Local 5K put on by the Lion's Club and part of a weekend of festivities centered at Ginegaw Park in Walworth, NY. Good t-shirts and race priced competitively to most 5Ks. Course starts off with a good solid hill up to town hall/library and then winds through town. Several spectators and loved having three aid stations for pouring water over myself as it was warm and humid. Really loved the guy with the hose! Several volunteers marked the course and it was very easy to follow. Fun, safe, and solid course.

The Ontario Summit Trail Races come in two lengths, 1/2 and full marathon. If you do the full, you've been warned. If you do the 1/2, you've been warned. They make it pretty clear you will not PR on this course.

While there certainly are some technical aspects, especially roots and rocks to be aware of in places, it's just a consistently tough course, especially in the middle of the 13+ mile loop. That stretch is also the longest stretch between aid stations with nothing from 6.4 until about 11.5+/-. Much of that stretch is uphill on a course that while it had rained before during the week, still seemed dry even in the muggy air.

And then there was the inch worm infestation...they were everywhere and attempted to get everywhere on you...at all times, before, during, and after the race...

Race management was very friendly, answering an email I sent them within a few hours. That day aid station crews were very attentive, and I even had one guy around mile 9+/- give me almost a whole bottle of water as he cheered us on and I was struggling as my own hydration was very, very low.

Got a great tech shirt even though I signed up 10 days before, I just had to wait until after the race to make sure they had enough. Finishers also got a nice pint glass that you could then elect to get filled with an IPA or a Peach Wheat beer from a local brewery. Though I had some GI issues out on course, I also ended up enjoying the local hand rolled, fresh burritos that we got for our lunch. Very good and filling.

All in all, while I had a horrible run in many ways, it was still an epic day running/surviving a tough course with almost 1900 feet gain and around 1850 feet of loss, and hanging out with new friends in western NY. Some great views too, especially toward the end when we came to a clearing on the top of the hill and could see for some distance.

If you do it though, it is a tough course, one of the toughest ones I've done in almost 15 years of trailrunninng.

Local trail race just south of Victor, NY, a southern suburb of Rochester, NY. This trail race begins by running a path cut through local prairie and then heads downhill through the woods and then back into prairie before hitting single-track. Then the course cuts through a few areas and eventually arrives at the bottom of a hill where you switchback up for a while before cutting back down and around the hill to come up sharp and steep to the top with a great overview of the whole valley below. Then the course reenters the woods and heads back down and rejoins what you've run before as you head back home. The race director gives every participant a small bottle of champagne at the finish and there were plenty of raffle prizes. Food included gazpacho and all types of treats. Very fun and great race!

The Thom B 13, 26, and 52K trail races are part of the Finger Lakes Trail Circuit. The course is a 13K/8mile loop, with portions of dirt road, logging road, double wide, and single track. You need to watch the course markings, or you can easily go off course. You also need to watch your footing, because this is NY/NE trail racing with lots of roots scattered in several places. Elevation gain was around 850-900ft and loss was around 800ft for the loop. There were several people from search and rescue checking runners off to make sure everyone got around and back safely. There were two unmanned aid stations which were perfectly distanced at around 4km and then again around 8-9km and then of course back to the start. Race was capped at 150 people which seemed good, enough to feel like you weren't alone, but not so many if was a problem.

The cost for the 13K was just $15 and you could pick up a tech shirt that has the whole circuit of races for the year listed on the back for another $20 if you wanted while they lasted. These are good quality shirts. Parking was a bit of a walk for most of us, but not much you can really do about that when you are pushed back so far into the wilderness.

Food was good, fruit, bagels, cannoli chips and cream(!), coffee, chocolate milk, etc. Bathrooms were awesome at the campground and there was enough shelter for the brief bit of rain while waiting for other runners to come in and finish. Very welcoming volunteers as well.

Good old school, keep it simple, keep it low cost type of race, the kind I like.

Great little old school, $5 race to benefit the local Pal-Mac XC team. Not huge turnout, but something that will grow as it gets more and more steam. The local cross-country coaches made this 2.3 mile course all on the local school campus with a few hills and a finish on the track. Very simple and straightforward, 1 water stop we passed twice, some bananas at the finish line and a few inexpensive snacks you could buy from the concessions stand, again to help fundraise for the team. A local from the team won the overall race in 15 minutes something, a good representation for the school. In fact two teenagers were in the top 5.