Lime Kiln Races- Choose Your Own Adventure
Half-marathon start
8.12.16
~Kellie McGuire with Laura Kline
The 2016 Lime Kiln Races offered a choose your own running-adventure at Williams Lake. Race directors
Jason Friedman and Ian Ridgeway, of Red Newt Racing, plotted three different race courses through the trails in Rosendale.
Runners got to choose to do a half marathon, a 10k, or a 5k, all three, or some other combination of the three.
The half marathon went off first and had the most finishers.
“We had, I think 70 runners total. Of that, we had the most finishers in the half marathon, 50, and 10K 48. Only 38 made it through the 5K--people were getting pretty tired by the end! We had 30 people finish all three races,” Friedman said.
Complete results here.
Local runners came out for the races, and folks traveled from Connecticut and NYC to camp, swim, run and party in the cave.
Many runners were part of the Mountain Peak Fitness Team and many had run the notorious Escapement Trail Run just six days before.
Laura Kline, local badass multi-sport athlete, came in second female at Escarpment and toed the line Saturday morning for all three Lime Kiln races.
“I love the 3 race format – the challenge of tackling 3 events with little recovery time between each,” Kline said about the race.
This is how Kline describes her race-
~Kellie McGuire with Laura Kline
The 2016 Lime Kiln Races offered a choose your own running-adventure at Williams Lake. Race directors
Jason Friedman and Ian Ridgeway, of Red Newt Racing, plotted three different race courses through the trails in Rosendale.
Runners got to choose to do a half marathon, a 10k, or a 5k, all three, or some other combination of the three.
The half marathon went off first and had the most finishers.
“We had, I think 70 runners total. Of that, we had the most finishers in the half marathon, 50, and 10K 48. Only 38 made it through the 5K--people were getting pretty tired by the end! We had 30 people finish all three races,” Friedman said.
Complete results here.
Local runners came out for the races, and folks traveled from Connecticut and NYC to camp, swim, run and party in the cave.
Many runners were part of the Mountain Peak Fitness Team and many had run the notorious Escapement Trail Run just six days before.
Laura Kline, local badass multi-sport athlete, came in second female at Escarpment and toed the line Saturday morning for all three Lime Kiln races.
“I love the 3 race format – the challenge of tackling 3 events with little recovery time between each,” Kline said about the race.
This is how Kline describes her race-
Kline entering the cave. Photo: The Ascend Collective
Despite this being a local event I was not familiar with the trails – only the public rail trail which the courses utilized. Knowing that I shouldn’t expect too much from my body only a week out from Escarpment I had a plan to run ‘only as fast as needed’ to win all 3 events. I don’t know who I thought I was kidding – no matter what the race I have a hard time approaching it with that kind of casual attitude. Lined up by the lime kiln that the event was named after, with Ian’s ram horn send-off I ran mile 1 of the half marathon at 6:44 pace. We started on the flat rail trail so it was justified but I realized my “take it easy” plan was a joke. It didn’t help that Syracuse Track Club teammate Jade Mills showed up to race as well so I had some tough competition!
I’m not going to lie – I was feeling really tired during the half and although I knew I would complete all 3 races I was starting to dread how the other two would feel. As these thoughts crept in I decided it would be best to back off in hopes of saving something in the tank for later. I had been running with Mike Siudy but as we were caught by another competitor I let the two of them duke it out while I started my “cool down”. Hitting the last aid station Phil let me know there was one more mile to the finish line. I looked down at my watch knowing that couldn’t be right. Was Phil being mean with this foolery or did I miss something? It turns out there was some mismarking of the course making it 2 miles short. I was not at all let down by this. I crossed the line in 1:34:56, grabbed my Vega recovery drink, and straight to the lake with the other finishers to cool off before preparing for the 10k that would start in 80 minutes.
I recovered quickly and lined up for the 10k. This time we started in the opposite direction as this race would cover the 2nd half of the half marathon course. I felt totally recharged during the opening miles and before I knew it my watch hit mile 4 and I looked down to see that I was averaging a sub-8 pace. Since my “cool-down” miles worked well for me in the first race I decided to use this tactic again and backed it off to finish the 10k in 51:05. The temps were really heating up so I mixed a bottle of Skratch Labs Hyper Hydration and back to the lake I went for my cooldown. 1 hour and 1 race to go!
Lining up that last time for the 5k I was definitely feeling tired but pumped to finish the last race of the day. My stomach was growling from eating only a slice of watermelon and grapes between the races – I realized that maybe a gel before this final race would’ve been a good idea. Luckily it was a short one. The final race would traverse sections of both the first race and the 10k. I really enjoyed the change-up of each course but also appreciated that each race ran us through the cave.
The day was hot and humid-that drained many of the runners. The rain held off except for a downpour around 2 o’clock.
“It was a very hot day, high 80s and pretty humid, which was great for swimming in the lake but I know took its toll on the runners,” Friedman acknowledged.
After the running the weekend adventure included minimalist camping at Williams Lake and BBQ from Arkansas Tom in Tillson for dinner Saturday night with family friendly live music by bluegrass musician Brian Hollander. Later that night there was a dance party in the cave which was now lit.
“It was cool to actually see what we were running through all day!” Kline said.
Over all-
“We got a lot of great feedback. People really enjoyed the trails, the camping aspect, and the party in the cave, which was amazing. I think people seemed to really enjoy the three races as well, just as an interesting change in format from what you usually see,” Friedman said.
Yes, an annual event is definitely a possibility…
I’m not going to lie – I was feeling really tired during the half and although I knew I would complete all 3 races I was starting to dread how the other two would feel. As these thoughts crept in I decided it would be best to back off in hopes of saving something in the tank for later. I had been running with Mike Siudy but as we were caught by another competitor I let the two of them duke it out while I started my “cool down”. Hitting the last aid station Phil let me know there was one more mile to the finish line. I looked down at my watch knowing that couldn’t be right. Was Phil being mean with this foolery or did I miss something? It turns out there was some mismarking of the course making it 2 miles short. I was not at all let down by this. I crossed the line in 1:34:56, grabbed my Vega recovery drink, and straight to the lake with the other finishers to cool off before preparing for the 10k that would start in 80 minutes.
I recovered quickly and lined up for the 10k. This time we started in the opposite direction as this race would cover the 2nd half of the half marathon course. I felt totally recharged during the opening miles and before I knew it my watch hit mile 4 and I looked down to see that I was averaging a sub-8 pace. Since my “cool-down” miles worked well for me in the first race I decided to use this tactic again and backed it off to finish the 10k in 51:05. The temps were really heating up so I mixed a bottle of Skratch Labs Hyper Hydration and back to the lake I went for my cooldown. 1 hour and 1 race to go!
Lining up that last time for the 5k I was definitely feeling tired but pumped to finish the last race of the day. My stomach was growling from eating only a slice of watermelon and grapes between the races – I realized that maybe a gel before this final race would’ve been a good idea. Luckily it was a short one. The final race would traverse sections of both the first race and the 10k. I really enjoyed the change-up of each course but also appreciated that each race ran us through the cave.
The day was hot and humid-that drained many of the runners. The rain held off except for a downpour around 2 o’clock.
“It was a very hot day, high 80s and pretty humid, which was great for swimming in the lake but I know took its toll on the runners,” Friedman acknowledged.
After the running the weekend adventure included minimalist camping at Williams Lake and BBQ from Arkansas Tom in Tillson for dinner Saturday night with family friendly live music by bluegrass musician Brian Hollander. Later that night there was a dance party in the cave which was now lit.
“It was cool to actually see what we were running through all day!” Kline said.
Over all-
“We got a lot of great feedback. People really enjoyed the trails, the camping aspect, and the party in the cave, which was amazing. I think people seemed to really enjoy the three races as well, just as an interesting change in format from what you usually see,” Friedman said.
Yes, an annual event is definitely a possibility…
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