Running with Eric

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Category: Vale of Three Falls

Running the trails of Letchworth

On Sunday morning I ran the Vale of Three Falls 10k in Letchworth State Park. I finished the race in 61:40 which was just a few minutes slower than I ran the same course in 2018. Overall I wasn’t thrilled with the result, but I did finish comfortably in the top half of the field.

Having four years since I last ran this course, I had forgotten how much elevation this run had. As an out and back course with the entire first mile as a downhill, you at least know what to expect for the finish. I started off strong enough, but ended up walking the final hill before the turn around. But after the turn I was able to regain my pace, and only slowed down for a few stretches in that final uphill mile.

Also, Letchworth is just lovely.

My next race is the Buffalo Marathon in less than a week. Honestly I am a bit nervous about it as what I was hoping would be my marathon pace is a tad bit quicker than I ran this 10k. At least Buffalo is flat, but this upcoming 26.2 is going to be a real struggle.

Running through Letchworth

On Sunday I ran the Middle Falls 10K at Letchworth Park. I finished in 57:33, which due to the elevation was a decent time and put me into 17th overall.

The course was an out and back and started off aggressively downhill. I was running in the top six for the first mile, and while I knew that it was an unsustainable pace the downhills made it feel easy. I reached the half way point in 15th, and if not for a steep uphill for the last quarter mile, I would have put together a fantastic split time.

Of course when an out and back starts out downhill, you have to run back up for the second half. While I had expected half the field to pass me on the way back, instead I held my own, not seeing anyone at all until two runners passed me in the final half mile. I was happy with how I did in this race, particularly because I hadn’t decided to enter the run until I decided that I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to go to Letchworth.

My next race is the Corporate Challenge tomorrow night in downtown Rochester…