Combs Finishes Cascade Crest 100

Congratulations to Bob Combs, for finishing the Cascade Crest 100 Mile Race in 29 hours 42 minutes!

Losey Summits Rainier

Bill Losey summitted Mt Rainer on Saturday, August 20.

And more importantly, he made it off the mountain safely. Congratulations, Bill!

Cascade Crest 100

This weekend Gombobu and Shubi will run Cascade Crest 100.
More details here.

Vol State Report

Paul Lefelhocz has created a very interesting presentation on his Vol State Race, with also some commentary about his Burning River 100 Mile Finish also.

Please click this link for his report. It is in a Google Document format.

Pictorial of the YUTC Course

Mill Creek Park was established in 1891 by Volney Rogers, a Youngstown attorney. It is the second largest metropolitian park in the United States.

The Parapet Bridge, constructed in 1913, is located on the east side of Lake Glacier in Mill Creek Park. Architect and landscape designer Julius Schweinfurth created this striking masterpiece of massive upright boulders and a graceful arch. From the four viewing platforms, visitors can look east to Spring Brook Ravine and west to Lake Glacier.

You will be running under the bridge and to your left,with Lake Glacier on your right.

A blurry pic of the approach to the infamous Love Log.

 

After the Love Log, a little run on the rest of the  Monkey Trails, up Rainbow Hill, back into woods, across Pinball Ridge and down to the road.

 

Hop across the road and back next to the water, heading for the Covered Bridge and Lanterman's Mill.

When you see the beginning of the boardwalk, you are approaching Lanternman's Mill and the Covered Bridge, where the Aid Station will be set up.

At the end of the 18th century the land surrounding a beautiful, natural waterfall, now known as Lanterman's Falls, belonged to John Young, founder of Youngstown.
The first mill was built of logs from the site. Millstones were cut from granite boulders found in the area of what is now Fifth Avenue at Rayen Avenue. This mill operated from 1799 to 1822.

In 1823 the original mill was replaced by a second mill. Built by Eli Baldwin, this frame structure served only as a gristmill. Baldwin's mill operated until 1843 when a flood washed it away. A grinding stone from this mill can still be seen resting in the creekbed 500 feet downstream of the Falls.

The current frame structure was built in 1845-46 by German Lanterman and his brother-in-law Samuel Kimberly. German and his wife Sally Ann owned a large tract of land around the Falls. Lanterman's Mill was the third mill constructed at the Falls and was used solely as a gristmill.

Lanterman's Mill was restored over a three year period, from 1982 to 1985. 

You will then cross the Covered Bridge, where the Aid Station will be set up.

 

After you cross the Covered Bridge you will be running down the south side of the course, beside Lake Newpoort.

This is the southern end of the YUTC race course, around Lake Newport.

After you round the bottom end of Lake Newport, there is just one section of road to encounter, just less than one mile.

After you have crossed the Covered Bridge and started on the east side of the course, you will come across the Suspenion Bridge.

The Suspension Bridge, located on Valley Drive, was erected in 1895 and spans Mill Creek connecting the east and west sides of the park. Following the wishes of Volney Rogers to create fanciful park entrances, Charles Fowler of the Youngstown Bridge Company designed the structure.

Pioneer Pavilion, is one of the oldest structures in Youngstown, Ohio. Constructed in 1821, this sandstone building served as a mill for carding and fulling wool. The building was later used as a storeroom for the nearby Mill Creek Furnace, then remodeled for party use in 1893. In 1894, the woolen mill was officially named Pioneer Pavilion to honor its pioneer history.

The flagpole is a new addition at Pioneer Pavilion, dedicated 2011 to Gary L Nilsson.

This would be the view as you come out of the woods and make the left turn back down the drive to the Start/Finish Line at the Log Cabin.

YUTC Volunteer/Familiarization Run At Mill Creek Park

A good group of runners turned out for the YUTC Volunteer/Familiarization Run on Saturday. More pictures to come soon!

YUTC Training Run

Course Familiarization run this Saturday the 14th of August.
8:00 start for the group at the Log Cabin.
We will cover the 12 miles of the YUTC course, with water stops every 4 miles.
Others are starting earlier, in case you need a few more miles.

More info here.

NEOTC Dominates at the Speece Family Duathlon

Quick report on the Speece Duathlon.
Eric Harris wins the duathlon with a come from behind effort on the 2nd run.
Eric was also the fastest on both runs.
Todd Hanks dominates the bike portion.
Following is the list of the NEOTC effort at the Duathlon.
1st place  -  Eric Harris   1:01:14
2nd place -  Jim Harris    1:02:48
3rd place -  Todd Hanks 1:03:16
4th place  -  Pat Dillon     1:08:36

Great event and one that many of us are looking ahead to next year to compete again at the Speece Venue.
Should have the Triathlon back next year is the latest word from the event organization.

Speece Family Duathlon

This Saturday is the Speece Family Duathlon.
While not on trails, this race is a great experience for those who like to compete and particiapte in unique events.
The Speece Family has taken it upon themselves to create an event that raises money for Pacreatic Cancer research.
After the event there will be a family picnic and everyone participating is asked to bring a covered dish to share.
More info here.

Burning River 100

Congratulations to all who participated in the Burning River 100 Mile. And big THANK YOU to the many many volunteers who gave up their weekend to support the runners!!

There were some great performances by NEO TC members:

Courtney Russell 25.38.54

Roy Heger 25.38.59

Paul Lefelhocz 27.16.43

Ron Ross 28.51.06

Kurt Osadchuck 28.36.27

The 100 mile distance of the past weekend must have seemed 'short' for Paul Lefelhocz, who earlier in the month completed the 314 distance of the Vol State Race.  The other participants in the "King of the Miles" contest should be relieved that July is over and Paul can't add any more miles for the month!

King of the Miles

Get your July Miles to Jim Harris.

Paul L takes a big lead in the Race miles with Vol State and BR100 to his credit.
Paul had over 400 miles racing in the Month of July.

Burning River 100

The longest event in the Cuyahoga Valley starts tomorrow morning.
Good Luck to all NEOTC runners.
Also Good Luck to all those volunteering their effort to help support the runners as they make their way from Squires Castle to Chargrin Falls.

NEO Trail Leadership Annoucement

Just a quick note to announce that our commanding chief and fearless leader Bob Combs is in the process of moving out west to Colorado. As many of you know, Bob was the RD for the YUT-C 50K/25K and club president for the past 6 years. We will miss his guidance, camaraderie, and humor. He will continue to be involved with the club, however, to provide his insight and wisdom, and hopes to be present at YUT-C this year.
This transition should be flawless though, as Jim Harris will be picking up the slack as the new club president. He has been involved with the NEO Trail Club and YUT-C since it's inception and is also the RD of the Dirty Dog 10K. If anyone needs to contact him, he can be reached at james.a.harris@delphi.com.
Also, for anyone that would like to run with Bob one last time before he moves, there will be a group run this Sunday at 9:00am starting from the Wick Recreation Area (Rocky Ridge) in Mill Creek Park. Visit this link for directions to the parking lot - http://tinyurl.com/3przerj

Race Report from the Wellness in the Woods 5K

5k AG win!

I am not sure when exactly my injury started, but I have photos of my foot brace for it from October 2010, so I am pretty sure I had it for a few months prior. Plantar Fasciitis is not always 100% debilitating and I ran on it for months and months. I ran a PR marathon, I ran a PR trail marathon, I ran a PR 50k, and I finished my first 100 miler all while dealing with the heal pain that would creep in somewhere after 15 miles or so, and require gait adjustment, pain creams, Aleve, and shoe changes to accomodate. At some point after the 100 miler, I just had had enough, and though I tried all the stretches, night splints, icing the foot, rolling it on a ball, and a frozen water bottle I wasn’t getting the relief I needed to progress or even maintain.

I had been seeing the doctor but when relief didn’t come, he suggested it was time for a cortisone shot. I agreed. I had heard very good things about this and thought it could help me turn the corner. The cortisone shot to the heel summed up all the pain I had experienced in the previous 6 months and delivered it in a second or two to that heel. HOLY crap batman did that hurt! I promised ole doc to abstain from running for 3 days and then go by feel on my return. As it turns out I didn’t feel like running on it for most of a week, and then it was getting a little better and I had a free entry to a 10k so it was time. I ran the 10k (oh yeah, PR'd that too) with only minor discomfort and took a bag of ice to my car for the drive home. For the next week I had difficulty WALKING, let alone running. So back to ole doc. I was going to DEMAND an MRI. Didn’t have to, he suggested it first.

MRI showed that the front of my heel bone was taking on fluid and was weakened by the process, so he put me into a boot to immobilize things for two weeks (17 days it ended up.) By the end of that I was feeling optimistic and coming out of the boot they put me back in physical therapy and allowed me to start walking for a week or so, then some elliptical (I hate those) and then a slow return to running. I have been pretty faithful to that and am now released to go on feel and have been trying to be smart. Whenever the running brings on the first tenderness I back off and take a day or two.

Last week I finally had some consistent running and did two 10 mile runs with no pain, and then this Sunday it was time to test out a “race.” I went down to the Greenswell Wellness in the Woods 5k at Scioto Audubon Metro Park and signed up. I did a warmup half mile or so, and I knew it wasn’t going to be a great day to race because the humidity made it hard to breathe even on the warmup. The race starts and I am coughing and hacking for air by the first half mile, but the legs feel great. No heel pain. Normally at a race I am running on the edge of what I feel my legs can handle and call that the edge. Due to the humidity, and perhaps being out of shape, this day I was running on the edge of oxygen starvation. I just kept the needle at the “I can breathe, just barely” setting on the dial and did the best I could.

This race included a 2 mile option and at the one mile sign only one teen girl was making the turn back for the 2 mile race. I had a 30 yard argument with myself about making that turn and chasing her down to try to win my first ever race, but resigned myself to the race I entered and kept motoring out on the 5k course. To cut it short, I hacked and wheezed all the way to the finish, pushing that edge, but not really kicking much. I finished in 24:41 which is just off my 24:13 5k PR and to my surprise I ended up winning my age group which must have been pretty weak this day. 22nd out of 89 runners for about a 25 percentile finish, which is also high for me. So all in all, not too bad of a result in my first race back. Time to either better that in a 5k, or find a 10k and start working my way back to marathons and ultras. YUTC, and URINEO are calling to me!

Lefelhocz Finishes Vol State!

Paul Lefelhocz finished the last Annual Vol State Race in 8.04.15.55


That is 8 days, 4 hours, and 15 minutes! This was the long way across Tennessee!

We hope to have a race report from Paul once he catches up in real life again soon.

Vol State

Paul Finished the Last Annual Volunteer State Run.
314 miles.

What did you do this week?

Buckeye Trail 50K Race Report

As reported by Joe "Moose" Novicky:

The BT50k was the best long run I have had since Umstead 2009.

It was not fast for me but very fun and considering I survived the heat I am pumped.

The re-vamped oak grove picnic area has tons of parking and there was no problem getting a spot to park. Maybe the only issue with the larger crowd was that it did get crowded and backed up in the first mile
but soon that was no issue. If you have a problem with that you need to consider that when lining up.

The two things that stand out the best are this.

First, NO heat headache at all in the warm second half. It seems many times when its over 90 I get a headache from the heat (only at bt50k).

Second, in the second half , although not fast I still pursued and raced down anyone I could in front of me. I passed about 14 people in the second half and only two of those passed me back.

I climbed pretty easy most of the way due to my Colorado experience. I finally noticed that in 2003 some boy scouts re-did the stair case going up the reverse way n blue hen falls as there used to be to many
metal spikes sticking up on that staircase.

The course was dry and hard so lots of roots stuck out more than ever. There was no place you had to get your feet wet and some streams where not streams at all.

Maybe the coolest thing was that one area in the first section that is a long strip of 14 inch wide asphalt single track. The growth of the plants on each side where high enough to be as cool as laurel ferns. These where some kind of flowering weed that had a nice smell to it.

Support was great as usual. This year they also had the new huckle berry hamer gel which tasted great. The gourmet hamburgers and hot dogs at the finish where also good.

I had a triple stacked hamburger with 5 slices of tomato and two hot dogs at the finish. Needless to say I didn't need diner when I got home.


Vince and an assistant DID carry one guy off the course to EMS. I hate to say I have never seen more gu wrappers and just the tips of the gu packs here and there but I am certain the "crew" will clean them up.

Of course , Bruce the Moose was there but I missed all the rest of you.

Kimba Takes 3rd at Big Bear Lake 12 Hour

Kim Love-Ottobre completed 12 Hours at Big Bear Lake in Bruceton Mills, WV, taking 3rd place. Her blog post is here: www.ultratrailgoddess.com

Lefelhocz Running Vol State

Paul Lefelhocz has joined the runners for the Last Annual  Vol State Race.

The Last Annual Vol State Run is a non-stop race from Dorena Landing, MO to Castle Rock, GA. This is a distance of 314 miles.
This is a race across the state of Tennessee-the long way.
This is a link to the map of the runners: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=200687420624110668378.00048a47071d95b5c32f5&msa=0&ll=35.737595,-84.375&spn=5.269115,11.590576

Mattapoisett Sprint Triathlon

Eric and Jim Harris competed in the Mattapoisett Sprint Triathlon on Sunday over near Buzzard's Bay, in Mass.

The distances were a 1/4 miles swim, a 10 mile bike, and then 5K run.
Eric won the 18 and under age group, and ended up with the fastest run split overall.
He also was top 20 over all out of 240 competitors.

Overall Results here.