It’s funny how you can have so many thoughts about a race but once you go to write them down, you have no clue what to say. Virgil Crest Ultras was a race I signed up for kind of last minute (about 2 to maybe 3 weeks out of race day), but had been on my radar for about 2 months. I was looking for a race to use in my build up for Rio Del Lago in November to test my overall fitness and see if I was still on track for my goals. Virgil Crest 50 fit this aim for a few reasons. One, it’s about 6 weeks out from Rio Del Lago. I felt that this gave me a good shot to push myself with ample time to recover should I blow up at the race and need more time to entirely recoup. Two, I haven’t ‘raced’ an ultra marathon or even a marathon since I started grad school. Putting myself back into a position to race before Rio felt important to shake out the cobwebs and to (hopefully) gain some confidence. Third, and somewhat related to two, I often times feel like I don’t even know what I’m doing when it comes to setting my goals and shooting for them when it comes to running. Maybe I just lack confidence, but I have no clue how hard it is to run 100 miles in 18 hours. To be honest, that goal for Rio felt fast, ambitious, but attainable (a ‘goal’ if you will lol). I don’t know if it is going to be a stretch with my fitness to run that time or if that is well within my wheelhouse. My goals for both Rio and Virgil revolve around time, but those times historically have lead to podium finishes at both of these events. That intimidates me. I don’t think of myself as a very fast runner. A quick runner, yes, but out of my element when competing with those going for podiums and wins. It is a different mentality to compete against other runners than it is to solely compete against yourself.

Because of this, I was incredibly nervous heading into Virgil Crest. I wanted to finish between 10 to 11 hours, which would not only place me on the podium, but most likely give me a chance at winning the race. I’m still not sure if I was more nervous for going against competition, or if it’s more that being in the front of the pack can be a bit isolating. I knew at some point in this race I was going to suffer, but the idea of suffering alone for 50 miles was daunting. To be brief, I luckily didn’t have to suffer alone for most of the race; and, I left the race a lot more confident for Rio Del Lago than I was heading into Virgil. There’s a lot I think I should be proud of with Virgil Crest, and a lot I should be weary of with regards to Rio Del Lago. I’ll try and break the race down into sections:

1. My thoughts and training going into Virgil Crest
2. Loop 1: The “Mountain” Side
3. Loop 2: The “Other” Side
4. Loop 3: The “Mountain” Side
5. Final Thoughts

Virgil Crest

Virgil Crest Ultras hosted by Nichole and Vinny from Happily Running is a burly race no matter what distance you run. There are options from 10k up to 100 miles (161 km). I know I am missing a piece of the history of the course, but the gist I do know is that Ian Golden at some point used to be the race director for Virgil Crest ultras (under Red Newt Racing), but I believe retired the race due to a drop in interest in the race. That phrasing is a bit misleading, as I think it was more that there weren’t enough people signing up for the race to justify the amount of work there is to put it on each year. The race disappeared after 2015 until Happily Running picked it up and revived the race in 2021. As an aside, if you find yourself on the east coast sometime, check out the events put on by Happily Running and Red Newt Racing. Nichole, Vinny, and Ian are great people and deserve your support! You’ll be in for a gnarly, tough race, but a fun time regardless of distance with a great community. It’s worth it, and they deserve all the love they can get.

Gushing aside, Virgil Crest is very hard. The 50 mile option has about 11,000ft of vert that comes mostly from a couple punchy climbs coming over a ski slope at Greek Peak and a few longer sustained climbs along the Finger Lakes Trail, or en route to the Finger Lakes Trail. The single track is awesome though! Not like “California Carpet” of the Sierra’s and Marin Headlands, the Finger Lakes Trail tends to be very rooty with loose rocks with some eroded edges depending on where you’re at. It’s possible to get into a flow state, but you’ll have to look at your feet for most of the day to not get tripped up (which I did gracefully ~10 times).

The course is ran on 2 different loops:

1. The “Mountain” Side, which starts at Greek Peak and then runs the trails along Virgil Mountain behind the resort in a figure 8-esc fashion

and

1. The “Other” Side, which also starts at Greek Peak and then turns onto Carson Road to climb up to the Finger Lakes Trail and follows that for some time.

Some people absolutely love the “Other” side, and by some people I mean Vinny. I had run that section a few weeks before the race after it had rained a ton and I felt that it was super easy to get turned around in. I spent a ton of time just trying to stay on the trail and got caught up by a few fallen trees. Thankfully the course was marked incredibly well along that section (though I did miss like one section of trail), and the fallen trees that could be taken care of, were. I think I can see why people do love this section, it’s a bit mystical once you reach the trail. When I ran it, everything was wet, which gave it an eerie forest bog type of vibe. It feels like running through a fairy tale setting and at any moment you can find a witches hut, of which there is a somewhat ran down hikers shelter along the trail that does give off strong spoooooky vibes. The back half of the loop has a lot of vines growing along the trail. It makes the single track a bit claustrophobic but does feel much faster to gun through.

I prefer the “Mountain” side. The long climb up the Finger Lakes Trail to get to the power lines is somewhat steep but enjoyable (until you must do it a second time during the heat). In general, the trail feels more spread out and fluid than the “other” side. I felt that once the initial climb to get up to the power lines is done, the rest of the loop is very runnable and fast. Joe’s 8 aid station is well positioned in the loop after a hard first half to regain confidence before going out for the other portion of the figure 8 and then the return to Hurt Locker at the start/finish of the loop.

The Build Up

This is the first year since I’ve began my PhD that I’ve actually been able to put together a solid training block. I’m not sure if my coaches would agree or disagree, but this is probably the most solid year of effort I’ve dedicated to running since I ran Broken Arrow in 2021. I started my training block upon returning from Paris in April and have been consistently adding more mileage each month since. I was lucky to have been able to live in Truckee from April until the beginning of August, which really helped a ton in building my fitness. While I think April and May served as a re-introduction into running (and mountain running), I think I started to see major gains in my fitness overall around mid-June. I ended up leaving Truckee at the end of July with a gnarly 21 mile run with about 5000’ of vert, which I’m still super stoked about. That run proved to me that I can handle tough climbs, move consistently, and more importantly, that I was “in shape”.

In August I moved back to Ithaca. I took the month off of work to de-stress, dive into training, and work on some personal things. I was consistent with my training overall, but the terrain was completely different. See, Ithaca has a lot of rolling hills with a mixed terrain of trail to road. It’s a bit hard to go long in Ithaca without having some asphalt to run on, which is completely different than running in the Sierras. It’s still enjoyable, and I had a few real solid weeks of effort in August. I pushed a little too hard at some point though and almost injured myself after a 77-mile week, but thankfully it ended up not being anything major. I believe I signed up for Virgil Crest at the end of August after running about 190 miles on the month.

I didn’t have a huge taper for Virgil Crest in the weeks leading up to the race. I ran about 60 miles the week before the race, and then took race week super easy. When planning for Virgil, I tried to look a lot at the course profiles for both loops, and then really focused on my plan for nutrition during the race. It was a bit humorous as I was doing all this planning in my office on campus, while other grad-students were busy working. It’s kind of a stark contrast to see someone doing calculations on some geochemical framework and then their neighbor considering race strategies instead of actual work. In short, my focus was to try and average an intake of about 80-90 grams of carbs, 300ish calories, and 900 milligrams of sodium each hour of the race. The rationale for this was to see how my gut would react to such an intake and to see if this would be a viable strategy for Rio Del Lago in November.

During race week, I was incredibly nervous. I hadn’t run a race since Modesto Marathon in 2022! The thing I was mostly struggling with was a lack of confidence in my ability to execute during the race. I knew I was in shape, but I didn’t really know what kind of shape I was actually in. I had a goal time of initially between 9 to 10 hours, to which I changed to 10-11 hours the day before the race. This time would put me in contention to podium, if not win, which I have a hard time wrapping my head around. My goal time for Rio puts me in a similar situation, and it kind of terrifies me. I like to push myself and see what I can do, but I feel competing with myself is an entirely different mentality than competing against others. When I lay out goals that feel ambitious for myself, I get nervous that they may come off arrogant as I end up placing myself in a position to try and podium or win, when in reality I just want to know where the edge of my abilities goes. I strongly define myself as a “quick” runner, someone who can run hard and well but is not “fast” like the crazy elites in the field. A classic case of the local joe who can throw down if need to, but if someone like an Eli Hemming, or a Rod Farvard were to come around, would absolutely be gassed.

So I went into Virgil Crest, nervous, stressed, and excited, with the aim to work on 3 goals:

1. Test my fitness and see how my legs handle hard climbs on a long effort
2. Test my nutrition plan to see what I’d need to adjust before Rio rolls around
3. Try and keep it together enough to go sub 11 hours

Loop 1: “Mountain” Side

Race day started off pretty calmly. I got up at 4am, got dressed, and drove to the start. I ate most of a protein bar and had some electrolytes on the drive to Greek Peak.The race is pretty lowkey, so there was a bit of waiting around until Vinny clustered us around and sent off the 100 milers, 100k runners, and 50 milers at 6am.

I started the race in the front group with a couple of other 50 milers. There was one runner who started off the initial climb fairly quick, named Kevin, whom I met at the top of the first climb and ran down the backside of Greek Peak with. As an aside, the view of the sunrise on the top of Greek Peak was gorgeous, I kind of wished I stopped for half a second to grab a photo, but such is life. Kevin and I both had the same goal time of finishing, so we decided to work together for most of the day to try and stay on track. I was perfectly fine with this, since I didn’t want to run alone really anyways, and it is always more fun to share the trail with others. On the second climb up the Finger Lakes Trail after descending Greek Peak, another runner named Brendan joined us, and not long after that, we were joined by Carlos. The four of us ran pretty smoothly during the first loop. We were running fast, but controlled, with Kevin leading most of the time.

I was happy to have Kevin lead, as he’s been running Virgil Crest each year since it returned in 2021. He’s competed in I think each event aside from the 100 miler (hopefully I’ll get the chance to crew and or pace next year!). Carlos and Brendan both wanted to go sub-12 hours too as Carlos literally needed to be done by then so he could get home in time for his kids. Brendan was kind of a wild card, as he ran the race in I think 2014 (maybe 2013), but hadn’t really had a chance to get a ton of training for this year. It was a cool group to run with though, and our conversations I think kept the mood very light. It really helped to ease my nerves and settle into a groove that felt enjoyable. It gave the precedent that the day would be hard, but that we can work together as a team to try and keep spirits high. The day is already stressful enough, we didn’t need to give each other more grief.

We cruised together around the power line section of trail and moved solidly to the first aid station… which wasn’t set up yet. We were able to grab some water that was out, but I think we just were moving a little quicker than expected (or maybe it was just a little tough to get out there, either way, oops!), so the aid station didn’t have a whole lot to choose from. Thankfully it was super early into the race, so there wasn’t a whole lot to stress over with regards to that. We did the back half of the figure 8 and looped back to the aid station. This time we were able to grab some electrolyte, water, and some food before heading back to Greek Peak to complete the loop.

This is when the first major hiccup of the day occurred. Kevin saved me at one point where I just completely missed a turn after zoning out on a downhill, but once we all were back on the power line section of trail, the flagging became incredibly confusing. The flagging indicated a turn to go down a section of road, but after about a half mile of running there was no indication of whether we were going the correct way. We ended up turning back and then ran the section we thought was correct, but there was still not the much flagging indicating where we were supposed to go. So again, we turned around and ran down the road where the flags indicated the turn was. After probably another half mile trip down the road, we stopped. We really weren’t sure where to go and at this point had lost maybe 20 minutes on the route. Kevin, Brendan, and I decided to turn around the link back to the power lines before connecting the Finger Lakes Trail down. Carlos ended up going further down the road hoping to find some flags. I was very hesitant to leave Carlos alone. On one hand, you have to run your own race, on the other, it feels wrong to leave someone by themselves when no one is sure where to go. Thankfully he did make it back to the start, but a twisted ankle ended his day.

When Kevin, Brendan, and I made it back to the start, effectively ending loop 1, we saw the rest of the field running loops. We were really confused, but it turned out the rest of the field accidentally skipped the 4-mile portion of the figure 8 that we ran. As a result, they were making up the mileage back at the starting area. We let Vinny know about the flagging hiccup (and Carlos), before reloading our packs (I had a drop bag at the start full of nutrition for each loop) and heading out on the second loop.

Loop 2: “Other” Side

I first started having problems (aside directionally) coming down the backside of Greek Peak on the second loop. I started to have a side stitch, which made it difficult to run downhill. It also started to warm up a bit (I believe it was around 9:30-10 am when we started the second loop), which would add a lot of difficulty to the second loop. Particularly because the climb at the end of the loop, and the Carson Road climb to connect to the Finger Lakes Trail was entirely exposed. I found myself moving very well going up Carson Road. I had a solid cadence, even if not necessarily running, and my legs felt strong. I think my carb intake helped a lot in giving me energy, but I should have packed my own electrolyte mix instead of just relying on the race. Their drink mix wasn’t bad, but I personally feel it’s more of a carb mix than a salt mix. I just wasn’t getting enough sodium from it, even though I was literally only drinking that for most of the day. Each climb I’d find myself gapping Brendan and Kevin. They both were still in ear shot, but I definitely noticed that I was moving a bit smoother on the ups than they were.

Once we connected to the Finger Lakes Trail (after about a mile climb up Carson Road), Brendan got two major cramps in his hamstrings. I asked if he needed anything, but he just sent me on (it felt very dramatic in the moment, but he just needed sometime to reset). I started running a little bit on my own from then on. Kevin and I were still working together but I took lead most of the second loop after letting him lead the first. While the “Other” loop was marked well, there was a section I briefly missed, so we stuck close together to stick on trail. I was incredibly grateful to be running in a forest at this point, as it was noticeably hot. I began to feel kind of tired during this section, I think mostly from heat fatigue more so than anything else. As we worked along the trail, we navigated up to a road section (taking another section of trail where the tree blocked the path). This section was fairly nice as it had more consistent terrain. From the road, we then reconnected to another section of trail, which was covered in some vines and a little overgrown. It was here I discovered that spiders like to hang their webs specifically at face height for me, much to my enjoyment. I ran through so. many. spiderwebs. It was incredibly annoying.

I ended up getting to the aid station slightly ahead of Kevin. We both refueled our bottles, grabbed some food. I drank a little bit of coke, and had a banana, then we left the aid station together. The next section of trail I remember being flowy but kind of uneventful. It felt like a grind but was brief before returning to the aid station. I did let Kevin get his fair share of spiderwebs on this section though!

After returning to the aid station and having probably the mooshiest banana of my life, we started the return trip back to Greek Peak. This section was definitely a mixed bag. I felt the heat, felt the fatigue, felt the burliness of the course; but we also got to see the rest of the field which really helped my moral. It was cool to see everyone and cheer on all the other runners. I don’t know if they saw it as gloating, but to me it was a group suffer-fest, and it was nice to encourage others to keep pushing even if I felt like an dried out succulent. I think Kevin was moving much stronger than I on the return. At least while on the trail. I was able to stick with him, but I did feel like I was relying on him a bit until we got to the road. When we returned to Carson Road, the heat and asphalt were abysmal. By this time, it was at least 1pm, and the sun was directly overhead. It was nice to be going down Carson Road and not up at this point, but it really felt like there was nowhere to hide from the heat. We both decided to try and take a bit longer at the aid station to try and cool off and regain some energy before heading out on the “Mountain” side loop for the final time. It was also at this point that Kevin and I decided that if we ran the third loop together, that we would take the win together.

Then we hit the climb back into the resort, and that just about killed both of us. Again, I was moving faster on the ups than he was. I put another gap into him, even as I had to stop multiple times. I had to pep-talk myself a lot on the climb, and the phrase “ok Hunter! Let’s go, you got this” was spoken by myself a lot. After what felt like forever (basically 20ish minutes to climb 600’ over the course of a mile), I crested the top of the climb and tried to run walk the almost equally steep downhill. I ended up reaching the aid station maybe 3-5 minutes ahead of Kevin but felt gassed and ended up staying at the aid station about 15 minutes before forcing myself back on course. I wanted to wait for Kevin before starting, but I knew if I didn’t start then, I probably wouldn’t go back out again. Thankfully he was incredibly understanding about it. My body, on the other hand, wasn’t as considerate to me on the final loop.

Loop 3: Back on the “Mountain” Side

I remember checking my phone as I was starting the third and final loop and texting my friend “fuck man ultras are harddd”, which feels like such an understatement. I felt tired, but focused. Yet, I couldn’t eat anything, and I was still incredibly dehydrated. All I wanted when I left the aid station was either chicken broth or pickle juice, and to just stop burping. I was really going for the puke and rally approach, anything to put myself in a position to feel at least somewhat better.

The climb out of the aid station at the beginning of the third loop was rough. I was moving somewhat ok, but I didn’t have the energy to run. I also was scared, because as I was climbing, a runner who looked super fresh was bombing down to the aid station and I wasn’t sure if they were in the 50 miler or the 50km race. After cresting the top of Greek Peak and working down the other side of the mountain, I tried to move somewhat quicker, but the climb up the Finger Lakes Trail to the power lines was a slog. I think at this point I was moving between 20 to 30 minutes per mile, just hurting bad while trying my best. At one point I did throw up, which felt like a win, but I didn’t move really any faster. It was not until I got to the top of the climb that I was able to convince myself to run/walk more consistently. It was mostly out of fear of getting passed by anyone not named Kevin, but it did work to force me to move well.

This slog of run/walking continued for the next 3 miles until I finally reached the aid station. While there, I gave myself the chance to sit, eat some bacon, and chug about 8 ounces of pickle juice. Getting the salt I needed around mile 17 at mile 41 was pretty rough. Yet, it worked wonders on reviving me and getting me to a spot where I felt confident to move again. While I was trying to recoup at the aid station though, I was caught. Not by the blazing fast runner I saw bombing down to the aid station, and not by Kevin. I was caught by the front runner of the 100 mile race who was absolutely crushing the day! I was shook, but stoked to see another runner, so I left with her to start the next section of the loop. We shared probably about a mile before separating but sharing stories of the race and our back ground was really cool (what’s up with the amount of academics in ultra running?). She let me lead on to the trail section as she wasn’t moving that hot around the roots on the single track. Initially I thought she was just being kind (she was leading the 100 mile race and looked way stronger than I felt), but I did put a decent gap between us on that section. We were separated by about a minute by the time we got to the aid station again at mile 45.

While at the aid station, I drank another 4 ounces of pickle juice and another piece of bacon. I asked if any other 50 mile racers had passed through, to which I learned only Kevin was behind me. The volunteer said it was about a 20 minute difference from when I left that he arrived and that he looked somewhat in pain. Me. Too. I felt some mixed emotions at hearing that. I was hoping he’d catch up to me, but I was stoked the other runner was not in the 50 mile race. I also was filled with energy knowing that I had the win mostly secured. It may had been arrogant, but I texted my friend that I was on the home stretch, and that I was going to win.

The rest of the miles felt light. I worked the climbs best I could and was moving strong going down the Finger Lakes Trail. The pure stoke and joy I had at rebounding from the aid station and knowing the day was almost done, made me feel incredibly fresh again. I hit the road before the final climb (around mile 48.5) running at around a 9 minute pace per mile. In true Virgil Crest spirit, I was humbled again by the final climb, taking 14 minutes to get up to the top of the mountain, but once at the top I knew the day was wrapped. The only photo I took during the day was at the top of this final climb.

I hill bombed down the slope towards the finish, wrapping up the day after 11 hours and 45 minutes. Kevin ended up finishing second, about an hour after I finished. It was incredible to watch him finish, especially after such a difficult day. Maybe I’m being romantic but seeing someone else succeed after working your butt off with them for the entire day is a feeling of pure joy that is hard to capture. I’m still elated by that finish line feeling a little over a week since it happened.

After Thoughts

I view this race with mixed emotions when looking back at it. I am so happy to have had a strong day, where the only limitation was electrolyte intake. I do feel as though if I had managed the heat better, I could have gone faster. Also, with how my legs have been recovering since then, I probably could have worked the legs a bit more if I wanted to. With that considered though, I am happy to see where my fitness is at, stoked even. I think I am in a good position to do well at Rio Del Lago, what “well” looks like remains to be seen; but, to me it means in the ball park of my “A” goal of around 18 hours. I’m leaving Virgil Crest a bit more confident in my ability to push myself and to run consistently.

In terms of goals I listed at the start of this recap, I accomplished 2 out of 3. I did test both my fitness and my nutrition. My fitness feels solid, I’ll need to work to maintain it and build slightly before tapering again in a few weeks time. As for nutrition, I think I found a system that somewhat works, but electrolytes will need to be accounted for much more if I want even a remote chance of pushing myself on race day. I didn’t reach my goal time, but it is hard to not be content with how the entire day unfolded.

I think I should be more stoked about how the day went overall, and while I am happy, I do feel as though the job is not done. I still have about 5 weeks until Rio, and the stress of that race is taking a bit more precedent in my mind at the moment than the win.

What I can say though, is that I will be back to run Virgil Crest again in some capacity, and would encourage others to consider it too. I think the small field and comradery of the event is what ultra running is and should be about: community. Ultras are hard mannnn, but there is something comforting about seeing so many people push themselves to do something scary, something difficult. It may be masochistic, but to me it’s more bravery.

As always, I appreciate the support from my friends, family, and anyone who reached out with encouragement. It takes a village, and I know I didn’t run this alone. Thank you all so much! See you at Rio soon..

-Hunter