Training Log Archive: JanetT

Event: 2022 Billygoat
 

From parking to start of Letchworth State Park (west side; starting from the Trailside Lodge). Day started out near freezing but warmed up to about 48F by the rime we walked downhill to that race start near Inspiration Point which overlooks two waterfalls to the south (upstream).

Kid Goat, nominally 6.0 km, 220m climb; we were allowed one skip. Of the people finishing it, 10 skipped one control and the rest visited them all.

Started off running down the trail from Inspiration Point amidst (mostly behind) most everyone else, when I decided to skip #1 saving a bit of distance and a 5 contour drop to a hilltop overlooking the gorge with a subsequent climb back up. In hindsight, I wish I'd skipped #9 instead...the climb out of #8 was much more gradual late in the race than the one out of #9. I suppose I could have gone to them all, too, like several others did.

When I decided to skip #1 I headed NNE to run on the road towards #2 (I never made it as far as the start triangle that way). I managed to trip somewhere on the way, but no damage. Caught up to Judy K who'd run the parallel trail instead and we were together for #2 and #3, then she took a different route to #4 and I never saw her again until near the end. I headed toward the trail along the top of the gorge, ran a ways down the road, cut across the big field and then over the spur E of 5, then headed W on the south side of the stream so I could see what #5's large rootstock looked like while I headed to #4 which was beyond it. The area for the return trip between 4 and 5 looked pretty marshy so I swung wide N on my way back to #5 from #4. I saw Janet F heading to #5 as I was passing by heading to #4. Saw Nancy D when I was closer to #4; she was also ahead of me. At around this point I also saw Robbie G, Greg A, and Danny Riley (or was it Joe?) so I knew they were the lead pack at that time.

To #6 I stayed N of the out of bounds. By #7 I got my (collapsed) hiking pole ready because the course was entering the steeper area and hillsides were muddy. In fact, just getting to #7 was pretty dicey and I was happy to have my pole along.

Then I managed to overshoot 8 drifting too low; same on #9 but not by as much. AP gives me almost 9:00 of error on these two. Finally the slog mostly straight up the hill to the big trail (Andis, speedy [Vadim Masalkov], and Wyatt passed me here), and then easy navigation to 10-11 and the downhill finish. Cold sandwiches and hot soup were available after the race.

The design for the BG shirts is fabulous, three goats standing on a bridge over a river while a troll sits beneath it holding a control flag, with some goat skulls on the opposite bank. Those of us not earning shirts received a copy of the logo design printed on heavy photo-type paper, about 8" square. It's also printed much smaller on the face of the map. :-)

Clare D ran her first Billygoat and finished in time for the shirt...yay! Sharon C and Sam Levitin were last finishers within the time period; a number of others were overtime or didn't find the proper number of controls.

Kid Goat - Splits

Event: ROC - Overlook NRE
 

Past the overlook of Honeoye Lake, walking with Heidi Hall (F50+, ROC) who was working at check-in. Two fellows from Singapore asked us what the map symbol of a circle with a dot inside was.

Low 50s and partly cloudy at start; mid 50s and mostly sunny by the time we left the park.

ROC Overlook NRE Brown middle at Harriet Hollister Spencer Recreation Area near Whitewater, NY (an area often used for ski-O events). 1:7500 map, 5m contours. 3 km, 100m climb

Pretty good on most except got confused by the "density" of the trails en route to #1...not so much which trails were where, because I was trying to cut across them, but how they were mapped (is a jeep road the heaviest trail and are the grassy ones a step less?), so I made my way down to where the hill dropped off and headed south (because I figured I was too far north) from there. AP shows 1:30 lost there, my only "mistake" (per its algorithm). Saw multiple people headed into or out of the flag location on the rootstock once I got close.

The rest were pretty clean, though I wasn't quite on line to #6....coulda used the circle cut on the south side there to see more of what was going on between the marshes. Checked out a control in a different reentrant on the way to #8 but knew it wasn't mine. Saw Judy K heading the other way; she was headed back to #7. Beat Sharon on the downhill run in; otherwise she might have gotten me by seconds...she was ahead by just a little bit at the last control.

1st F65

Back to parking with Sue H-T and Glen

Results

RouteGadget animation

Prizes were mini bottles of maple syrup. Yum!

Brown - Splits

Nice day but I didn't want to ride trails at Green Lane (where Glen went) so I rode roads from here with a section of rail trail. 68 and overcast, though it started out sunny this morning. That seems to be a trend here, particularly in spring.

Another walkabout with Glen, this time closer to home. Mid 60s with alternating sun and clouds; dressed for the cooler temp/clouds so was a bit warm when the sun popped out.