Running bear

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If you are a lover of trail running like me and Shelly Girl well then you have to run Bear Mountain. I mean, the name alone was enough to get us to register and toe the line. Think about it. Question: “Where did you run last weekend?” Answer: “I ran Bear Mountain”. Sounds cool! In addition to sounding cool, the North Face Northeast Endurance Challenge 50k at Bear Mountain was certainly everything we hoped it would be. I have hesitated to write a race report because Shelly Girl and I only ran the 50k. With fellow Bimbler Bounce completing the 50 mile version, I thought his extra 19 miles gave him first call on the report. A few of you have asked for my report so here it is. I am still hopeful, since he ran about 6 hours and change more than we did, that perhaps Bounce will have something to add about this wonderfully challenging race.

[singlepic=6136,280,200,,right] So…. After a fairly uneventful drive up to the Catskills (yes, the Catskills, Iggy) and overnight stay in Woodbury, Shelly Girl and I got on the shuttle early Saturday morning with the full realization that Bounce had already been on the trail for an hour. The 50 mile race started at 5:00 a.m. and us loafers would start the 50k event at 7:00 a.m. We arrived at the North Face registration area and right away picked up on the big race feel of this event. While some may not like this atmosphere, Shelly Girl and I loved it! That being said, we did not really spend much time looking at the wide variety of tents that were set up to sell North Face/ Gore Tex products and spent our pre race time doing the usual. About 5 minutes before the start the “Master of Ceremonies” introduced North Face athlete Dean Karnezes who gave us all a brief pep talk. Afterwards, we went up and introduced ourselves, and I told him he better be shape at TransRockies this summer or we were going to kick his *@8$#. By the way, he looks to be in amazing shape!

Right at 7:00 the race began and off we went, with 200 other runners excited about seeing what Bear Mountain was about. Within the first mile we knew it was going to be tough. The race quickly gets to double track trail that is fairly technical and constantly going up. The kind of up that I hate because you know you should be running. In addition, there were almost no walkers. Everybody was passing us and both Shelly Girl and I thought Yikes and doubles Yikes!! We had no choice but to go a bit harder than we wanted and hope for the best. Well it would be a long time before the best would come. We got to the first aid station in fairly good order but after almost 4 miles we were still looking for some flat non technical running. We jumped into the second section, which included much more of the same, and just continued to be amazed at the lack of anything but uphill running in this race. We got to about the 8.5 mile mark and aid station 2 resupplied and made off for the next aid station at about 13.9. By far, Shelly Girl and I thought this next section was the toughest section we had yet to encounter. There was about a mile of uphill road running before we snuck back into the woods for some uphill single track. While not much of the climbing was steep we were just stupefied at how the trail only seemed to go in one direction. At this point in the race I think we had run about 90% of the time but the constant uphill and technical nature of the trail had us worried about our ability to continue later in the race. While this section was the most difficult it was also very beautiful. In fact, the scenery was awesome during this entire race. Vistas, lakes, terrific rock formations and it is an area we plan to visit again in the near future. Anyway, the top of this section was wonderful and it seemed we ran on a very extensive crown before we tucked back down the other side and descended. Yes, we actually descended! After our descent we came to what became the most difficult part of the race for us. We descended the mountain to a nice section of double track that had us both thinking the 13.9 mile aid station was near. Of course this bolstered our spirit until we made a right hand turn and immediately looked at one of the biggest ascents of the day. Quadruple Yikes!! I looked at my watch, I saw the climb and I thought, “we are going to be out here all day”. What can you do? We journeyed on and finally came out to the aid station. Feeling fairly defeated, I suggested to the aid station volunteer that perhaps the last section was bit longer than indicated on the course description and he said “yes, it is about ½ mile longer” In a sick sort of way, perhaps unique to ultra runners, this made me and Shelly Girl feel better.

Reenergized, we resupplied and headed off for the next section, which was said to be seven miles. Then a funny thing happened. The course got much easier. We had heard earlier in the run that the first half was the more difficult half and this proved to be true. Mile 14 to 21 was comprised of totally runnable single and double track trail. There are some lovely views along the way and Shelly Girl and I had a great time running these miles. We got to the 21 mile aid station fairly giddy and pretty confident we would not suffer more than the usual 50k suffering.

[singlepic=6149,280,200,,left] From mile 21 to the end the race is broken into 3 sections. They are all sort of blurring together right now but my overall memory is the first section was tough. The weather, which had been rainy, cleared and heat became a bit of an issue. Plus, there was a significant uphill slug that was a total walk but did end with a wonderful vista. The downhill part of the mountain was painfully steep but we saw a group of about eight runners and passing them really lifted our spirits. The second section was highlighted by a seemingly endless amount of running on the side of a mountain in slippery conditions followed by a crazy hard uphill that reminded us of the Escarpment race. It was not hand over fist, but it was long and through a boulder field. Due to the technical nature of the trail the back side descent was a slow and careful pace that I just remember as being painful. The final section was almost completely downhill on easy terrain. I know the course descriptions say something about leaving something in the tank for the final climb but I never felt a climb. I only remember being so happy that the last section was relatively easy. We made a final turn back on to some pavement; saw the finish line and the rest is history.

[singlepic=6141,280,200,,right]Both Shelly Girl and I stayed for quite awhile after the race, partially to enjoy the beautiful day, partially to enjoy the good food, partially to enjoy the great atmosphere and partially to wait for Bounce. After about an hour we decided to call it a day and head home. Sorry Bounce! Congrats on your race. Knowing that trail, Shelly Girl and I are in awe of your accomplishment!

Shelly Girl and I both definitely recommend this race. It is well organized in every way, the course is both beautiful and challenging and the atmosphere is festive. Plus, I can now always say I ran Bear Mountain! Sounds cool right?

See ya on the Trail!

Lefty

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