Sleeping Giant Trail Runs 50K - Race Report

The Sleeping Giant Trail Runs 50K, put on by Steep Endurance, took place on March 30^th, at Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, Connecticut approximately 50 minutes from my apartment in Stamford. I had this race circled on my calendar for a while, and it was my first Ultra of the season after spending the winter in base building mode after NYC Trail Mix 50K in November. Sleeping Giant Trail Runs 50K was intended to be a stepping stone to my “A” race of the year, which is the Vermont 100 Mile in July in West Windsor! Unfortunately, my body had other plans, picking up the flu a week out from the race and rendering me less than 100% healthy at the starting line. It wasn’t until I sat and wrote this report, two weeks post-race, that I can really appreciate how limited my lungs were for this one, as the race was on Sunday, and I did not start turning a corner until Thursday of race week. Still, I had signed up for this race with a number of friends, including Skyler Silsdorf, Alex Hauer, and Ed Bonessi running the 50K, and then my good friend Mike Magarian running the 25K. Illness or not, there was nothing going to stand in my way of the start line.

On race morning, I arrived at Sleeping Giant State Park at approximately 6:15 AM, lingering in my car for a few minutes as the low 40s temperature with wind gusts, while not exceptionally cold, still cut through my layers of clothing. After gathering myself, I headed up to check-in to pick up my bib and to spot my drop bag. As the race was a two-lap course, I prepared all of my gear ready for the interloop period to refuel. Shortly after, I met up with my three friends and we huddled around the starting area before gathering shortly after 7:00 AM for pre-race announcements. After a few announcements, we were off and running!

Start Line!

Immediately, the race started off fast, as we had only a quarter mile section of asphalt that would allow the race to thin out before entering the single-track trail. I had aspirations of staying close to a local regular of Sleeping Giant State Park, Lee Davis, who knew the course exceptionally well, but he took off like a rocket, and it quickly became apparent I was going to have to run with a more conservative approach and keep my head down. Sleeping Giant State Park is known for its hellacious trails, long scrambles, sheer descents and extremely rocky, and technical terrain. Not to mention the nearly 7,500 feet of elevation gain that we would tackle over the 50K race. Settling in to the first mile, my heart rate felt sky-high, already pushing the 160s as I tried to get a feel for the competitors and avoid putting myself in no-mans land early. I quickly settled into fourth place, with Tobias Tello and another runner just ahead, and with Justin Kousky, one of the best ultrarunners in the Northeast, and probably the best ultrarunner in Connecticut, stalking behind us in fifth. I had figured that he and Lee Davis would be my main competitors for the day, so I was a bit surprised to find myself pretty much in fifth place early. The first five miles of the loop are mostly runnable rolling singletrack except for a few technical small rock scrambles, and I found myself running in a fairly tight pack with Tobias, Justin, and the other runner, with Lee already pushing a minute or two ahead of us. Normally, it takes me a couple miles to settle into a rhythm but today, as we approached the first aid station, it was not happening as quickly. I had tried to make a move around Tobias and the other runner at Mile 4 as we approached the first aid station, going around briefly, but I was then fended off. For a fairly technical trail we were moving though the first five miles as we passed the first aid station at about an 8:30 average pace, but we were about to hit the Headwall Climb, which was a lung busting rock scramble of 500 feet in just 0.3 miles. And what a rock scramble it was.

Headwall Climb – 1 – Mile 5.0, 5^th Place, 43:02 Total Time

On to the Singletrack!

I consider myself to be a fairly experienced technical runner and I handle elevation gain well, but I feel like I still have some work to do the way that Tobias, Justin, and the other runner pulled away from me over the next two miles as we got through the meat of climbs. Even with Hoka Speedgoats on, I was still slipping and sliding on the ascents, and, more dangerously, the descents, already having taken and shaken off a hard fall. Where I really lost traction though was on the sheer descents, where one wrong step means you fall fifteen feet and land on your head. There is a certain combination of technical expertise and also fearlessness that it takes to really excel on this type of terrain.

A few more technical ups and downs awaited us before we turned towards the southern end of the park, briefly bisecting the Tower Trail, which we would finish the loop steamrolling down. We moved to the east now on the Yellow Trail, with slightly less technical terrain and some rolling singletrack trails, which allowed me to open up and close the gap on the three runners ahead putting them back in eyeshot, before we arrived at Chestnut Trailhead, the location of the eight-mile aid station. I quickly grabbed refuels on both my Tailwind and my water, and inquired about positioning, with Tobias about thirty seconds ahead, and Justin and the other runner approximately a minute ahead.

Chestnut Trailhead (Yellow Trail) – 1 – Mile 7.8, 5^th Place, 1:25:55

At Mile 9, we approached our next big climb, with the forest opening up, allowing me to see the three ahead of me marching up the second longest ascent on the course. I was closing on Tobias, but not by much, as Justin and the other runner were pulling away slightly. Overall, I was feeling quite weak on both the hard climbs and the super technical descents, feeling my strongest on the slightly more flowy singletracks, when he had it. Overall, not a super great way to be feeling on a course like this, which was way more on the technical side, especially the middle portion of the Yellow Trail, between Mile 8-11, which was the slowest and most technical section of the race. Shockingly, I actually caught Tobias during this section at Mile 11 right as we began to approach the White Trail, which was a mile or so of faster terrain before hitting the same aid station at the Chestnut Trailhead at Mile 12 for the second time.

Chestnut Trailhead (Blue Trail) – 1 – Mile 11.6, 4^th Place, 2:10:10

Top of the Headwall Climb!

I refueled again, with Tobias about thirty seconds behind, as I began the two-mile climb up to the top of the park via the Blue Trail, where we would then pop out on the Tower Trail and begin our descent back to the start of the race at the Pavilion. Overall, I found this section of the trail, while still challenging, to be a big mental boost, knowing I only had two miles of climbing until the top of the park. Generally, I would say this was one of the most technical trails I have ever run on, somewhere between the Middlesex Fells and Skyline Trail up in Boston, leaning more towards the composition of the Skyline Trail. Finally, I could see the break in the tree line and the Observation Tower up ahead as I pulled off of the technical Blue Trail onto the graded, soft gravel, Tower Trail, balancing the need to try and catch my breath and regain my composure with needing to take advantage of the fastest terrain of the course, which dropped 500 feet over the next mile and a half. And fast it was, as I came through Mile 15 in 6:56 and began to approach the short uphill climb to the pavilion. I crossed into the drop bag area at Mile 15.5 in 2:47:21, spending about a minute and a half refilling my bottles and dropping off a jacket from my pack. Inquiring about Justin and Lee, I was told that Lee had come through about 13 minutes ago, and Justin about 9 minutes ago. The other runner who was ahead had seemingly gone off course, which now put me in third place. As I was leaving the Pavilion, Tobias was just coming in, giving me about a minute or so gap over him.  

Pavilion – 1 – Mile 15.4, 3^rd Place, 2:47:21

I began the second loop feeling remarkably average, not able to take advantage of the more runnable terrain that was presented here, which actually had become quite muddy as over 200 runners from the 25K, which started 30 minutes after the 50K, had stampeded through the trail. I have generally hit a rough spot between Mile 16-19 in 50Ks, and this was no different. There is something about starting that second loop and leaving the Pavilion that just makes you feel so far away from the finish. My legs felt like cement as I approached the Headwall Climb at Mile 20 for the second time, with Tobias now gaining ground on me only thirty to forty-five seconds back as I could feel him continue to stalk. 

Headwall Climb – 2 – Mile 20.5, 3^rd Place, 3:47:19

Rounding out the top of the Headwall Climb, my legs felt shot and my navigating of the sheer descents continued to deteriorate, as I took a very hard fall on my thigh at Mile 22 and had to limp it off. After that point, my descending took a giant hit, as Tobias finally caught and passed me hard on the next climb, which I had zero response for. He probably put a minute on me over a tenth of a mile rock descent as he was a much, much better technical descender. Within a span of two minutes, I had practically watched him disappear from eyesight. Moving into the Chestnut Trailhead aid station at Mile 24 I was feeling pretty deflated sitting in fourth place as Tobias had moved 2-3 minutes ahead of me and Lee and Justin continued to pour on a 20+ minute gap at this point.

Chestnut Trailhead (Yellow Trail) – 2 – Mile 23.4, 4^th Place, 4:26:21

Leaving the aid station, I knew I just needed to see myself through the challenging portion of the Yellow Trail and get to marathon mark and mentally regroup. These were certainly slow miles, my slowest of the day, and undoubtedly where I lost the most time. However, I was fueling well, and when I had the less technical singletrack I was really rolling. Approaching Mile 27 at the White Trail as the terrain eased up,  I was beginning to get something of a second wind, running hard to the Chestnut Trailhead Aid Station at Mile 28 for the last time. It was there I actually saw a family member, Brian Stiewing, who I knew would be volunteering here, which was a big mental boost! As he refueled my water and my Tailwind, he told me that Tobias had about a five-minute gap on me.

Chestnut Trailhead (Blue Trail) – 2 – Mile 27.3, 4^th Place, 5:20:53

Finish!

I set off from the aid station feeling renewed and determined to see how much of the gap I could close. At this point, I was beginning to pass up slower runners from the 25K, who were an incredible tracking tool for me as I pushed, and were proof that I was closing down, albeit slowly. First it was five minutes, then it was four minutes, then two minutes. I was working super hard, enacting a delicate balance of trying to close ground while also leaving something for what I felt like had the probability of turning into a fast finish down the Tower Trail. My legs were screaming on the final rock scramble up to the Observation Tower and I got my last beat on Tobias right at this point as I neared the Tower Trail, which was that he was about a minute ahead. In fact, I hit the Tower Trail down by approximately a minute and ten seconds, but quickly poured on the speed, running at an upper five-minute pace as I was rounding each corner hoping to see him in my sights. I was about a half mile in, with little more than a mile in the race with no Tobias in site, starting to get deflated when I rounded the next corner and saw him approximately 30 seconds ahead. My adrenaline surge kicked in as I closed the next half mile at 2:35 (and fastest quarter mile in 1:16) as I was screaming down the Tower Trail. I finally caught up to Tobias with about a half mile to go before we hit the open field up towards the Pavilion and I was worried I had spent myself, as he put in a surge as soon as I caught up, which I was barely able to cover. However, when you go hard like this, you have to go for broke, and I sped up forming a small gap as I did not want to make this a sprint finish uphill across the open field. Finally, I hit the end of the Tower Trail with the finish line less than a quarter mile to the finish with only the uphill across the grass field ahead. I was completely spent but refused to look back as I powered for home, basically falling across the finish line to finish third place overall in 5:55:13, with Tobias only 27 seconds back. I had covered my last mile in 5:23, which was a new record mile for me in an ultra, and it only came at Mile 31!

Pavilion – 2 – Mile 30.9, 3^rd Place, 5:55:13

Podium with Justin and Lee

I gathered myself, congratulating Tobias on an absolutely fantastic race and battle all day for third place. Based on my research and talking to him, Tobias is a beast of a runner, completing some of the most technical 100 Miler’s on the East Coast, one’s I am still dreaming of. Despite being in his early 20’s, he has an insane number of ultra finishes, dating back to his first one at only 14 years old. I wish I had gotten the opportunity to talk to him a bit longer! While I was very happy to have pulled off third place, especially coming off the flu, I had wished that the gap to Justin, who ended up winning in 5:12:47, and Lee, who came in second in 5:27:04 had been closer. Still, as I sit here typing this two weeks later, it has taken me that addition two weeks for my lungs to feel back to 100%, so I am pretty proud of the fight I put up in a less-than-ideal situation.

I hung around at the Pavilion for the next couple hours watching runners come in, including my friends Ed Bonessi at 7:37:29 and Skyler and Alex Hauer coming through in 8:49:46. Overall, this was a great new addition from Steep Endurance to its racing series and I can’t wait to be back here attacking the Sleeping Giants trails again in the future. Next up is the Canyons 50K by UTMB out in California on April 26^th, followed by the Cayuga Trails 50 Mile in Ithica, New York on May 31^st!

With Skyler and Hauer Pre-Race

 

  

NYC Trail Mix 50K - First Overall & Course Record

The NYC Trail Mix 50K/50 Mile, put on by Redpoint Productions, took place on November 16th at the Greenbelt Conservatory on Staten Island, approximately one hour from my apartment in Stamford, Connecticut. I had been introduced to this race by a friend who had completed the 50 Mile last year, and who signed up again for the 50 Mile this year. While I had not originally intended to enter this race, a failed attempt at 100 Miles at the Ghost Train 30-Hour Ultramarathon in Milford, New Hampshire on October 20th had left a very bitter taste in my month and had created a desire to end the racing season on a high note. As such, I had registered for this race within two days of my failure at Ghost Train, which had resulted in me tapping out at 75 Miles after approximately 14 hours.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this one. It represented the culmination of a year that had already included four ultramarathons and two marathons, three of those races which had taken place in the last two and half months. And, to top it off, race week brought with it a grizzly chest cold that nearly had me pulling out of the race before I even reached the start line. Needless to say, when I left my apartment at five in the morning to drive down to Staten Island, I felt anything but confident.

NYC Trail Mix 50K/50 Mile by Redpoint Productions!

I arrived at the Greenbelt Conservatory at approximately 6:10 AM, having just missed the start of the 50 Mile, which began ten minutes earlier. Thankfully, it was a relatively neutral weather day for mid-November with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees at the start with a bit of gusting wind. As I worked through my pre-racing routine, I considered my pacing strategy and fueling strategy, and whether I might be able to target the 4:10:31 course record set in the inaugural year of the race last year. While this was the initial target, I did not know what to expect from the course, which I had been told was fairly runnable, or how my legs or my lungs would react until I was out there. As the minutes ticked down to 7:00 AM, we began to line up at the start line, and, after a few words, we were off.

Start Line

Pretty much right from the gun, I settled into first place, moving from the short opening at the start line into the narrower single/double track trail which was relatively smooth, but fairly undulating. Packed with pine needles and not very many rocks or routes, my initial impression was that it felt fast, which a 7:37 first mile confirmed, however, I could tell I definitely did not feel comfortable early on. For the 50K, we would be completing two laps of a 15+ Mile loop. Tracking in my shadow for the first several miles was 31-year-old Kristoffer Mack. While I felt like he wanted to move by me within the first mile or two, he never did, though, I had secretly hoped he would as I felt like I was running more to not get passed rather than running to settle into a rhythm. The first several miles of this course, working our way to the first aid station at Mile 3.6, High Rock, featured a few rolling climbs, which continued to take me out of my rhythm and pushed my heart rate higher than I had wanted. Kristoffer and I rolled into the first aid station at approximately 28 minutes. I paused for a few seconds to grab a handful of chips while he continued on, taking the lead.

High Rock – 1 – Mile 3.6, 1st Place, 28:44 Total Time

A Mile In.

Given that this race was not necessarily an “A’ race for me, I saw it as a great opportunity to work on refining my nutrition strategy. Historically, I have a very poor track record with gels, which do nothing but give me nausea by the fourth one I’ve taken, so for this race, at the recommendation of a friend, I was taking Precision Fuel 30g Carb Chews, which were basically akin to Turkish Delight. In a couple practice runs these chews had worked well for me and were much more tolerable than gels. The plan for each 15 Mile loop was to take 50-75 grams of carbs via Tailwind and 60 grams of carbs via Precision Fuel Chews, for approximately 60 grams of carbs an hour over four hours.

I departed the aid station with approximately a fifteen second gap back to Kristoffer, which, over the next mile on a wider fire road, I had managed to close back down. At the same time, we had another runner, who I could tell had been stalking us since the start, catch up to us about five miles in. I thought that he was working hard, and I also wanted to see what type of reaction Kristoffer would have, so I slowed our pace down and allowed the other runner to catch up to us before putting on a very significant surge for about thirty seconds. To my dismay, this seems to do very little, with both Kristoffer and the other runner closing back down on me over the next half mile. At about Mile 6, we went through probably the coolest two parts of the course, the first of which was a quarter-mile elevated switchback bridge, and the second of which was an opening along a ridgeline which opened up to the Richmond County Country Club with views of the Long Island Sound. While Staten Island may get a bad rap at times, I must say that this course overall was absolutely gorgeous, and I never would have anticipated trails like these on Staten Island. Mile 7-9 saw Kristoffer, me, and the other runner take turns controlling the lead, still, with each of us more content at this early stage to let someone else do the leading than to lead. I definitely felt like I was working very hard early, my heart rate continuing to hover in the upper 160s, which was close to the danger zone of above 170 bpm that I try to avoid at all costs early in ultras. By Mile 9, Kristoffer and I had dropped the other runner, and, as we approached the second aid station at Mile 10.1, La Tourette, he had begun to gap me as we exited the single-track trail momentarily and entered some faster paved road within the conservatory. After one road crossing, we approached the second aid station at approximately an hour and twenty minutes, where I had stopped to refuel my bottle, but Kristoffer went on. As I left the aid station with Kristoffer’s lead sitting at about thirty or forty seconds, I had to tell myself to calm down, run my own race, and that there were still twenty miles to go. In the past, telling myself “there are still twenty miles to go” having just been gapped and having not felt the greatest to this point in the race would have been more mentally fatiguing than calming to me, but the fact that I looked at this as a positive, rather than a negative, is a testament to the strength and endurance I have built this year that I have not necessarily had in the past. And, with two recent races within the last two months at 67 Miles and 75 Miles, I was confident in my ability to get through 50K without issue.

La Tourette – 1 – Mile 10.1, 2nd Place, 1:20:36 Total Time

A Few Miles In; Kristoffer Still Hot on My Trail.

Over the next mile, I really began to settle into my first rhythm of the race. It felt like it had taken me nearly ten miles with the cold weather and working through the remnants of the chest cold to truly warm up. The third stanza of the loops, like the first stanza, featured a number of rolling hills, though none of which were “unrunnable”, as well as some flatter more open portions of double trail. I was gradually beginning to close on Kristoffer as we went up the steepest climb of the race, and, after a steep downhill that opened into flatter double trail, I had closed the gap. We ran together silently for a minute before entering more single track where we began chatting and introducing ourselves for several minutes before shifting back to the task at hand. Over the next two miles of undulating narrow single track, I had begun to pull away ever so slightly. Nothing that bordered on an intentional move, but rather a much more subtle slow drift, like the two ends of a piece of gum being stretched thinner and thinner until it snapped. After a bit more winding single-track, I popped out onto a flat double track that ran along side the La Tourette Golf Course, which was approximately a mile from start and finish area. I was still working hard with the heart rate still redlining against 170 bpm, but for the first time I was beginning to feel good. About a half mile from the end of the first loop I got a much-needed burst of energy, seeing my friend Skyler who was also finishing up his first loop of the 50 Miler.

Nature Center – 1 – Mile 15.4, 1st Place, 2:01:13 Total Time

Finally, I rolled through the start and finish area at 2:01:13, with Kristoffer just behind at 2:01:53. I grabbed my Tailwind bottle for the second loop and was off within thirty seconds, trying to prevent Kristoffer from narrowing the gap through the aid station. Miles 16 and 17 were fueled by the adrenaline of beginning the second loop, but by the time I approached Mile 18, nearing the High Rock aid station for the second time, I just started to feel gassed after having worked through a few of the bigger climbs of the course. Coming through High Rock 2:30:24, I stopped briefly to refill my quickly depleted bottle with the races Nuun electrolyte mix, planning to further increase my carbohydrate and fluid intake for the second lap. Historically, I have had a hard time with sugar-based calories during ultras, but I am trying to take a page out of the David Roche playbook and increase my tolerance for carbohydrate intake during races, and the limited practice I have had this year has already been successful. I left High Rock sitting on an approximately 1:40 lead, trying to hold the gap through the second stage of the course and fight the fatigue setting into my legs, knowing that I may be letting the course record target of 4:10:31 start to slip.

High Rock – 2 – Mile 19.0, 1st Place, 2:30:24 Total Time

Second Lap.

I rolled through the elevated switchback bridge for the second time, keeping my eye on bridge as I doubled back on the trail looking for Kristoffer coming down, but I did not see him. With my focus off the trail, I took my only wrong turn of the day, missing a flag at a critical intersection and having to double back, losing about 30 seconds. As I approached the ridgeline for the second time around Mile 22, I could feel a subtle change coming over me. I had just taken my third Precision Fuel chew and had steadily increased my fluid intake, and my legs were starting to respond and now felt much better than they had the first few miles of the second lap. Through 75% of the race, I was sitting at about 3:03:23 and on pace for a 4:05 – 4:07 finish but knew I would need to fight for it the last quarter for the race for a shot at the course record.

I continued to work my way through the switchbacks and inclines over the next several miles as I approached the La Tourette aid station for a second time. I powered through some of my quickest miles of the day from Miles 23-25 between High Rock and La Tourette, splitting in the 7:40s on the winding trail. I hit the faster paved road again and rolled into La Tourette at Mile 25.5 in 3:23, stopping for less than 10 seconds to refill my bottle. I knew the course record was mine if I could finish the last five miles in about 47 Minutes, and at that point I was thinking more about sub 4:00 than I was about 4:10.

La Tourette – 2 – Mile 25.5, 1st Place, 3:23:05 Total Time

On My Way to High Rock Aid Station.

I left La Tourette and entered more switchbacks and inclines, continuing to go by runners in the 50 Mile and the half marathon that had started a few hours later. I again made my way towards the steepest climb of the race, taking my final Precision Fuel chew after cresting, and then entered the flatter double trail before the final two miles of single tracks. While I was working hard here, the constant undulation of the single track was slowing me down and with two miles to go sub 4:00 seemed out the door, but I continued to push the pace through the trail before finally hitting the gravel path along the La Tourette Golf Course with a mile to go. The last mile I battled the headwind and slight uphill all the way down the final stretch, my heart rate now up to 180 bpm, but I ended up hitting my fastest mile of the day on the last mile. With a quarter mile to go, I could see the finish line ahead, and I began to kick it in to finally cross the finish line in 4:03:16 for the win and course record!

Nature Center – 2 – Mile 30.8, 1st Place, 4:03:16 Total Time

I ended up splitting nearly dead even on my two laps, running 2:01:13 on the first lap, and 2:02:03 on the second lap. While I had only put seven minutes on Kristoffer through La Tourette at Mile 25.5, I put another seven minutes on him between that aid station and the finish, as Kristoffer ran a great race to finish second in 4:17:11. Overall, this was a fantastic event put on by Red Point Productions and I am very excited to give their Laurel Highlands 70 Miler a try in the future, which is a qualifier for the Western States Endurance Run. I also want to give a shout out to Jordan Buck who crushed the 50 Mile in a course record of 7:29:24 and to my friend Skyler Silsdorf who finished 12th Overall in 10:02:16! Finally, it was super cool to get a shout out from iRunFar on their article: “This Week In Running: November 18, 2024”.

https://www.irunfar.com/this-week-in-running-november-18-2024#disqus_thread