Swiftwick

Grindstone 100 – My Last Great American Race

October 7, 2016

“Grit, endurance, temporary loss of sanity. You might need all of these if you want to attempt Grindstone. If you want to finish, well, just keep in mind this is, without a doubt, the hardest 100 miler east of the 100th meridian. Now that you’re hooked, Grindstone is going to be an incredible adventure for each and every entrant. From the beautiful start/finish location at Camp Shenandoah to the monster climbs and the solitude of single track ridge running, you just can’t beat Grindstone… but you can try!”

– Race Director (Clark Zealand) –

Course Description (Wikipedia)
Grindstone 100 miler is an annual 101.85 mile long ultramarathon that takes place on trails in Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains, usually the first weekend of October. The race starts at Camp Shenandoah, a local camp of the Boy Scouts of America. Beginning at Camp Shenandoah, this out-n-back course ascends and descends Little North Mountain before climbing over 2400 ft (740m) in 4 miles (6.4km) to the summit of Elliott Knob. The course then proceeds north following the ridge-line of the Great North Mountain range, crossing over to and following the Wild Oak Trail before continuing north to the summit of Reddish Knob. Runners continue north to Briery Branch Gap before retracing their steps (without summiting Elliott & Reddish) back along the course to Camp Shenandoah. Runners climb a cumulative total of 23,200 feet (7,140m) and descend a total of 23,200 feet (7,140m) on mountain trails before reaching the finish.

The aid station break down

My race plan, a little high for the A goal, but I took the chance

The loop from/to the Start and FInish area

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UTMB 2016 – Me No Se Italian

August 26, 2016

“The magic four-letter acronym has been in my head every single day since I first let its 10,000m of climb – and another 10,000m of descent – batter my quads like a stampede of really annoyed hippos last year. I’ll attempt the 104-mile mountain race around western Europe’s highest peak, the monstrous Mont Blanc” – Damian Hall

Since I did TDS in 2014, I had been dreaming to come back to the Alps to do UTMB. The Alps was always a magical place for me, and this summer I was lucky that I got the lottery to participate into UTMB and better yet, I was able to stay in the Alps for 2.5 weeks. As much as happy and giddy up I was, I was pretty nervous. With over 10 km elevation gain in 170 km distance, this race was beyond my imagination.

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Escarpment Trail – Wall of Manitou

July 31, 2016

“This course is incredibly dangerous, not just due to the terrain but the potential for lightning, rock slides, and other severe hazards that could severely injure you or even worse.” – Dick Vincent, RD

This year was my third time in Escarpment Trail Race. I missed it last year since I was on the road trip to Colorado. And as usual, it was raining again. Probably it was me, not the weather fault. Probably 8 of 10 races that I ran this year were raining. But on the other hand, we had sans lightning. Also, this was the 40th Escarpment Trail Race, yeah older than me.

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Whiteface Sky Race Series 2016 — Beyond The Clouds

July 9, 2016

“Whiteface sits on more true vertical gain than all but 14 other ski resorts in North America and more than any resort east of the Rockies. From its sharp and exposed form to an entrance lined with the rings and flags of the world telling of its place in past and current Olympic activity, Whiteface is iconic. Whether you’re keen on throwing down w/ some of the best mountain runners in the world for US SkyRunning points, or whether you’re just up for a beautiful weekend in the DAk’s, the resort and the town of Wilmington will provide the pitch perfect venue for an amazing weekend of hard efforts, epic experiences, and the wonderful community which defines the best of trail running. Red Newt Racing is stoked to have you.
Saturday will provide entrants the brilliant opportunity to redline while hiking…i.e. it’s pretty steep. All of it. Be sure to take a moment to stop, look up toward some of the best mountain runners in the world shuffling forward to the finish, back toward fellow entrants of all ages, shapes, and sizes moving toward the summit, and around at the brilliant Adirondack Peaks enveloping you. You don’t get any of those sites often…soak it up. Sunday will provide two of the steepest alpine loops you’ll find anywhere, in any country, interspersed with a recovery roller loop. Your legs will be pretty thrashed, your lungs pretty worked, but you’ll have completed a pretty incredible feet.” – RDs; Ian Golden and Jan Welford

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Devil’s Path 2016 – Happy Murica Weekend

July 3, 2016

“Local legend has it that the Devil’s Path derived its name from the first Dutch and German settlers to the Catskill region. Supposedly, they took one look at the high, deeply notched mountains marching west from the Hudson River and figured that only the cloven-footed Devil could walk such steep, treacherous ground.” – Backpacker.com

I have heard this infamous trail for years, and actually got a bit of its flavor in Manitou Revenge a couple of times. But I had never done the whole thing. So I pitched this idea to Chang, my partner in crime when I go to trail running adventure.