The Virgil Crest Ultra.  The Race Director labels the run as "Not a race for sissies!", I would totally agree.  With living only 5 miles from the race course, I have had the opportunity to train on the trails, the ski slopes, and really gauge my fitness.  Little did I know that all that training almost did not matter!  This course is just rugged-hard.  Not only is there tons of tough vertical ups and blinding down hill sections but the footing is what makes this race "not for sissies".  Every foot-plant I made, my foot was twisted through mud, roots that made me feet ache upon each strike, and narrow paths deep in the woods where a fall could be...fatal.

This race was TOUGH!  I never imagined how hard it would actually be but it was.

The 50 mile race was a great challenge and I am so glad I had enough guts to hold it together for a course record.

The Virgil Crest Ultra is a Monster of a race! With 10,000 feet of gain and loss, slow rocky, rooty single-track Finger Lakes Trail, this race is a punisher of a course.  Oh yeah, and you summit Greek Peak at 2,189 feet from 1,180 feet in about a mile and a half (That is running up a ski slope!).  The course record is 8:34 or so which is a smoking fast time for the course and I hope to be able to run right around that time on the slow end though my real goal is to run a super fast course record time that will stand for many years to come.  Looking at my race at the Cayuga Trails 50, I did not race to my ability with my badly twisted ankle and I still managed a 7:45 effort though wound up off course for a 8:00 on the dot finish.  That type of performance with the similar amount of vertical would place me 30 minutes above record pace.  Now all I need is to be able to run to my potential and hope for dry conditions so I can run the downhills fast and not get slowed down by the mud.  If all the stars align, I think that a 7 hour performance is in the cards.  I have been running tons of vertical both up and down and though I have been on the tired-side of running, when I taper in the next 2 weeks, I should be primed to handle the course the best I can. 

Wearing my Mammut MTR longsleeve zip on a nice cool morning--46 degrees (Best quality apparel around!!!)