Cincinnati Trail Runners

OH, THE NIGHTLY WINTER TRAIL RUNS

2008-07-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Just got these picture from local trail runner, Johnny Coyne - a nice pic of us from last winter running at Mt. Airy. BRRRRR.......it was chilly. You can also see me with my brother's dog, Quincy. His poor little paws got clumped with snow, so I carried him out the last 3 miles! Good thing he is a little one. Last snowy run for him!!!

French Park Dirt Days!

2008-07-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

This race was a hot one! It was a short and beautiful coarse with lots of stream crossings. Smartwool kindly donated prizes for a raffle - t-shirts and such. Thanx smartwool! After the race OCIN (Orienteering Cincinnati) put on an event. Orienteering is always fun, so check it out! A great way to get in some exercise without really feeling like you are out there working out! OCIN will also be at East Fork, so plan to stick around for a little orienteering after the race and you enjoy some wonderful eats by The Unwritten Chef.

Top 3 male finishers were William Rathkamp, Jason Pitney and Zachary Triplett. Top Female finishers were Meghan Shagena, Ashli Joseph and Cameron Kurz. Way to go!!

Mt. Airy Dirt Days

2008-07-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Mt. Airy run at Dirt Days 2008 was a great day! Windy, sunny and warm! Delish! There were storms all week up to the day of the race, so we had some trees down, but the running spot did not fail to flawlessly re-route the course. I know Adam was concerned about chopping through parts of the forest to re-route the trail as he felt he had disturbed nature. I assured him it was ok as i pointed to the fallen tree that had itself crushed all the natural life under it.

The top males in this race were (starting in first place) Court Lilly, Bradley Mills and Patrick Harvey. The top 3 female finishers were Leslie Kraus, Cameron Kurz, and Meghan Shagena. Congrats!

Dances with Dirt

2008-06-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

These photos are from Dances with Dirt in Gnaw Bone, IN. Our team name was "4 gnawty skirts and 1 killer kilt." This race was a day full of fun! It was on May 10th and races lasted from 6:15 am until the early evening and was followed by red wine, pulled pork and coleslaw! what more could you want??? There were a total of about 55 miles run by the group - each member ran a about 4 different legs over the course of the day. My favorite leg was my last - i ended with a long and steady uphill - not too steep, but just steep enough that i could enjoy and conquer my beloved uphills! Check out Heidi's Decorated Car, "the bone moble," below and Craaaaaaaaazy Adam, Heidy and Roger!! We decorated Heidi's car with doggie milk bones - we stuck them to the car with chocolate icing! The sun eventually melted some off and we did enjoy some of that chocolate throughout the day :) :) :)

#1 RACE OF DIRT DAY'S TRAIL SERIES - AULT PARK

2008-04-28T19:51:00.001-07:00

The series got off to a good start w/ a beautiful day and the trails treated us well. It was a tough course, as always, with lots of hills, twists and turns and roots. It made for a challenging & fun course. I found myself pulling on rocks & roots to get up some of the steep hills!!! Thank you for the massages/stretching provided by Wellington Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine after the race! This was much needed!

The top 3 male finishers were William Rathkamp, Brad Mills and Travis Murray. The top female finishers were Leslie Kraus, Heather Poast and Lori Mills. We will see how the rest of the series "pans" out. Sorry, that is the chef in me talking :) :) :)

The Landen/Deerfield 5k Trail Race

2008-03-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

The Landen/Deerfield 5K Trail Race was Saturday 3/15, and what a muddy mess it was! This is a small (under 100 runners), but well-run race by Greg McCormick. It was a muddy mess, but keep it in mind for next year. It was a blast and relatively flat. There were a couple of creek crossings up to the knee, but it wasn't bad. About 3/4 of it is on the mountain bike trail and you can see your competition coming and going - keeps you on your toes! Lots of freebies (Many Dick's $50/$25 gift certificates, trail shoes from the Running Spot, etc.) given away at a random drawing, and rare cash prizes to the top 3 males and females ($100/$75/$50). Medals to top finishers in their age divisions. Not bad for the $10 entry fee. Starbucks, bananas and bagels followed, as well.

-Sandi Wethington

Trail Maps

2008-02-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

This is for anyone who has never run with us before, or is not familiar with the parks where we run. You can find maps for most of the Cincinnati Parks at: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cityparks/pages/-4373-/
The big map is a little hard to follow, but you can find a map for a park near you.

-Adam

Dirt Days 2008

2008-02-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

The dates for the Dirt Days 2008 Trail Series are online. There are a few changes this year. Racers can still be eligible for the Dirtiest Dozen by doing any 2 of the first 3 races, as long as they race in the championships at East Fork. Also, we will still have a handicapped start at East Fork, but those being scored for the Dirtiest Dozen will be awarded a place on raw time, not finishing place. For more information, check out: http://runningspot.com/trailrunseries.php

-Adam

Holiday Lake 50k++

2008-02-19T07:32:00.000-08:00

Blood, Sweat, and Redemption at Holiday Lake
Feb 16, 2008/ Appomattox, VA

My journey to the starting line of the Holiday Lake really starts at the finish of the 2007 Mountain Masochist 50 miler. That was to be my first jump from a 50k to a 50 miler, and I had trained hard for a full year for it. At the pasta dinner, Dr. Horton was glad to hear it would be my first Masochist and he looked me square in the eye and said, "Now don't go out too hard in the first half, and don't forget to eat and drink." So what did I do? I ran the first 25 miles at marathon pace, didn't walk a step, didn't stop at any of the aid stations, and let my water bottle go totally dry. I crashed very hard. After about 15 easy miles, I was able to recover and feel like myself again and run it in at a respectable pace.

When I finally crossed the finish line my first words to Dr. Horton were, "I should have listened to you." He laughed, knowing he was right, and said, "When you come back next year, I'm gonna ask you at the finish 'Did you run stupid or did you run smart?'" Being back on Horton's turf, I was determined not to run stupid a second time. Luckily, Mother Nature smiled on us that day. It was 30 degrees at the start, and warmed up to about 55 by mid-race, the sun was shining, and the trail was as dry as it would get in February. My main focus was to stay within my limits on the first loop around the lake. I tried to run just as fast as I could without huffing and puffing heavily.

I was running quick, but comfortably through the first aid station, when we came to a road crossing with a guard rail. Dr. Horton himself was there himself, directing the runners to a right turn on the road. I noticed all the runners in front of me were taking the long way around the guard rail and running far around the right of it and then back onto the trail. The rail looked just short of waist high for me, and I thought it would be much easier to do a quick hurdle over it, instead of alter my course. I was half right. I got my right leg over it just fine, and then I heard a very curious loud, metallic boom. Then I realized it was my left knee hitting the guard rail. Before I knew what was happening, I heard Dr. Horton let out a loud, "Ooooh, I wouldn't do that!" Luckily, it sounded a lot worse than it actually was. It didn't make any sense to me, but for some reason the knee I hit felt better than my unscathed knee. I didn't question it. In fact, I did think much of it again until I came to Aid Station 2 and one of the workers said, "Hey, that looks like Best Blood so far." Lo and behold, I had a stream of blood running from my knee into my shoe.
It didn't hurt, so I tried to not pay attention to it. Instead, I just tried to focus on my breathing. I was very surprised by the loop around the lake. It was very rolling but there was really no major climb or descent to speak of. This was the most runnable 50k course, I've raced yet. Thus far, my 50k PR was 5:55 at the Great Eastern Endurance Run. When I came through the half in 2:14, I was encouraged, to say the least. One of the other nice things about the Holiday Lake course is that there are no surprises on the second half. It is uniquely both a loop and out-and-back course. It was helpful to compare splits between aid stations and accurately guage my pace. Plus, there is something that really picks your heart up when you come out of the last aid station to run around the lake, and you can see and hear the people at the finish line.
Everything about the course and the weather helped me to a new 50k PR of 4:51. That may not have been a very competitve time, but I was glad to accept the award for Best Blood. It's an award that's very nice to have once, but not something you'd aspire towards. Considering the facts that you can have a warm bed at the starting line, the course is both very well supported and very runnable, and the fact that there are just plain fun people who come to run it, I would reccomend Holiday Lake to anyone looking for their first ultra.

-- Adam Schmidt

WELCOME!

2008-01-24T20:07:00.000-08:00

This blog is brand new and we will be posting events, pictures of fun races, etc. Come and see what the trail runners are doing and feel free to send pictures of what you are doing on the trails to hezaboo@aol.com. Please send a little "blog" as to what you did too so i can post that. This picture was from the Grand Island Trail Marathon - there was a section where we ran on the beach! It was truely amazing - the waves were crashing onto the race course! Where else would you get that???

- heather :)