The club had a busy holiday weekend with the Charlie Horse and Dirty Pony. The event was a great success, and I’m seeing a lot of enthusiasm for our new Triple Trail Challenge race series. It’s exciting to watch the club launch a new idea. Thank you, race directors, for supporting and implementing this series.
The Pacer Wednesday Night Run is a fixture on the club calendar, and we rarely interfere with it. But Wednesday, June 5 is Global Running Day, and the club is supporting a community running event that evening (more info at https://news.pagodapacers.com/2024/05/31/global-running-day-june-5-2024/). We won’t have the typical WNR, but we will be representing the club and trying to draw in some future Pacers.
Global Running Day is Wednesday, June 5. Fleet Feet West Reading is celebrating with “The Big Run 5k” at the Brentwood Trailhead. The Pagoda Pacers and other community partners will be there with our tents and tables set up to share information and promote the club. More details are available here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/w2N2dB7rNxYafKn2
The club has a discount code (pacer10) for any Pagoda Pacers running the race. If you use this code, registration is only $10. We will also give a prize to the fastest Pacers who run the race. Check in with us at the Pacer table before the race so we know who’s running. (This is not part of the official race awards from the race directors.)
Because this is on a Wednesday, it interferes with our regular Wednesday Night Run. We will not be leading a typical WNR group that night, but please come out and be part of “The Big Run” if you’re free!
The 27th running of the Charlie Horse Trail Half-Marathon and Dirty Pony 5k took place on May 26th without any major problems. The weather did get a little hot as the temperatures peaked in the high 80s, but nothing a few mud pits couldn’t fix for the runners. Even with the heat, every runner that made it to the start line also made it to the finish: 130 for the Charlie Horse and 39 for the Dirty Pony, respectively.
Both races had near photo finishes. Cody Harris was able to secure first place male and Lindsey Gruber first place female in the Dirty Pony 5k. Brian Wiest crossed the finish line a mere second before runner-up Brandon Fogarty to take first place male in the Charlie Horse. Megan Kane took first place female and Jody Zegestowsky followed behind a few minutes later.
The course changed slightly this year to bring the Charlie Horse distance closer to a true half marathon. Participants enjoyed the new addition, but, as tradition, everyone is just waiting for the last section. (Or they’re so excited for it, they jump straight to it and run the Dirty Pony.) Judging by the smiles and mud (so much mud!) plastered on the finishers’ faces, Charlie didn’t disappoint.
On behalf of my co-race directors, Shaun and Libby, I’d like to thank everyone who came out to support the race and Special Olympics of Berks County. Whether you ran, cheered, or volunteered, we really could not have done it without the help of our Pacer community.
See you on the trails 🤙🏻
Kelly
PS: Anyone who completed the Charlie Horse Half is officially one third of the way through the Triple Trail Challenge! It’s not too late to sign up for Run for the Ages (June 30) and Blues Cruise (October 6).
The Strolling Jim 40-miler is a long-standing classic road ultra that has been around since 1979, created by the iconic race director Lazarus Lake (aka Gary Cantrell). I have been on a quest to do as many of these old ultras as possible before I get too old, or they go away completely. To date I have done JFK 50, Laurel Highlands 70.5, and now Strolling Jim. Before I get into the race itself, let me tell you that it is a LONG drive down to Wartrace, TN, which is buried deep in the state and not so far from Alabama. On the way down, I split it up into 2 legs, stopping in West Virginia where one of my sons lives. The way back, however, was a 13.5 hour straight shot, and after a race the day before, it wasn’t fun, and I wouldn’t recommend it. The states I visited on my trip were PA, MD, WV, OH, KY, TN, and VA.
Now for the race: This is a road ultra, and although I am a veteran of trail ultras and a few road marathons, I had never done something quite like this, and thus I was a fish out of water. Figuring out an acceptable pace was the hard part. The course is a bit rolling, and boasts around 2800′ of elevation, so it’s not flat by any means. It covers backroads, mostly, but it does have one major highway crossing that is manned by Tennessee state troopers to keep everyone safe.
The aid stations are very basic with an electrolyte drink, water, soda, cookies, and chips. No “real food,” but the volunteers are all youth from the local high school, and the race benefits their athletic programs. Also, many people had crews following them on the course, who generously offered other runners ice and water. Some neighbors even had ice pops, water, and other goodies at makeshift aid stations.
The weather forecast was supposed to be mid 70’s, cloudy and slightly humid with a chance of rain later. What we really got was low 80’s, full sun, with high humidity. Thanks, Weather.com! I started off fine, clicking off consistent mid 9-minute miles for roughly 27-28 miles, but then the heat took its toll and I slowed a bit. At mile 29, I hit a section called “The Walls”, which is a pretty substantial climb that lasts about 2 miles. I threw my trail ultra mindset on, and power hiked this for the most part to the top, hoping to have legs left to run once I got there. Sadly, I spent the next 10 miles to the finish alternating run / walk, and just hoping to survive.
I ended up with a 44th place finish out of 151 finishers at 7:16:56. I was hoping to be around 6:30, and if you go under 7 hours, you get a special red shirt that says, “sub-7 finisher”. Oh well, maybe next time…or…umm..probably not. This is likely a once-and-done race for me!
A few fun facts about this race, some of which came in a nice booklet given to all participants:
1) I was only the 21st person from PA to ever race this.
2) Charlie Trayer (retired ultra runner from Berks) still has the 6th best Strolling Jim finish at 4:15:21 from 1989!
3) I did not get to meet Laz, as he is currently walking across the USA.
If you go for a trail run this time of year in Pennsylvania, there’s a good chance you’ll be pulling a tick (or several) off of yourself afterwards.
If one of those nasty little parasitic arachnids latches on to you, and you’re able to remove it and preserve it in a plastic bag, you can also get your tick tested for Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses!
Our mid-week group runs have at least two different distance options (3-4 miles and 5-6 miles) with an appointed leader for each route. Each run will have its own Facebook “event,” and the routes will be posted a couple days before the run. After each run, those who can will stick around for food, drink, and good conversation, either at a nearby restaurant or a club member’s residence. Come for the run; stay (if you can) for the fellowship. (If you don’t have time to stick around, no worries–just come run with us!)
June 5: Since this is Global Running Day, we’ll be teaming up with Fleet Feet West Reading for the “Big Run 5k” at the SRT Brentwood Trailhead — $10 registration fee with discount code “pacer10”!
Mark your calendars: Sunday, May 26th is this year’s date for the Charlie Horse Trail Half Marathon and the Dirty Pony 5k at Sleepy Hollow Athletic Club in Mohnton, PA.
The last day to pre-register online is 5/23. Day-of registration will be available starting at 7:30 AM. If you haven’t run the race in a while, please note that we are making some course changes that have added a bit more trail in beautiful Brecknock Twp.
And if you aren’t feeling up to running the races, we are always looking for volunteers. Please sign up for volunteering by clicking the “Volunteer tab” at the race page on Ultrasignup.com.
And new for this year, the Charlie Horse Trail Half Marathon is the first race in the new Triple Trail Challenge 50.3. Complete the Charlie Horse Trail Half Marathon, the Run For the Ages Trail Chase 10k, and the Blues Cruise 50k to qualify for extra goodies and bragging rights! Runners completing these three races will get some sweet running swag at the Blues Cruise finish line. No special registration required–just sign up for all three races.
Each month, the Pacers will organize two “longer” group runs on weekends–one of which will be about 10 miles at a relatively nearby location (somewhere in Berks County), and one that will be a bit further away (somewhere we don’t often get to run). We’re branding the local run our “Weekend 10-Miler,” and the more “exotic” run our “Run Away.”
This month’s “Run Away” will take place on the Conestoga Trail in Lancaster County. We hope you can join us!
Each month, the Pacers will organize two “longer” group runs on weekends–one of which will be about 10 miles at a relatively nearby location (somewhere in Berks County), and one that will be a bit further away (somewhere we don’t often get to run). We’re branding the local run our “Weekend 10-Miler,” and the more “exotic” run our “Run Away.”
This month’s “Weekend 10-Miler” will take place at Blue Marsh Lake.
