In July, I came across information on the Baker Trail UltraChallenge while looking at Pennsylvania race calendars and was immediately intrigued. I mentioned it to a few people and Angelo in particular was very enthusiastic. None of us wanted to sign up early so we were waiting until after Catoctin [50k] and North Fork [WVMTR camping weekend] to see how we felt. I signed up a few days before the race and Angelo signed up the night before. Lorrin had decided it sounded interesting and fun and decided to join us and help support and pace (and use some of the downtime to write her wedding thank you notes!).
So on Friday, Angelo, Lorrin, and I drove the adventure van up to central Pennsylvania and arrived at a private farm/finish line where we would camp the night before the race. We arrived right around sunset as we had taken a long tour of Amish country (i.e. got lost) and saw way more horses/buggies than cars… The hosts at the farm were wonderful and so happy to have a group of runners gathering there. We set up our tents after dark and chatted with some people about the race. The course was described on the website as 42 miles on the Baker Trail followed by 8 miles on roads back to the farm. We found out the night before that the Baker Trail isn’t all “trail” as we think of it, and that it was going to be 8 miles of singletrack with the rest on dirt/gravel/paved roads. We were somewhat disillusioned at the thought of 40+ road miles and the speculation that we would be on exposed roads for most of a 90-degree day. There were 11 aid stations so I figured I’d have ample opportunity to drop!
Saturday morning we got up for a 6:00 AM ride to the start line. It was dark and foggy- humid yet very comfortable temps. The race started a little after 7:00 without any fanfare (31 solo runners and 4 relay teams started) and we took off up a gravel/dirt road. Angelo and I started off in 28th and 29th place, with only 2 hikers behind us (the cut off time was 14 hours). It was very comfortable running, with lots of up and down (race info said approx 7k elevation gain and 7k elevation loss over the 50 miles). There was some fun railroad track running followed by nice trail in the first 8 mile section, and we also had our only off-course navigation in this section. There were no course descriptions given nor was the course flagged- you were told to follow the yellow blazes for the Baker Trail section, then they did have signs on the last 8 mile road section. We did have a helpful map with us that we consulted a few times! You definitely had to pay attention (though it was well-blazed for the most part) or you could end up off-course.
We cruised along and passed halfway in about 5.5 hours, feeling good. The talk of only 8 miles of “trail” was a little low, I’d estimate it was closer to 15 or so miles on trails, (including some really nice trail sections in the Mahoning Lake Recreation Area) broken up with sections of various types of road (mostly dirt/gravel with minimal traffic). I wore my road shoes and gaiters (lots of gravelly roads) and was very happy with that decision. The weather was not horrible for the first half- it was definitely hot and humid, but a lot of the course was in the shade and we had a nice breeze for much of it. I knew the heat would eventually wear us down though. The views of the farmland and Pennsylvania countryside were beautiful- we often would climb up to ridges where the views were great. Overall, despite the roads, I found the course to be very enjoyable and interesting.
We passed a few people after mile 30, and then cruised into the aid station at 35 miles where Lorrin was meeting us to run the last 15. She wanted to get a run in and we were happy for some company! I had a bad spot and some nausea just before that aid station but had mostly recovered. Angelo seemed to be having some trouble getting enough to eat and drink but was hanging in there. The heat was really getting to us. Angelo dropped back from us after the aid station though we could still see him behind us for the next few miles. At one point, we were chatting away and took a wrong turn up the driveway of an Amish farm but they set us on the right path!
Lorrin was a huge help and I would have slowed much more if I didn’t have her telling me to run occasionally. We got through the aid station at 42 where they seemed excited to see us and told me I was the third woman (out of 4, ha!). Then we ran through the town of Plumville and I was able to run most of that stretch of flat. However, things were starting to fall apart. I was super warm, and was just thinking “aid station to aid station” and “it will stop hurting when you finish”… the next aid was 2.5 miles and I swear it took us almost an hour. I liked the ups better because I didn’t have to run and was really frustrated that I could only shuffle the downhills. Lorrin was super patient and would look at the map and tell me our progress. We got to the aid at 45.6 and I asked if anyone knew how hot it was earlier in the day. One of the guys said his car was saying anywhere from 94 to 97 in the sun. I felt pretty good about myself for making it this far after hearing that! We continued on (and up) and FINALLY made the turn-off to the farm. It was a short grassy uphill (with an awesome view at the top- thank goodness Lorrin was there to point it out so I could actually appreciate it!). Everyone could see when you popped over the ridge and they would start to cheer. We descended to the farm and it was great to finally be done-- to stop running and just sit down! They told me my time was 11:49.
They gave out cool medals which represent a third of the Baker Trail- if you do all 3 sections you will have a 3 piece medal that fits together. The Baker Trail is about 140 miles and they held the first annual race last year on the first third of the course, and will do the third section next year (this was the second annual race). [Apparently the second section of the course has alot of roads because they haven’t gotten landowner permission to route it onto trail, but they hope this race and another one they have will help bring some awareness to this.] And I also got a trophy for 3rd place woman which is kind of funny since 2 other women had finished probably 2 hours ahead of me and there were only 4 of us in this race. It was really neat to win something though! We hung out at the farm to see Angelo and 3 others come in (we heard there were 25 solo finishers). He came in smiling about an hour before darkness. After we were all showered, we ate and ate and ate until Angelo, Anne, and Brandon headed out to drive home. Lorrin and I decided we’d rather enjoy some beer and just crash in our tents again that night and go home in the morning. A thunderstorm made the night interesting and we packed up early Sunday to head back. It was a really fun weekend with friends (maybe with the exception of miles 42-50 ;) ) and the volunteers and organization were great !!!
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