This is a 9 hour race where you run as many 1.5 mile laps as you can/want from 8am to 5pm. You can start and stop any time in that … MORE
This is a 9 hour race where you run as many 1.5 mile laps as you can/want from 8am to 5pm. You can start and stop any time in that time frame. It is located at a farm in Shortsville, NY and is about 30 minutes east of Rochester and pretty much on the way to Lake Placid so worked out well with my plans. It was moved to a different location from the first year of the race in 2021. There was good pre-race communication. One thing I love about the race director is she is a local runner and is very supportive of people of all abilities so you get a finisher time and medal if you complete 1 lap or 30. The start at the farm was easy to get to and park at. One minor production complaint which seemed a bit planned was that it was raining at night but the rain was excepted to stop between 7 and 7:30 and the RD didn’t start setting up the aid stations, etc until it stopped raining. Completely understand why that was done and everything was set up by the time it was needed but it just made check in and the race start a bit more chaotic. Swag included a cute, cat themed running buff along with bib. The race started about 2 minutes late but not a big deal I understand not wanting to set up in the rain when it is going to be dry very soon. I didn’t take off production points because the course was impeccably marked. Tons of flags so you absolutely could not get lost. Since this was a new location I was hoping the course would be easier than the one described in the 2021 review but it was not. I agree that each loop felt about as tough as a 5K. The course started down a field which was not too tough then you were in the woods for about half a mile. There is a flat path but then an uphill which had 2 significant but not terrible hills. Easy to hike, tough to run hills. Then a steep down and then a more gradual downhill. Most on trail. One part on grass. All “obstacles” such as ditches, large roots, rocks were spray painted pink which was appreciated. You then went back in the field. It was up, down, up and all runnable. Then there is another portion in the woods with what I named “evil” hill that was a very steep, un-runnable, and tough to hike hill. Then flat for a bit and then a downhill in the woods followed by a downhill on the road then flat back to the start. This was a tough loop. Total elevation for the 1.5 miles was 160-170 feet so more than 100 feet of elevation gain per mile. There is a well stocked aid station and porta potties near the start. The aid station had water jug, gatorade, coke, lots of snacks like fruit and chips and including most importantly twizzlers. Later there was PBJ and grilled cheese and at noon there was pizza. I wanted to finish this race ideally by noon (4 hours) and definitely by 12:30 (4.5 hours) to get to Lake Placid by packet pick-up for my race the next day. I was hoping to do 9 laps or 13.68 miles since as long as I did between 13.1 and 26.2 miles it would count as a half marathon for the 100 half marathon club and I am getting close to 100. I thought this would be easy in 4 hours and I might even have time to walk an extra lap as I wanted to stay until noon for pizza so I wouldn’t have to stop for lunch on my drive. However it was really, really tough. I had to really, push myself to finish those 9 laps in the time frame I needed and it took me over 4 hours but under 4.5 hours to complete it and I didn’t take any breaks longer than 1 minute at the aid station. I was so sore at the end I felt like I ran a marathon. Despite it being tough I did have a blast. These fixed time, looped courses are so much fun for interacting with other runners and I did see a cute little barn cat on the course. This was a great race for one of my last Rochester running memories. As I said all finishers get a medal. The medal is wooden and absolutely adorable with a cat design. This race was tougher than I anticipated but I still enjoyed it. If I were staying in Rochester I would do it again but I would either only do 4 to 6 laps or if I decided to go for the “half marathon” again I would give myself more time to do it. I do want to say that walking 1 to 2 laps of this course would not be very hard so if you are a local runner/walker who wants to support cats and the Rochester running community but not looking to do an ultra or anything intense you can still participate and enjoy the race.
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There was a cat!
This is a 9 hour race where you run as many 1.5 mile laps as you can/want from 8am to 5pm. You can start and stop any time in that … MORE
This is a 9 hour race where you run as many 1.5 mile laps as you can/want from 8am to 5pm. You can start and stop any time in that time frame. It is located at a farm in Shortsville, NY and is about 30 minutes east of Rochester and pretty much on the way to Lake Placid so worked out well with my plans. It was moved to a different location from the first year of the race in 2021. There was good pre-race communication. One thing I love about the race director is she is a local runner and is very supportive of people of all abilities so you get a finisher time and medal if you complete 1 lap or 30. The start at the farm was easy to get to and park at. One minor production complaint which seemed a bit planned was that it was raining at night but the rain was excepted to stop between 7 and 7:30 and the RD didn’t start setting up the aid stations, etc until it stopped raining. Completely understand why that was done and everything was set up by the time it was needed but it just made check in and the race start a bit more chaotic. Swag included a cute, cat themed running buff along with bib. The race started about 2 minutes late but not a big deal I understand not wanting to set up in the rain when it is going to be dry very soon. I didn’t take off production points because the course was impeccably marked. Tons of flags so you absolutely could not get lost. Since this was a new location I was hoping the course would be easier than the one described in the 2021 review but it was not. I agree that each loop felt about as tough as a 5K. The course started down a field which was not too tough then you were in the woods for about half a mile. There is a flat path but then an uphill which had 2 significant but not terrible hills. Easy to hike, tough to run hills. Then a steep down and then a more gradual downhill. Most on trail. One part on grass. All “obstacles” such as ditches, large roots, rocks were spray painted pink which was appreciated. You then went back in the field. It was up, down, up and all runnable. Then there is another portion in the woods with what I named “evil” hill that was a very steep, un-runnable, and tough to hike hill. Then flat for a bit and then a downhill in the woods followed by a downhill on the road then flat back to the start. This was a tough loop. Total elevation for the 1.5 miles was 160-170 feet so more than 100 feet of elevation gain per mile. There is a well stocked aid station and porta potties near the start. The aid station had water jug, gatorade, coke, lots of snacks like fruit and chips and including most importantly twizzlers. Later there was PBJ and grilled cheese and at noon there was pizza. I wanted to finish this race ideally by noon (4 hours) and definitely by 12:30 (4.5 hours) to get to Lake Placid by packet pick-up for my race the next day. I was hoping to do 9 laps or 13.68 miles since as long as I did between 13.1 and 26.2 miles it would count as a half marathon for the 100 half marathon club and I am getting close to 100. I thought this would be easy in 4 hours and I might even have time to walk an extra lap as I wanted to stay until noon for pizza so I wouldn’t have to stop for lunch on my drive. However it was really, really tough. I had to really, push myself to finish those 9 laps in the time frame I needed and it took me over 4 hours but under 4.5 hours to complete it and I didn’t take any breaks longer than 1 minute at the aid station. I was so sore at the end I felt like I ran a marathon. Despite it being tough I did have a blast. These fixed time, looped courses are so much fun for interacting with other runners and I did see a cute little barn cat on the course. This was a great race for one of my last Rochester running memories. As I said all finishers get a medal. The medal is wooden and absolutely adorable with a cat design. This race was tougher than I anticipated but I still enjoyed it. If I were staying in Rochester I would do it again but I would either only do 4 to 6 laps or if I decided to go for the “half marathon” again I would give myself more time to do it. I do want to say that walking 1 to 2 laps of this course would not be very hard so if you are a local runner/walker who wants to support cats and the Rochester running community but not looking to do an ultra or anything intense you can still participate and enjoy the race.
Down on the apple farm
The 9 Hours for 9 lives ultramarathon was held at the Victor Apple Farm near Victor, NY to raise money for providing local veterinary care for stray cats. The course … MORE
The 9 Hours for 9 lives ultramarathon was held at the Victor Apple Farm near Victor, NY to raise money for providing local veterinary care for stray cats. The course was a 1.7 mile hilly loop around the apple farm and vicinity that seemed more like a 5K loop with the hills. The surface was mainly mowed grass, but it was packed down where the farm machinery drove around the orchard, so it was actually a pretty smooth surface. This was the first year for the race, so there were only 25 runners. The weather was nice, but it did get just a little bit warm in the afternoon, but not excessively hot. My goal was to run 50K, which I thought would be easy with 9 hours to do it in, but the hills said otherwise. I had to do 18+ loops to get to 50K, but with less than an hour to go, I only had 16 loops completed. I picked up the pace a little, and managed to finish 18 loops that totaled 30.6 miles with about 20 minutes to spare. Only completed laps counted, so I wasn’t able to get to 31 miles. So, although I was disappointed not to make my goal, I still managed to finish as the third place male overall. Aid station food was mainly snack food items, but a good selection of liquids were available for hydration. The finisher award was made of wood, but due to the small number of runners, awards were only given to the first place male and female runners. Hourly drawings were also held for door prizes for those that were running on the course. There was one nice view of the hills to the west at the high point of the course, otherwise it was typical farm scenery.