The Palisades Cliffhanger Half Marathon 2017
6.12.17
By Yasia Zinko Sorbo
It was hot! The weather on Saturday, June 10, 2017, was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky with nice, hot temps in the upper 80’s, the conditions were perfect for the beach but not conducive for racing. Thank God it was a trail race, and we had the covering of the trees to keep us cooler.
A bunch of runners from the Staten Island Athletic Club (SIAC) decided to explore the trails in the Palisades area by signing up for a trail race- The Palisades Cliffhanger Half Marathon. The course seemed relatively easy, on paper, with the only challenge being the giant stairs. The location for this race was the State Line Lookout in Palisades Interstate Park, where New Jersey and New York state meet, about an hour away from home.
The race started half a mile down Old Highway 9W off the State Line Lookout parking lot. We were told the course followed aqua, red, white, and back to aqua trail blazed. The course was marked with pink ribbons, and there was to be a water station about mile 7. We were told the race is pretty flat and the only concern was the giant stairs. It was very basic, very locally inclined, without any “official” start line.
By Yasia Zinko Sorbo
It was hot! The weather on Saturday, June 10, 2017, was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky with nice, hot temps in the upper 80’s, the conditions were perfect for the beach but not conducive for racing. Thank God it was a trail race, and we had the covering of the trees to keep us cooler.
A bunch of runners from the Staten Island Athletic Club (SIAC) decided to explore the trails in the Palisades area by signing up for a trail race- The Palisades Cliffhanger Half Marathon. The course seemed relatively easy, on paper, with the only challenge being the giant stairs. The location for this race was the State Line Lookout in Palisades Interstate Park, where New Jersey and New York state meet, about an hour away from home.
The race started half a mile down Old Highway 9W off the State Line Lookout parking lot. We were told the course followed aqua, red, white, and back to aqua trail blazed. The course was marked with pink ribbons, and there was to be a water station about mile 7. We were told the race is pretty flat and the only concern was the giant stairs. It was very basic, very locally inclined, without any “official” start line.
So just like that, we're off.
So just like that, we're off. Up the closed highway, past the parking lot, and onto the trails. Simple enough, right? Once we enter the woods, runners disperse according to their speed and thin out. I start pacing the guy in front of me who informs me he ran this course two weeks before.
Stay with this guy 'cause he knows where to go. I guess if he's run this course he’ll know where to go and which turns to make, which were supposed to be marked.
Well, that’s where things kinda went sour. I see a cool arch and decide to stop to take a pic with the intention of following the trail to the left, but as I take the picture, I notice a faint pink ribbon on the other side of the arch. Duh, I’m supposed to follow thru that. Shouldn’t there have been a ribbon outside the arch to let me know to go there? Ok. Here I go.
Stay with this guy 'cause he knows where to go. I guess if he's run this course he’ll know where to go and which turns to make, which were supposed to be marked.
Well, that’s where things kinda went sour. I see a cool arch and decide to stop to take a pic with the intention of following the trail to the left, but as I take the picture, I notice a faint pink ribbon on the other side of the arch. Duh, I’m supposed to follow thru that. Shouldn’t there have been a ribbon outside the arch to let me know to go there? Ok. Here I go.
Oh great, I caught up to my pacer. I’m on the right track. Following the aqua trail, we come out of the woods past the biking checkpoint. I guess that’s where all the bikers meet and rack up their mileage training for an Ironman. We take an inconspicuous left turn back onto the trail. (I would’ve never seen that if I had been running by myself, hence some of my friends missing that turn and getting lost.) We run past Lookout Point with more spectacular views of the Hudson River and make a short left onto the red trail.
Now we're descending, hopping on rocks left to right. Oh man, I’m gonna twist an ankle and fall on my face. As we come onto a road, volunteers are there to direct us back onto the trail leading alongside the river. The white trail is nice and flat along the shoreline. It's so peaceful, and that water looks so inviting. I wish I could dip myself in to cool off. And now I've lost my pacer. Yes! Water station! Finally! It feels like I've been running for hours. So thirsty. Refilling my water bottle, I get back on track. Around mile 10 the nice and flat white trail yields to gigantic rugged boulders. Now all that's was left is about two miles of strategic climbing. “Please just don’t fall and wedge your foot in between the rocks," I tell myself. Half way through climbing the boulder field I'm done. I'm tired, hungry, hot, and dehydrated. Thank God I took salt tabs with me. Those really help. Nearing a huge boulder, we are greeted by volunteers and a photographer taking our “exhausted” pictures. They inform us this is the final boulder of the scramble, the terrain changes and we have about two miles left, including the infamous stairs.
Now we're descending, hopping on rocks left to right. Oh man, I’m gonna twist an ankle and fall on my face. As we come onto a road, volunteers are there to direct us back onto the trail leading alongside the river. The white trail is nice and flat along the shoreline. It's so peaceful, and that water looks so inviting. I wish I could dip myself in to cool off. And now I've lost my pacer. Yes! Water station! Finally! It feels like I've been running for hours. So thirsty. Refilling my water bottle, I get back on track. Around mile 10 the nice and flat white trail yields to gigantic rugged boulders. Now all that's was left is about two miles of strategic climbing. “Please just don’t fall and wedge your foot in between the rocks," I tell myself. Half way through climbing the boulder field I'm done. I'm tired, hungry, hot, and dehydrated. Thank God I took salt tabs with me. Those really help. Nearing a huge boulder, we are greeted by volunteers and a photographer taking our “exhausted” pictures. They inform us this is the final boulder of the scramble, the terrain changes and we have about two miles left, including the infamous stairs.
I take a nose dive I take a nose dive but manage somehow to fall softly without any damage. I decide to hike-run to catch my breath and refocus my dizzy head. As I approach the stairs, I see an amazing waterfall. The water is flowing brilliantly down the rocks. It all looks so magical. There are so many hikers around the stairs.
Up the aqua trail, the steps are grueling especially after running and climbing for 12 miles. Each step is about two feet high. The only good thing about it is that we're going up and not down. The stairs are tricky to step on and narrow, but not as bad as the boulders. Coming off the stairs, we reach a fork in the trails. I’m delirious. |
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Again, no marking or ribbon to tell us where to go, but there's a sign with words “State Line Lookout.” Well, I know that leads to the parking lot. I’m going this way. Coming off the trail, I’m back on the closed highway where we started. Ok, the finish line is coming up. Unfortunately for me it’s about a mile of straight uphill. Ugh! I want this to be over. I decide to run-walk to make this end. Omg! I see people! One of the organizers runs with me and tells me the plate crack on the ground is the finish line.
Yes! I did it! I finished one of the toughest races I’ve done with a time of 3:07 and over 1,000 feet of vertical elevation.
P.S. Got the results today,Monday 6/12, I finished 3rd overall female, 1st in my age group and 1st from SIAC.
Yes! I did it! I finished one of the toughest races I’ve done with a time of 3:07 and over 1,000 feet of vertical elevation.
P.S. Got the results today,Monday 6/12, I finished 3rd overall female, 1st in my age group and 1st from SIAC.
Now, my feelings about the race.
What I liked:
The breathtaking views of Hudson River
The loop course.
The trails were very easy to run on. It was challenging but nothing crazy -minus the boulders.
Running with my SIAC buddies.
What I didn’t like:
The race wasn’t officially timed.
I was told the results will be entered manually into an app and will be available at a later time.
A note: I was informed that the race was timed but because the app was malfunctioning the results were entered manually-but personally it would be nice to have the results right away so the runners could see their rankings.
No awards.
Because the results weren’t readily available there’s no way to tell the ranking. I don’t know what place I came in at overall or gender.
Only one water stop.
The water stop, about halfway through the course, was just not enough, especially on such a hot day.
Poor marking of the trail.
I’ve run plenty of trail races with different organizers and without knowing the course. In those races I could easily tell where I was going due to the abundance of markers. A lot of runners got lost, either cutting the course short or extending their mileage and some DNFing.
A side note:
One of the race directors did inform me that they spent 4 hrs the day before on the trails placing markers especially on trail forks but someone had been ripping the markers off.
The race organizers didn’t follow through on the race specifications.
In the course description it said that there would be a post race BBQ and prizes. Post finish we were informed that BBQ was switched to pasta and there were no prizes either, even for the top three gender finishers. Disappointing.
In no way am I trying to sully their reputation by writing this honest review. I hope race organizers take these comments into consideration and improve their organization to attract more runners to this unusual, fun, and exciting race.
As of Monday, June 12, I did speak with race directors and they assured me that they will make the necessary adjustments for next year's race for a better race experience for all.
Go out, enjoy outdoors, and keep running!
The breathtaking views of Hudson River
The loop course.
The trails were very easy to run on. It was challenging but nothing crazy -minus the boulders.
Running with my SIAC buddies.
What I didn’t like:
The race wasn’t officially timed.
I was told the results will be entered manually into an app and will be available at a later time.
A note: I was informed that the race was timed but because the app was malfunctioning the results were entered manually-but personally it would be nice to have the results right away so the runners could see their rankings.
No awards.
Because the results weren’t readily available there’s no way to tell the ranking. I don’t know what place I came in at overall or gender.
Only one water stop.
The water stop, about halfway through the course, was just not enough, especially on such a hot day.
Poor marking of the trail.
I’ve run plenty of trail races with different organizers and without knowing the course. In those races I could easily tell where I was going due to the abundance of markers. A lot of runners got lost, either cutting the course short or extending their mileage and some DNFing.
A side note:
One of the race directors did inform me that they spent 4 hrs the day before on the trails placing markers especially on trail forks but someone had been ripping the markers off.
The race organizers didn’t follow through on the race specifications.
In the course description it said that there would be a post race BBQ and prizes. Post finish we were informed that BBQ was switched to pasta and there were no prizes either, even for the top three gender finishers. Disappointing.
In no way am I trying to sully their reputation by writing this honest review. I hope race organizers take these comments into consideration and improve their organization to attract more runners to this unusual, fun, and exciting race.
As of Monday, June 12, I did speak with race directors and they assured me that they will make the necessary adjustments for next year's race for a better race experience for all.
Go out, enjoy outdoors, and keep running!
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