a wrap on the 2023 Fall Trail Series.  We had 23 runners who participated by running in 3 or more races this year, which is three more runners than last year.

October 2023: Fall Trail Races & Halloween

Running stats:
Miles run:  272

Elevation gain:  18,421'

Weekly miles (for weeks ended in month):  75, 62, 24, 71, 59

October was a really solid month of running for me, even when figuring the 24-mile week, which was finally a rest week after Ironman Maryland and a few high (for me) mileage weeks.  Elevation was higher after returning to trail runs post-IM.

Primary running surfaces:  Trails (155 miles), roads (91)

Primary running locations:  Westerly (94 miles), then Charlestown (65) and Hopkinton (32)

Other disciplines:

Walk / hike:  20 miles

Races:

Norfolk Land Trust / Haystack Mountain Challenge Half Marathon (Oct 1):

Located in northwestern Connecticut, this was one of the smallest races I've ever done with a field of just 18.  High points were a technical muddy descent through streams in Mile 3, and a double-ascent and descent of Haystack Mountain.  Unfortunately, the lowpoint, at least for me, was that about 4 miles of the 13.1 trail race were on pavement.  It was a still a fun and challenging race overall, and I was thrilled to beat two Manchester competitors that I was behind for the first two miles.  Full race report.

Run for the Pumpkins 10K (Oct 7):

Good turnout of close to 100.  Our second year running the 10K option.  3rd overall in 10K.  Will have a brief write-up as part of WTAC Fall Series blog post.

Fun both running in the race and directing it.

Grills Trail Race 10M (Oct 28):

I personally believe this to be the best course out of our four WTAC trail races.  That is because it's 10 miles, two towns, no asphalt, and some really neat features, including a lot of the course along the Pawcatuck River, the Polly Coon bridge crossing, and Big Hill.  Finished 4th overall.  Brief write-up forthcoming as part of WTAC Fall Series blogpost.

Unusually hot weather today at 75°F at finish.
Otherwise a fun event.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Miscellaneous:

Oct 4:  Jitters Cafe, Charlestown Beach
(the old Bakery)
---
I asked if they had any of the yogurt parfaits, as
that sounded good after a warm run.  The response was
that no, with summer gone they don't have them anymore.
Ordered a scone and iced latte instead, and as I was
sitting outside enjoying them, the guy who waited on
me came out with a blueberry yogurt parfait for me!  He said
he looked around and found he had all the ingredients to
make one.  I thanked him and told him I'd go back inside
shortly to pay for it.  The retort was "No, it's on us."
It's the little things like that that will keep me coming back.

Coolest wildlife shot of the month:
Oct 11 - northern watersnake sunning itself
on the dam at Browning Mill Pond

Oct 17:  this was bad, but needed to be taken care of.
Just five years ago, we had the all the siding and trim
replaced on the entire house, and then stained.
Unfortunately on the south and east sides of the home,
where the sun shines most, there was just so much chipped
and peeling stain.

They (Shoreline Painting) did a nice job, and clearly spent
the time to address trouble areas by sanding and caulking
where needed, before applying two coats of stain.  I'm told
this should last much longer than five years this time.  Time
will be the judge.

Oct 18 - Fun with Brady at Burlingame

Sammy C's

Oct 23 - The beauty of fall foliage
has once again come and gone
(Poquonnock River Walkway,
Groton, CT)

I continue to enjoy my "Thursday Hike" series
with the WLT.  Sometimes I lead the group, and
other times it's great for me to learn from others. 
It's a great group of "active seniors" (I think that's a
euphemism for old retired folks, a demographic that
I'm part of now!).  
I love that the location changes every week.
(Oct 26 - Tomaquag Brook bridge, Hopkinton)

Ah, Halloween.  Just a fun holiday.

Went with a ghost theme this year,
instead of the usual skeletons and graveyard.
Good to mix it up.

Had a fire in the driveway again, but unfortunately a 
real dearth of trick-of-treaters in recent years.  Some of that
has been the demographics of the neighborhood have changed, and
some that there are now downtown trick-or-treating events.

First time I've ever carved an owl for a
jack-o'lantern.  I'm happy with how it came out.

Looking forward, I've actually put together a draft list of potential races for 2024!  It's quite preliminary, and also doesn't yet include any consideration yet for an ultra or a few tris, but it's a start!

And that's a wrap for October.  Join me again next month.

Norfolk Land Trust Half Marathon / Haystack Mountain Challenge

Norfolk, CT

Sunday, October 1, 2023

I was asked by Mohegan Striders if I would run for them at the final USATF-CT MUT (Mountain, Ultra, & Trail) competition of the year.  Striders are leading Manchester Running Club by one point in the standings, so whoever wins this race wins the series for the year.

Where on earth is Norfolk, Connecticut?  I certainly didn't know.  It turns out it's in the northwest corner of Connecticut.  Based on the distance of over 100 miles each way and more than four hours round-trip (do I sound like a Rhode Islander?), I decided I would only go if we could field an open team, for which three members would be needed.  Once we secured that third teammate, I signed up ($30 - what a bargain!) and was in.

Got up early and had breakfast before the two hour drive to the race.  Got there with a good hour to spare.  The race schedule for today was:

• Half Marathon:  9:30am
• 10K:  10:45am
• 5K:  11:00am

Apparently normally there is a field parking lot, but this year it was flooded from recent rains and parking was roadside only.  No problem at all, as it was a very rural area, and with only the very small half-marathon field and volunteers arriving early, I parked very close to the start/finish line.  It was clear and 56 degrees for the race start.

Check-in was quick and efficient.  They used mobile check-in on RunSignup, which I paid attention to as we've also recently switched to digital check-in and no paper signups for both WTAC and Kelley's Pace.  Went back to the car to pin my bib on my race singlet, then arranged my race singlet, race socks, and race shoes carefully in the car before heading out for a warm-up on the trails.

Pizza setting up under red tent,
registration under white tent behind that,
start /finish adjacent to blue tent in far background.

I brought a second set of running gear, as well as separate clothes to change into post-race, and while three sets of clothes for one race may sound ridiculous, I'm so glad I did.  Many section of the course were wet and muddy.  Returned to the car to change into dry race gear, and walked over to the start with plenty of time to spare.

Race line-up:  Where is everyone??  Although over 100 had signed up for the race today, only 24 of them were in the half-marathon division, and of those, only 18 showed up to toe the line!  For a USATF-CT championship trail race, why were there only 18 on the starting line?!  I feel both USATF-CT and USATF-NE have a strong pull in their road series, but for some reason not in their MUT or trail series.  I recall the one year that WTAC hosted the USATF-NE trail championship at Li'l Rhody, and it drew about 15 USATF-NE members and after separating out the Rhody regulars, only about seven USATF-NE runners that don't run it regularly.  Just so much extra effort for so little return and don't get me started on USATF-NE trail races not including USATF members from CT or other regions, but I digress.  Anyway ...

I recognized and caught up with three of the runners there, although ironically those three run for Manchester Running Club and I didn't know either of my Mohegan Striders teammates today.  Oddly, no one else was wearing their Strider singlet today but me, but that made me an easy target for identification for JP to come over and talk to me.  Ok, there's two of us.  Where's Jon (the 3rd)?  JP didn't know him either.  

One of the race officials started going through instructions, so it was time to pay attention.  The explanation of course markings was helpful, but he clearly lost most of us when he gave detailed instructions on which specific trails we would take and which sections we would go through in order.  Sensing others were lost, I sarcastically asked Joe (one of the Manchester runners I've known for years) if he got all that.  Nope!  Time to race.

There was intentionally no course map posted on line due to some of the course being on
private property, but I wasn't looking to trespass and scout it ahead of time, just wanted a feel
for it.  The above is my Strava route from race day, but I was able to find same for some of
last year's participants.
---
We would start out running the right-most portion above for about 4 miles,
before returning through the start/finish area and heading gradually towards
Haystack Mountain on far left of this map.

Similarly, it was good to know the elevation:
an immediate 400' gain, followed several miles later by two different
ascents of Haystack Mountain:  500' ascent and 400' ascent

Race start (to 4M):  Leaving the start line and muddy surrounding area, we immediately exited onto a paved road, and we are on that paved road for almost 2 miles and almost entirely uphill.  JP shot out ahead, followed by Ryan Williams, and then a pack of about five of us, including my frenemy from Manchester Running Club, Brett Stoeffler.  The pack was not cohesive for very long.  Brett and one other from MRC steadily pulled away uphill, and my attempts to stay with them failed as they instead increased their gap on me.  Then one other ran easily uphill past me, and I found myself at the back of our now broken up pack, with my poor uphill skills on full and pathetic display.  Finally, the terrain leveled out, and with the turn off the paved road and onto single-track in sight, I picked it up slightly to go ahead of the runner close to me and I was in 6th entering the trails.

Start of the half marathon:
So where am I?  I can only see one of my orange VJ shoes in the
pic, as I am behind Ryan Williams (#1120).  Teammate and 
eventual winner JP is in blue singlet on right.

And now it was my time to shine, as the terrain changed in my favor!  Well, at least for the next mile and a half, that is.  From uphill and paved road, to downhill, steep single-track with swollen steam crossings and lots of mud.  I immediately passed one competitor before it got really narrow.  5th place now.  After a few minutes, I came up behind Brett, called out "on your left" and barreled down the hill easily past him.  I very quickly came upon his younger teammate, and seeing me quickly gaining on him from uphill, he yielded to let me go by, saying something like go for it if I wanted to.  I wanted to!  There were rocks and logs to jump and I was loving it!  Splashing through streams and mud puddles galore.  All good things must come to an end, and eventually we exited back onto the same paved road, just up from the start.  I glanced back at the turn and saw no one.  I heard a "Good job, Jeff!" and noted the good sportsmanship of MRC runner Dave Cowles (spectator today, as he would be running Chicago the following weekend) as he awaited the other MRC runners that I was now ahead of.  Dave beats me at almost every race we're in together (to be fair, he is half my age), suffered worse than me at Blessing this year, and I was secretly glad he wasn't running today!

Middle miles (Miles 4- 7):  At five miles in, we exit the trail onto a wide open grass field.  Not as in mowed meticulously, but rather kind of like the open fields at Pineland Farms race.  Two issues here:  1) we would be in wide open fields for almost a mile and I could now see the two guys behind me and they weren't far behind, and 2) I've lost any advantage that I had with the technical terrain now in the rear view mirror.  Brett later told me post-race that he also looked ahead of and behind him at this point, and it was obvious "that the race was ahead of him."

We crossed a paved road (North Road) and after a very short trail section, we were back on another paved road (Haystack Mountain Road).  Oh, come on; this is supposed to be a trail race.  We ended up being on this paved road for about 1/2 mile; I was afraid both guys would catch me here, but somehow I held them off.

Double ascent and descent (Miles 7 - 11):  I'm guessing this first ascent of 500' was the private property section, as it just seemed unmarked and not really well established.  We made a sharp right turn and then headed pretty steep straight uphill.  At the sharp turn, there was a course marshal ringing a bell, and it was very soon after "my" bell ringing stopped that it started again, and again.  Uh oh, I know what that means (my two competitors are right behind me).  Despite this knowledge, I walked this steep section.  It was short and would be the only part I walked all race.  At the next switchback, I glanced back and saw the two of them were walking as well.  OK, that's good.  From there, it was a short run to the summit where I took a water from a couple and their dog.  Downhill ascent #1 put us back on the paved mountain road.  We would be on this road for 1.3 miles.  Ugh.  I just hammered that mile, knowing I was being chased closely.  

Ascent #2 was 400' elevation gain on a more established, but at times technical trail.  Strava shows that my two competitors ran a good 30 seconds faster than me on this climb.  I saw the same couple and dog manned water stop, and asked them if I made a mistake coming through here a second time, but they said no, I was on the right course.  OK, good.  Made it to the top again, and then this time as I started descending the road once more a course marshal flagged me onto a trail on the left.  How she knew which runners were on their 1st versus 2nd descent I don't know, but top marks.

Final descent.  I pushed hard, and fortunately, looking back at the Strava segment later, I saw that my downhill skills came through as I ran faster than my competitors and widened the gap.

Final miles (Miles 11 - 13):  Re-crossed North Road, and then back to the wide open field.  I hadn't seen my two chasers since I started the first ascent, but now all was revealed, and once again, they weren't far behind me.  Oh, come on.  What I really needed now was more of Mile 3 (the steep technical downhill through mud and streams), but unfortunately what I got was a flat, fast, easy double-track section.  In fact, excluding the two descents, Mile 12 was my fastest mile at a 6:38 pace and I didn't know at the time that somehow I put an additional 30 seconds on my competitors here.  The final mile was not difficult but the course returned to single-track (fortunately) and was twisty in places.  At switchbacks, I could no longer see my competitors, but I certainly wasn't resting on my laurels.  Pushed the final mile and finished with no one in sight behind me.

Final results:  1:45:28, 3rd overall, 1st in age group, and 1st overall age-graded.  Full results here.

Caught up briefly with teammate and winner JP.  Changed out of my muddy clothes and shoes and bought a slice of pizza while watching the next runners come in.  My two competitors ended up coming in together about two minutes behind me, and with the 3rd Strider coming in 8th, it was enough for us to beat Manchester for both the race and the USATF-CT MUT series.  

Did I have fun?  Yes.  Would I run this race again?  I don't know.  4 hours round trip and 4 miles of pavement in a trail race.  To be fair, the RD was asking the top finishers, including me, what they thought of the course and whether there was too much road.  I prefaced my answer with "since you asked", but was blunt about my opinion, that YES, that's too much road for a trail race!  It sounded like mine was a minority view, though, or maybe the others were just more polite and positive than me.  We'll see if any of that changes, but otherwise, I'm probably a no.

Random finisher crossing the line.  You can see this is a pretty
low key trail race, which I do like.  Reminds me of Grills Trail Race.

As does having fresh baked pizza at the finish line!