Miller Mountain 25k is a second-year event west of Scranton near Tunkhannok. It is billed as one of the most difficult sub-ultra trail runs in PA. My ears perk up a little bit when I hear the word “difficult.” I train in difficult, I race in difficult, and I live for difficult. (Trail running, that is.) The only way to find out is to sign up!
So it turns out there were quite a few local friends running this. We had our unofficial club photographer (Fred Foose), our hometown hero (Steven Holgate), our badass lady Pacers (Joan Bunn, Joanne Van Horn, Elaine Cook, Sheri G), and, last but not least, Mr. Preston Sleppy! Quite a local showing to tackle this one.
Back to the course.
This is a beast. I wouldn’t say it was terribly technical terrain, but it certainly wasn’t Blue Marsh terrain either. You definitely needed to pay attention! There were 4 major climbs, each over 1000′, with descents to match. Very few flat sections on this course. So, in other words, you were either going slow up a long hill, or flying fast down a hill! There were also some muddy spots on the course.
Before the race, I thought finishing this in under 3 hours was a do-able goal, but as I was nearing the top of the last steep climb, the math wasn’t working, and I thought the 3-hour goal was gone. That last climb, by the way, was a similar climb to the Torbert Climb (used on the Eastern States and Call of the Wilds courses). Plus it’s right near the end, but you are rewarded with a fast 2-mile downhill section which can be fast if you have ANYTHING left.
So, did I hit my 3 hour goal? Yes – but I had to really burn the last mile to get it. The last mile was the fastest mile (7:02), and I crossed the finish line with both legs cramping at a time of 2:59:13, 15th overall!
Super fun event! Lots of food after, and just a great small-race feel. 80 runners finished the 25k run (winner at 2:09!), with a 25k hike that had 22 hikers, and a 5-mile run that had 114 finishers. This race is now part of the Rocksylvania series, and it’s a must do, in my opinion!
The Scranton Half Marathon is one of the races that I consider every year for my race calendar, since it’s my hometown race. I grew up in the city, and ran track and cross country for West Scranton High School. I’ve done it several times, and a few of those were with Tony Agentowicz, who was a teammate of mine with WSHS XC.
I’ve tried over the years to get a few other Pacers to join me; however, no one other than Tony had until this year, when Lisa Domeshek gave in and registered for the race. We started training in January with a training program Lisa had used for the Philly Half. (She followed it better than I did.)
We started planning the logistics behind the race and decided that, given it’s a 2 hour drive to get there, it would be better to head up the day before and stay the night. This would allow us to pick up our bibs on Saturday for the race on Sunday. We stayed at the Radisson Lackawanna Station hotel, a wonderful old train station from the Erie Lackawanna railroad.
Lisa’s boyfriend Jerry and my wife Karen joined us on the trip. Jerry happens to be a fan of the TV show The Office, which was set in Scranton. We had a delightful dinner at Cooper’s seafood restaurant, which is also a bit of a museum, and where Jerry and Lisa found a gift shop full of Office-related items. But we were there to run, so it was back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.
Race-day morning greeted us with cool weather and light rain. Not the best running conditions, but not the worst. Lisa and I drove the short way to the starting area at Scranton’s Memorial Stadium, where I had run track meets many years ago. Parking was near impossible, but we found a spot and made our way to the starting point.
The race started at 8 a.m., with a light rain still coming down. Despite there being a small field of about 1,500 runners, the start was rather hectic. Lisa made her move to get out of the crowd about a half mile in, hoping for a PR. I didn’t try to keep up with her, as I was fighting a lingering knee issue and didn’t want to push it.
Despite the weather, the race was well-supported by volunteers and folks from the community cheering the runners on. About halfway through the race, the rain stopped, but at that point, it didn’t matter, as we were already fairly damp. The race winds its way around different neighborhoods in the city and through the downtown area, finishing on a paved rail trail that runs along Roaring Brook, a medium-sized creek which runs through the city. The actual finish is on the stadium track where I ran meets in high school.
The route took us near the hotel where we were staying, and Jerry and Karen were able to see us at two points during the race. They were also able to meet us at the finish.
Lisa ran a great race, finishing in just over two hours, but not quite enough for a PR. With better weather conditions, I think she would have done it. I came in at 2 hours and 18 minutes, a bit off my best time. Two years ago, I had finished this race in 1 hour 57 minutes. Hopefully next year will be better.
After the race, we enjoyed burgers and beers at the hotel pub, a well-earned reward for our efforts. It might have been an effect of just having completed the race, but I thought it was one of the best burgers that I’ve had in some time.
Maybe next year I can convince some more friends to join me in my hometown race!
Last July, Jenn Guigley entered us in a contest to win free entry to the Rabid Raccoon 100-mile race. To entice more women into ultrarunning, Rabid Raccoon has BOGO for women doing the 100k and 100 miles. Eric Kosek paid the entrance fee for 2 women to do a distance that they have never done before and frightened them. We never thought we would win. Then the best group of running friends also signed up for the 100k and half-marathon. That helped immensely with training during the cold, snowy, dark winter. I missed some training runs due to traveling, and I reinjured my left Achilles tendon the week before the race. I could barely walk into the restaurant for dinner the night before the race. Jenn let me try her muscle scraper and I kinesio-taped my Achilles. That combination worked miracles, and somehow, my Achilles tendon was fine during the entire race.
The gentleman at the front desk of our hotel said they were full. In addition to the race, there was also a men’s college lacrosse tournament and a corn hole championship in town. It was noisy, and I was anxious. I didn’t sleep well. The race started at 4 am. The 100-mile distance consisted of 8 loops of 13 miles each. The first 2 went pretty well. We were ahead of schedule. Then the thunderstorms started. Rain ponchos kept us dry and protected from the cold winds. The course became a slippery, muddy mess. We grabbed our poles for the 4th loop. They helped us claw our way uphill while slipping backwards. The mud was so deep and sucked at our shoes. I fell 4 times in the same mud pit. The wind knocked a couple of trees down on the course.
Jenn and I stayed together for the whole race, which worked out well. We gave each other good advice and felt strong at different times. I changed shoes and socks halfway through. For the 5th loop, we picked up Tania and Jeff Golden, the best crewing/pacing couple ever. Their company really rejuvenated us! We also found a new friend, Tony. Near the end of our 6th loop, Jeff saw in the messenger chat that Kristen Rothenberger was struggling. She was alone, and her headlamp had died. He went back to rescue her. After getting her back safely, he rescued another runner who was having medical issues. For our 7th loop, we got our new pacers, Jenn’s husband, Matt, and my friend, Cameron Herndon. It rained even more, but we heard and saw spring peepers. For our last loop, we exchanged Cameron for John Andescavage. There were more thunderstorms and high winds, which actually lit a fire under my butt, because I didn’t want to die. It was the perfect finish, with the 4 of us holding hands.
I wanted to share what helped me. I have no chafing or blisters and my toenails are fine. I cut my toenails short and even beveled the tips down a little. I wore shoes that are a half size bigger and Injinji socks. I applied Aquaphor where my feet tend to blister and sprinkled 2Toms Blister Shield in my socks. As soon as I felt a hot spot, Jenn told me to put kinesio tape on it. There’s a creek crossing on each loop. You can cross a bridge instead, but it adds 0.3 miles per loop. When my feet were dry (laps 1, 2, 5, and 6), I went over the bridge. When they were wet from the rain and mud, I waded through the creek. I also wore a waist lamp and a head lamp, which helped me not trip. A rain poncho kept my core warm and dry during the storms.
What I wish I had done differently: I wish I put my Garmin on UltraTrac mode. Fred Foose saved my Strava by lending me his charging button. I also wish I had put on sunscreen before the 7th loop, since the sun did shine for a few minutes.
Overall, it went much better than I expected. It was so fun to train and travel to the race with friends! The race was a fun adventure! I really look forward to our next race!
If you love hard trail races that have an unreasonable ratio of vert to distance, with tons of rocks and water crossings, and climbs/descents that lack any logical amount of switchbacks, and which would USUALLY be very muddy (just not in the 2024 season), then you’ve already found the PA Trail Dogs and their epic races.
Like a lot of us, I crave a training goal that scares me and horrifies my non-runner friends. Struggling to train for ultras due to my cranky knees, I went with more races at a shorter distance. I’ve run a number of Rocksylvania races, so I was familiar with the trail series and its scoring, and intrigued by the idea of trying to complete the full slate at a sub-ultra distance. The races vary from 4 miles to 50K, and there are 5 divisions, 4 of them shorter than ultra distance. April Zimmerman advised me that while ALL of the races are beautiful and hard, the 25Ks are possibly the best sampling of Rocksylvania running. There are 8 races in the 25K Granite Division. Here’s a link to the Trail Series page: https://www.patraildogs.com/rocksylvaniaseries
Race #1: Hyner Trail Challenge
The first race in the series was the Hyner Challenge in April. I had run the 50K twice, and this was my second go at the 25K. It is a huge event with 1,000 runners in the 25 and another 400 in the 50, so unlike the rest of the series, it’s very crowded for a lot of the run. I knew I hadn’t trained on hills enough, but I felt sure I could finish, and once school was over (forever since I was retiring), I’d be able to train properly. Ha! The climbs at Hyner are outrageous and the views breathtaking. There’s a wonderful sense of community in running a race with so many participants, which we don’t get so much in trail running. The race starts and ends with about a mile of road to thin the pack. Then there’s a huge climb to Hyner View lookout over the Susquehanna, followed by 2 more monster climbs including the infamous SOB hill for a total of about 4,500 feet of vert, and some tricky descents.
The after-party is a joyful celebration of our sport! ALL of these races have great after-parties, but of course the others are smaller. The weather was unusually nice for April, so lots of people hung out for hours after finishing. Hey, I love running ultras, but there is no denying how very much more fun the after party is when you get there much sooner and without having completely depleted your reserves!
Race #2: Slate Run
Slate Run, in early June, is one of the hardest but also most beautiful of the series. I had signed up twice before, but circumstances had prevented me from toeing the line. I had run the course with Joanne Van Horn and Pete Groth in the past, so I knew what to expect. This was the only race that I went up and back day-of, because of an overcrowded family schedule. That was doable since my husband, Alan, drove, but not ideal. And that’s one of the big challenges in racing these series: it’s most comfortable to spend 2 nights in the area, so time and cost can be factors.
Slate Run has a half-marathon and a 25K, all starting together. You begin and end with about 2 miles of rail trail. All the rest is pretty challenging single track! Like most of the races, it was longer than 25K–a free bonus of 1.5 miles. (According to my GPS, the races in the series varied from just under 15 miles to 18 miles.) There are 2 massive climbs, totaling almost 3,000 feet of vert, and the downs are treacherous. The wildflowers were beautiful, and many runners saw a timber rattlesnake on course, but sadly I missed it! This was the first race I ran with poles, in hopes of giving a little relief to my knees on the descents. I was glad to have them, but after this race, I bought a quiver and kept my poles put away until the pack thinned out a couple hours in. No one likes poles waving around when runners are bunched! My apologies to those near me early on in this race. Another fun after-party, and Pine Creek right there for a post-race cold plunge.
Race #3: Sharp Top
I heard a rumor that this race at the end of June will be discontinued for next season, so I’m glad I got to run it. They had a 50K also (I was truly relieved to make the turn to 25K at the split!) There is a primitive campground at the start/finish, but we had a graduation party in NJ right after the race, so we stayed in Williamsport Friday night rather than bringing the camper.
The worst thing about this one was the parking. We have an SUV, but had driven our sedan to the race. The last couple miles to get there were gravel and the parking was just a field which mostly wasn’t mowed. It was rainy, too, so everything was muddy and rutted. I know Alan expected to need a tow to leave (we didn’t). The race was pretty runnable, and “only” 2,600 feet in about 18 miles–and I missed a flag and ran some extra (my fault, markings were good). I had my poles, but never got them out. Lots of Jeep-road type stuff and nice single-track, not especially rocky. I had one hard fall early on, probably because it was warm and misty/rainy, so my glasses were constantly fogged up. Speaking of fog, the big overlook was completely socked in, so no vista (see photo below), but the misty woods were spookily gorgeous. This race had especially good food and beer afterward, and in spite of the rain and mud the atmosphere was friendly and festive. If it is not discontinued, I would go back, but in the SUV!
Race #4: Cook Forest
Cook Forest in mid-August has only the 25K distance. It is the farthest drive, so we camped for four nights in the modern campground at the state park, where the race is held. We’ve been to this park several times now, and it was my second time running the race. We both thought the area has really improved as a tourist destination in terms of restaurants, breweries, and a rail trail nearby. Cook Forest is famous for old growth trees, AND it has lots of mushrooms, so: my kinda place! The race has a beautiful course, very smooth trails for Rocksylvania, and the least vert (2,200 feet in 17.5 miles) of the series. The only negative is a couple of miles of actual road in the middle, but that gave Alan an easy spectator spot.
There were lots of yellow jackets this year. I didn’t get stung, but several runners around me did, and I ran scared of them for a lot of the race. I’ve seen at least one trail race canceled because of them this summer! It was super humid, but the course winds through old growth trees, follows creeks and the Clarion River, and climbs to the famous fire tower. It is one of my favorite trail races ever. We had a really fun camping trip too, full of gravel riding and hiking and breweries, as the rest of the teachers and students went back to school.
Race #5: Boulder Beast
Boulder Beast in mid-September also has a 25-mile distance, which I did some years ago and loved, but this year I was happy to turn toward 25K at the split. Almost 3 miles of road at the start and finish in Lock Haven, so you’d think with only 10 miles of trail it would be fairly quick…but the boulder field mile took me 49 minutes, so, no!
3,100 feet of vert, 3 main climbs, all hard. The boulder field is intense! I love this race once it’s over, but I’m actually kind of scared on the boulders. They go on for a VERY long time, and it’s crazy steep. After that, normal Rocksylvania stuff until the road. Very beautiful course. The after-party is great, and there are hot showers! It was great to truly clean up before relaxing with tasty food and beer. This is probably one of the best ones for camping, conveniently located right at the start/finish.
Race #6: Green Monster
The Green Monster in mid-October has three distances: 15K, 25K, or 50K. The RD writes hilarious email updates and FB posts, which are a hoot. It’s in the cute town of Wellsboro, so we camped nearby for 3 nights. The race has on-site dry camping, but no amenities, and it rained. I know, right? During a truly historic summer drought, almost all my 25Ks were wet, and THIS baby was a true soaker! Some utter badass spent the night in a sleeping bag on the ground with just a tarp folded over top, and it was a monsoon! Anyway, 3,700 feet of vert, 5 major climbs, and finishing with a scary downhill called Frankenstein’s Forehead. I was dreading this the WHOLE TIME because I remembered it from running the 50K 5 years earlier, and being terrified back then on a completely dry day. The course is just beautiful: lots of running along creeks and sweet singletrack. On this day, it was very muddy and slippery–drenched from the start.
Finally, I was approaching Frankenstein’s Forehead. The rain had picked up. It was hard to see with my glasses. As I neared the last AS, it began to thunder and lightning in earnest. I expected to be held, and I knew I’d be frozen if I wasn’t moving, but also NO WAY would they send us down the Forehead in this weather! Just as I got there, a volunteer arrived in a jeep with beer for the AS workers, filling them with joy and distracting them from closing the course. Or maybe they never intended to! I don’t know. I rolled right through there with a couple of other runners in the 15K, and down we went! After a few minutes, we were all just whooping and sliding. Lightning crashed over and over and the rain was pouring down. Before I knew it, I was at the bottom–much less scary than I remembered. I gotta stop dwelling on my fears and just run through them! The rest of the way was largely under a couple of inches of water on a beautiful trail following a creek. Extra good swag for this one and super food and beer.
Race #7: Call of the Wilds
Wilds was only a week after Green Monster, in late October: the 2 hardest courses, back-to-back. It has a 50K as well, which I’ve run twice (my 2 slowest ever 50Ks). The 50K starts in the dark, so I was grateful to begin in sunlight. It was the first cold start of the season for me, but it turned into a hot and perfect fall day. 4,600 feet of vert, 3 huge climbs, stunning fall color, crazy rock formations, and vistas and vistas and vistas.
The most nuts climb is called Torbert. Ugh. Glad when THAT’S over! Fun after-party, and I finally met Nancy, the woman I’d been challenging for the lead in our age group. I was ahead only because she’d missed one race, but she was gaining hard with one race to go. Sadly, she rolled her ankle badly at Wilds, and couldn’t run the final race.
Race #8: The View
The View, in early November, also has a 15K, and it is very similar to Hyner. By this point, I was toast. The Rocksylvania season is concentrated in the fall, and I’d also coached cross-country for the first time and taken a few other trips, and I was just plain tired. No injuries, just that little whisper your tendons give you when you’re not in your 20s anymore and in fact you’re barely still in your 50s, but you’ve been trying to do epic shit anyway.
Thank goodness this was the shortest one–I got under 15 miles–but there was still 3,600 feet of vert and a hefty dose of rocks. You start and finish with about a mile of road, and honestly I knew in that first mile I was in for a suffer-fest. I got cocky and didn’t give my body the rest it needed in the weeks before the race. So I had a long slow day on those trails and tried to savor the views and the trail camaraderie and enjoy a final epic trail race. The climb to the View at Hyner (first photo), SOB (below), the endless jeep road on the ridge, done. Mission accomplished! Great after-party and a very satisfying feeling of accomplishment!
Rocksylvania Trail Series Awards Party
The season wraps up with an awards party at New Trail Brewing in Williamsport for the top 3 finishers in each age group in each division. Here’s another event I don’t think I could have managed if I hadn’t retired, but wow it was fun! I had the absolute pleasure to meet several other runners during the series, and it was very nice to sit with them for a few hours when we weren’t sweaty and exhausted.
The swag was super, and plenty of pizza and beer. I set out to try to earn the coveted Rocksylvania jacket, but there were lots of other goodies in the swag. Trail Dogs do it right! I can’t say enough about this series, IF you want to run super hard, crazy vert, gorgeous trails!
A few tips if you want to check out the Rocksylvania Trail Series:
Some of the races fill fast (especially Hyner, which opens almost a year ahead and fills right away!)
If you are bringing spectators, generally they can partake in the food, too, if they make a donation, or, in some cases, purchase a meal ticket in advance. Check to be sure, though, because usually other food options are not very close, and a hangry crew spoils your post race glow!
Many of the races offer free or cheap dry camping nearby.
Around 9am Saturday, Brandon parked his car in a nearby development, and we walked approximately .75 miles to the start of the Historic Brandywine Trail. Neither of us had run any of this previously, but we knew we were looking for white blazes. The beginning part of the trail was well marked and we got through the first few miles with very little trouble.
Our spouses (shout out to Katie and Mark!) generously agreed to crew for us, and they first met us around mile 11 with water and more food. The beginning portion of this route was predominately road, and, while Brandon and I prefer more trail, it was relatively easy to navigate. We did second-guess ourselves a few times, but we didn’t have any major issues until we got to a section of trail with a sign indicating the trail was permanently closed; we followed another trail that closely paralleled the original and did not have to deviate very far.
Shortly thereafter, we met our spouses at another “aid station” around mile 18 and continued on our way. Again, following white blazes at this point was easy, although around mile 20 we noticed that there was a slight discrepancy between the blazes and what was shown in the .gpx file. Another slight re-route occurred about 2 miles later, when we got to another section that was posted as “Closed from October-January due to deer season.” We were able to skirt around the section by following the road and linking back up with the original trail maybe half a mile later.
We came to our third “aid station” at the Pocopson Post Office/Ace Hardware/Veterinarian around mile 25, grabbed some more water and food and were on our way. This section proved to be the most difficult in terms of navigation and terrain. Around mile 30 we came to a part of trail that should have been an easy crossing of the Brandywine Creek by way of a bridge; however, the bridge was under construction, aka non-existent. We spent several minutes trying to find a good spot to cross the creek; fortunately we found a spot that wasn’t very deep, but we did have to backtrack a bit in order to do so.
After the bridge debacle, we continued on, and once again the route was a balance of pavement, gravel road, and single track, but the blazes were placed much more sporadically, and the trail was not well maintained. This led to a lot of time spent consulting the .gpx of the route, bushwhacking, and second guessing whether or not we really were in the right spot. Around mile 32 we encountered our biggest navigational error of the day, when we missed a faded blaze that indicated we should have turned right. We ran along a gravel road for about half a mile before realizing our blunder and needing to backtrack. At some point we crossed into Delaware, although there was no line indicating that (or fanfare) as I had hoped.
Eventually we found Katie and Mark at our fourth and final aid station around mile 32. At this point, we knew we were only a few miles from the end and it was getting dark, so we grabbed the bare necessities and kept moving.
We hammered as best as one can after 35+ miles and eventually found ourselves in Brandywine Creek State Park around sunset. We were happy with our efforts but after 38.5 ish miles we were also really happy to meet Katie and Mark at the car and call it a day.
So, I ran a super cool race in Europe back in June.
The TLDR version is that I rain the Grainau Trail Race, which is part of the Salomon Zugspitz Ultratrail – Germany’s largest trail running event. This distance is just under 10 miles with about 2,500 ft elevation. If you get the chance, definitely check it out!
If you’ve got a bit more time, let me take you on a little adventure!
Earlier this year, I found out I’d be jetting off to Germany for work in June. Naturally, I thought, “Why not turn this work trip into an epic personal getaway?” So, I went into full “travel-planner mode.” The big questions were: Where to go? Why? And for how long?
My solution, of course, was to start Googling! I started searching for concerts and trail races in Europe. While the concert scene didn’t have anything that piqued my interest, the trail races were overflowing. After sifting through a ton of great options in a ton of cool places, I stumbled upon something truly exciting: the Salomon Zugspitz Ultratrail.
Picture this: Nearly 4,000 runners from 67 countries and 46 exhibitors coming together for an event featuring six distance options, a professional livestream, and a vibrant festival atmosphere spread over three exciting days. Here’s the lineup:
Grainau Trail: 9.94 miles | 2,493 ft elevation | Saturday 12 PM
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Trail: 18.02 miles | 4,725 ft elevation | Friday 10 AM
Mittenwald Trail: 27.34 miles | 6,102 ft elevation | Saturday 7 AM
Leutasch Trail: 42.28 miles | 9,409 ft elevation | Saturday 9 AM
Ehrwald Trail: 53.43 miles | 13,349 ft elevation | Friday 11 PM
Ultratrail: 65.90 miles | 16,663 ft elevation | Friday 10:15 PM
It’s a trail runner’s dream, amiright?! And the timing was perfect! Still feeling a bit bruised from an Oil Creek DNF last fall and a not-so-stellar first half of 2024 with minimal running, I wasn’t exactly oozing confidence. I decided to play it safe and signed up for the beginner-friendly Grainau Trail. With that commitment in place, I built the rest of my trip.
I finalized my itinerary, and it was pretty awesome: a couple of days in Belgium with co-workers, followed by a few days in Germany for work and the race, and then a 7 a.m. flight to Poland for some solo exploration before heading home.
But, plot twist! If you follow me on Strava, you know my plans hit a snag. Two days before my departure, our work trip was canceled. Cue the panic and scramble! Now, what’s a runner to do when their well-laid plans go awry? Adapt, keep moving, and make it work to get the finish. And that’s what I did.
Within hours, I rebooked my flight, this time flying into Poland with absolutely no plan other than meeting up with a co-worker on Sunday and making it to Germany by Friday, the night before the race. As per usual, I found myself thinking: “It’ll all work out,” a phrase my brother (PPAC President Steve Vida) often says as a sincere reassurance. However, sometimes it is accompanied by a knowing laugh, which suggests a hidden subtext: things might not actually work out, but roll with it anyway, hold on tight, and hope for the best. This was one of those times. Sure, this motto might bite me in the ass someday, but for now, it’s still going strong because everything really did work out!
After road-tripping through Poland, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany, we arrived in Farchant, a small village in Bavaria, late Friday afternoon. We checked into the hotel and took the short train ride to the race expo in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I grabbed my bib, checked out the vendors, got my first official pre-race photo, and soaked up the energy and excitement of the event. Since some of the races had already started, the town was lively and buzzing, especially near the finish line. It was time to find some food and get back to the hotel to get everything situated.
Race day:
With a later start time, I avoided the dreaded early morning wake up and rush to the start line. Instead, I relaxed on the balcony taking in the amazing (and slightly intimidating) mountain view before grabbing breakfast and catching the train into town. Once there, I walked a short distance to Olympia-Kunsteisstadion, a skating stadium built for the 1936 Winter Olympics, to board the shuttle bus to Grainau, where my race began.
At noon sharp, the race started – German punctuality at its finest! For the first few minutes, my mind was filled with all the typical thoughts. For me, these are: “Why am I doing this? I don’t belong here,” “Am I going to make the cutoff?” and “What if I don’t finish?” But soon, these thoughts faded as I settled into race mode. They were instead replaced with the sound of spectators lining the streets to cheer on runners as we winded through the town and into the trails. The cheering was replaced by the sound of roaring cowbells–on actual cows–as we ran through the herd. This happened randomly throughout the race, and it was fun to see and hear them as they roamed alongside (and sometimes on) the trail.
“Keep moooving, Michelle!”
The scenery was breathtaking and the views of the towns from atop the mountain were stunning. The climbs, though challenging, didn’t feel as difficult as I anticipated.
I reached the highest point of elevation right around the 5-mile mark – greeted by cows again 😊. Before I knew it, I was at the aid station with only 3 miles of mostly descent left until the finish. After a quick Coke and a smile, I continued. The overcast skies hinted at rain, which also pushed me to wrap this up.
After descending the mountain, the race finished with a brief jaunt through the town, leading into the home stretch and across the finish line. As I finished, I heard the announcer say, “Michelle Henry of the United States and a Pagoda Pacers Athlete” – the highlight of my day!
Afterwards, I changed into fresh clothes and grabbed some post-race food and hit the road again – this time off to Prague! Perfect timing, as the sky opened up and it poured almost as soon as I closed my car door.
Final thoughts:
This race was top-notch with excellent communication and organization. I’d love to go back and tackle one of the longer distances.
Next year’s dates are June 12-14th and there’s already a big announcement for 2025: the debut of the ZUT100, the first major 100-mile trail running race around Germany’s highest mountain. Registration opens in November.
So many people told me that the Comrades Marathon in South Africa is their favorite race–that it is life-changing. I wanted to see why!
It was created in 1921 to honor fallen soldiers in WWI and is the world’s largest and oldest ultra. We spent a few days in Cape Town to get use to the time zone. There were great restaurants at the Waterfront. We took a bus tour to the Cape of Good Hope and to Boulders Beach to see the penguins.
Then we flew to Durban and met up with Marathon Tours. They made everything so easy! It was nice to meet runners from all over the world. Marathon Tours took us on a bus preview of the course on the day before the race, with Patrick Boyd, who I think has run it 14 times. He and Coach Markus gave excellent advice: be patient and slow early on; don’t trip on the reflective lane markers; and drink at each aid station. I felt anxious and out of my league, so one of the tour guides, Coach Markus, made me a pace chart, which freaked me out until I realized it was in kilometers.
I didn’t sleep well and felt terrible when I woke up. Garmin said my body battery was 5% charged. I didn’t know how I was going to run. There were 22,500 runners and only 200 portapotties at the start, so don’t show up with a full bladder. We had to be in our corral 15 minutes before the start, or we had to start after all the corrals. You have 12 hours to finish the race. The clock starts when the first runner crosses the start line, so if you start after everyone else, you can lose 20 minutes.
The race started at 5:30 a.m. with the South African national anthem, then Shosholoza (a song originally sung by gold and diamond miners), the theme from Chariots of Fire, a rooster crow, then the cannon. Unlike in the US, everyone sang, and in different parts! The energy was incredible!
The race direction alternates, going “up” (from Durban to Pietermaritzburg) one year, and “down” (the opposite) the next year. This was an “up” year, and, because of road construction, an unusually “short” distance at 85.914 km (53.4 miles). It was really crowded for the first several miles, and I focused on not tripping. The climbs weren’t bad, compared to Tuesday Hill Repeats. (Thank you, Jim Blandford)!
I had to use the portapotty 3 times. I waited in line the first 2 times, so I kept getting stuck behind the 11 hour bus (pace group), which was huge. It was so crowded! After a while, I managed to extract myself and get ahead of them, but then I got stuck behind another group, which was going slower than the 11 hour bus. The bus ran me over and I was trapped again. By the way, I am very grateful that I wore my hydration vest and carried toilet paper and hand sanitizer!
I was so happy to see my friend, Cathy Hopkins. This was her 11th Comrades!
There were lots of kids to high five. However, 2 children, maybe 3-4 years old, stepped onto the course. I couldn’t stop fast enough and tripped over the little boy, knocking him over. I felt so bad. I kept asking whether he was okay, but he just looked at me. He got up and left, so I think he was fine. Luckily, I landed on my sachet of water, busting it open, so I used it to clean my wounds. Water is given in sealed plastic bags, not cups. They were easy to carry and always cold.
The crowd support was amazing! People played music, sang, danced, cheered, and offered food. I ate bananas, oranges, salted potatoes, potato chips, cookies, energy bars, and a sandwich with something like marmite, although the woman offering it called it something else. (I was very grateful for this–and for the fig bar I carried–because the aid stations did NOT have a lot of food options.) The other runners were kind and friendly. It was very cool to be midpack and see the huge pack of people of all different ages, sizes, shapes, and nationalities moving towards the same goal.
I pulled out my phone and saw the app was predicting that I would finish in 11:03. I overheard someone say that if we finished under 11 hours, we would get a bronze medal. There was no way I could go any faster, and I still had to climb the last 2 hills (Little Pollys and Polly Shorts), so I gave up hope. (I am Gen X. It sounds like Pauly Shore to me, too). However, there was some gentle downhill. I looked at the tracker a little later, and my predicted finishing time was around 10:50. Then I started drinking Coke and running. I drank more Coke than I did in the past 20 years combined. The course kind of makes you run a negative split, but I’m so proud that my last mile was the fastest! I finished in 10:46:03, which I am really happy with, considering that I didn’t think I would finish before the 12 hour cut off.
The finish was as crowded as the Eagles Super Bowl parade. Marathon Tours arranged a hotel room for me to shower in before the long drive back to Durban. Use the bathroom before the drive back to the start! There is a lot of traffic.
The next day, we were invited to Bruce Fordyce‘s party. Bruce is a 9-time winner of Comrades. Even if you weren’t into running at all, you would love Bruce’s stories. They were inspiring and very funny. Gerda Steyn was there. She is a 3-time Comrades winner and such a sweetie. One of the runners in the tour group was Kieran Alger, from the YouTube channel, Manvmiles. His video explains things much better than I can.
We did the extension to Thanda Safari afterwards and it was wonderful! Thanda is owned by Christin and Dan Olofsson. They do a lot for conservation of endangered species and employ a lot of local Zulus. I highly recommend it.
I started my build up for this race the week of Thanksgiving, 2023. I built up coming off the Harrisburg Marathon with weeks of 20, 30, and 40 miles before I started adding 10% each week. I decided to run Jack Daniels 2Q program, as I liked the flexibility of the workouts, which fit in great with my family’s hectic schedule (we now have 2 girls under 2 years-old, and I just started nursing school while working 30 hours / week). At the end of January, I was experiencing some lower tibial pain. I decided to stop running entirely for a week after coming off my then highest volume week ever of 57 miles. This ended up being a great decision. I scaled back up pretty quickly and didn’t miss any other 2Q workouts, and the pain never flared up. I think running on the road/snow in trail shoes after a snowstorm caused it.
I averaged 50-60 miles for the majority of the block which was about 15-20 miles more per week than my Fall buildup.
I had two key workouts that really gave me confidence going into the race. The first was a repeat of a route that I did in my fall prep except I went from 20 miles at a 8:40 pace to 22 miles at a 7:39 pace, including a 6:45 last mile where I pushed because I felt like I had gas in the tank. The second was my last long run before tapering. This was a 19 miler that featured 1350 feet of vertical gain which is substantially more than the entirety of the Pittsburgh Marathon course. Average pace was 8:05, which was a bit slower than I wanted, but the elevation was brutal. At the time, I honestly thought to myself that I am an idiot and I should’ve picked a flatter route because this didn’t really give me confidence going into the taper.
Pre-Race
I said this in last year’s report for Pittsburgh, and it bears repeating: 10/10 organization and race experience. Plenty of bathrooms, quick and easy gear check, easy access to corrals, such a relaxed pre-race experience. The only stressful part of this morning was coordinating a photo with a group of other local runners for a pre-race picture. Ironically, I was the one who suggested the meeting area, and I was the only one who went to the wrong spot.
Race
Race strategy coming into the race was to run at a 7:15 pace and shoot for a final time of 3:10, with as close to even splits as possible.
Miles 1-11
One of my favorite things about the half and full in Pittsburgh is that they set off fireworks right after the gun start and after the start of each subsequent corral. My wife ran the half and this was a major selling point to her. I love how the excitement isn’t reserved for just the first corral. The first 11 miles vary between flat and rolling as you go up and down a few bridges. During this period I clocked miles between 7:07 and 7:15. For all of training and race day, I went with Tailwind powder for my nutrition. I absolutely LOVE it. I was concerned that carrying 2-750 ml soft flasks in my flip belt with 3 scoops (scoop has 25 carbs) would be annoying and cumbersome, but throughout training I found it wasn’t that annoying and I felt super well fueled and hydrated throughout my training runs. I took roughly 1/3 of the flasks every 3.5 miles.
Miles 12-14
The part that everyone talks about and fears in Pittsburgh is Birmingham Bridge and Forbes Ave. Last year I picked a hill nearby that simulated the Birmingham Bridge and strategically placed it at the end of my long runs. This year I went a step further and had hilly routes for 90% of both my easy runs and my 2Q workouts. This paid off BIG. Going into the race I told myself to not burn my candle out in this stretch and be ok with 8min or 8:15min miles. I ended up running 7:26, 7:31, and 7:16 for miles 12,13, and 14 which featured 41,102, and 43 feet of vertical gain. I did moderate the effort on the inclines, but I think this was a spot where the carb loading paid off from a power production standpoint. I also think my final key workout that I deemed “too hilly” paid off. I was feeling really good here. There was a small group of people midway up Forbes Avenue, and I turned to them, made a “eating-with-a-spoon” gesture, and said, “I eat hills for breakfast!”
Miles 15-19
This part of the course was a little bit quieter, but I enjoyed running through parts of the city that I hadn’t previously experienced. At about this time, I started to notice that there was a particular spectator who was showing up solo at various points of the race with a small sauté pan and wooden spoon to cheer people on. I didn’t see any bicycle, so I’m not sure how he was getting from point to point so quickly. My times for these miles ranged between 7:07 and 7:28.
Mile 20
Mile 20 features the highest point on the course–the last substantial incline–after which is a steady decline to the finish. It was around this point that I was starting to feel the effort become more difficult. I had music on the entire race, and I paused it for about 20 seconds. I had forgotten that someone I run with weekly was coincidentally going to be in Pittsburgh visiting a friend. Luckily my music was off because I heard him say my name and cheer me on and that gave me quite a boost when I needed it most. Clocked my slowest mile here (7:39). The “Pan Man” showed up 2 more times in this stretch.
Miles 21-26 (Race #2)
The mental boost from my buddy really helped me reset, and I realized that I actually felt pretty good for being 20+ miles into a marathon. At this point, the wall hits a lot of people, but I never ran into that issue. Shoutout yet again to Featherstone Nutrition on IG. I followed her carb loading calculator as always and I am now 3-for-3 on not bonking nor really hitting a wall in my marathons. The “Pan Man” made another appearance and I said to him, “ You are f****** everywhere!” His last appearance was around mile 25, and he seemed to be with a group of friends at this point, so this time I said, “Hot damn–it’s the man with the pan!” They thought it was funny; I thought it was funny; my wife when I told her did not think it was funny.
I was clocking miles at 7:15 or better at this point. I was slowly running people down, one-by-one, as I was surging at a time when others struggled. This was a mental boost for me, and I ground out my fastest mile at mile 24 (6:57), which had a major elevation drop of -175ft. Mile 25 took 7:21, and Mile 26 was 7:08.
The Finish 26-26.4
I unfortunately did not run a perfect course (who ever does lol) so my finish was .4 miles according to my watch. I clocked a 6:07 pace with a top pace of 5:16. The finishing stretch was super crowded as the half and full marathon course came back together. I had to weave a bit but finished strong and on my feet. I crossed the line with an official time of 3:10:52, which was almost exactly a 10 min PR from the nearly pancake-flat Harrisburg Marathon.
Post- Race
The finish line feeling is what I train for. The feeling of all the hard work paying off. All of the many early morning runs in the dark, the below freezing temperatures (including some in single digits) and lifting 3x a week with a heavy leg day weekly. I steadily climbed from 238th place to 181st by the finish, jumping 25 places in the last 10k. I was patient and executed my plan to perfection, all while having the most fun throughout the race that I’ve ever had.
I am constantly driven by me desire to find my true potential because I have already surpassed what I thought my potential was when I started my running journey less than two years ago in August of 2022. Next up for me is the Philly Marathon this November, where the goal is to BQ (sub 3 hrs). Realistically, this won’t actually qualify me a spot in Boston 2026 because of even faster cutoff times.
Pittsburgh has been an absolute joy to run in, so maybe in 2025 I’ll run it again and truly punch my ticket to Boston?
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.
Immediately following the 2023 Pittsburgh Half Marathon, I transitioned into fat loss (156lbs to 145lbs) in order to compete in a bodybuilding show at the end of June. During this time, I was walking a lot but only running 1-2x a week for 5 miles. Immediately following that event, I did a 5-week prep period for a powerlifting meet in July. Also during July, I participated in the summer version of GRIT which helped me have volume pr for the month of right around 186 miles ran. I think that month helped build a good base for my marathon training block.
My marathon training block consisted of 4 runs a week. 2 easy runs of about 5 miles pushing my daughter in the stroller, one speed workout, and one long run. I did not follow a set plan but scaled up my long runs over time and worked in some higher pace intervals on the long runs. I topped out at 2- 18s and 2 – 20 milers. Weekly mileage was between 25-43 miles. On top of the running, I was lifting (powerlifting style) 4x a week, which included squatting and deadlifting 2x a week.
pre-race
I carb loaded per Featherstone Nutrition guide, 550-600g of carbs for the three days leading up to the race. I had my now routine meal of spicy tuna roll sushi the night before (this has now occurred 3x so its definitely “a thing” now). I’m not superstitious, but I am a “little stitious” (or I like the comfort of routine and I know my body tolerates that meal well). We stayed over with family nearby so we could get to City Island faster and I got there with plenty of time to pick up my bib, warm up, and take my last gel/electrolytes.
The race
For those unfamiliar with the Harrisburg Marathon, it is a double loop course that goes across 3 bridges, up and down Front St that runs along the Susquehanna, around a PennDot Building, and 2 U-Turn turnarounds. The half marathon and 4-person relay were run concurrently.
Miles 1-6
Pretty unremarkable start: it was smooth sailing, hitting water and gels as planned. I set out to run 1:37:30 for the first half, as my strategy was to pick a pace that I thought would be relatively comfy for the first 18-20 miles and give me a shot at 3:15 if the stars aligned. A month prior, I ran the Reading Hospital Half Marathon in 1:33:30 and felt like I left some in the tank, so that also guided my race strategy. I had set out to run sub 3:30 at the beginning of the block, but recent runs had me set a super-stretch goal of 3:15.
Miles 7 -13.1
Still smooth sailing. Came in the halfway mark right where I wanted to be. Still was feeling pretty good and manageable.
Miles 13.1-23
Right around mile 14, I started to feel my legs grow really heavy. I was very thrown off by this, because I figured this wouldn’t happen for another 4-5 miles. My miles started to creep past the 7:30 mark and I entered Pain Cave territory earlier than expected. I kept to my fueling plan and worked to gut it out.
Miles 23-26.2
“This. F——. Sucks”. The Pain Cave was in full-effect, and I was definitely not having fun here. I knew that sub-3:15 was definitely not in the cards and felt that sub-3:20 was as well. I passed my wife at one point and also passed a group of three young women who had one of those signs about marathoners being crazy or stupid or both… I don’t really remember but I definitely told them that “This. F——-. Sucks” as I passed them. They laughed, and I felt better for about 100 feet. It was right after passing them and having that fleeting moment of feeling better that I decided that I was not going to hard charge the end as I wanted to preserve my body to a degree and thought that even with a 1000% effort, that sub 3:20 was not going to happen. I crossed the finish line at 3:21:XX gun time.
Post-race reflection
I waited over 2 weeks from race day to write this report because of mixed emotions. I ran the Philadelphia Marathon (my first) last year in 4:02:04. I PR’ed the marathon by a huge margin of over 41 mins the following year. I am very happy with the margin of improvement, but wasn’t as happy and truthfully, still am not super happy with it like I have been with my other races. This was my first major race that I didn’t get the “race day magic” effect that I’ve enjoyed previously. I have agonized over what went wrong or what I could’ve done better too much. I physically recovered really well and am back to base building for future races but mentally I am still working on it. I am very Type A and control as many variables as possible so at Mile 14 when I felt worse than I thought I should’ve, I think that I became my own worst enemy because it stopped being fun for me around that point, when usually I enjoy (or at least partially enjoy) the races I do from start to finish.
I had selected Harrisburg because it was better for my family (2 babies under 14 months), but I probably won’t run it again. Crowd support was sparse and I really missed that boost from the atmosphere compared to races in bigger cities. If there wasn’t a relay, then there would have been under 100 people spectating outside the start/finish area.
I have already signed up for the 2024 Philadelphia Marathon. Seeing a lot of my friends run the half or full the following week was torturous and the FOMO was killer. I am still deciding on which race in Pittsburgh I want to do but I am very excited to race there again the first weekend of May and I highly recommend it! I am excited to continue to train and improve and will be increasing my volume and focus on running as my main goal for 2024 is to BQ.
