Buffalo & SLUGs

I belong to Second Wind Running Club and Kennekuk Road Runners. They are both great running clubs doing lots of good things for the local running community--including sponsoring some awesome trail races and one ultra marathon each (Clinton Lake & Howl at the Moon). Yet I find myself identifying with two other running groups: the Buffalo and SLUGs. What kind of creatures are these?

The Buffalo are a group of trail runners centered in the Champaign-Urbana, IL area. Most, but not all, belong to Second Wind. There are two driving forces behind the Buffalo...running trails and drinking beer. They are kind of like a hash house harriers without the hashing (that would take too much planning!). We even get nicknames (once they are earned). I'm known as S&M...or the Moon Master...or Prez POD. Those names deserve another post. Currently we have over 175 people on our buffalo listserv through Yahoo groups. Join us to get the scoop on trail running and races in our area. We travel near and far to run and drink. And we often bring our buffalo shirts and hats. Keep an eye out for us. Feel free to offer us a beer too.

So what about these SLUG creatures? SLUG stands for "St Louis Ultrarunners Group." Pretty cool...a group dedicated to ultra running! As opposed to the informal buffalo group, the SLUGS are an actual RRCA running club. Membership dues, newsletter, race discounts and everything. I have never run a SLUG event (yet), but I'm on their listserv and the group is very interesting and supportive. Every one of their races gets rave reviews. I'll be putting a couple events on my schedule for next year. If you live near the St Louis area you should join them and run their races. Almost any ultra you run, you'll find some SLUGs afterwards...drinking beer and wearing their SLUG shirts. Sounds like a Buffalo (except for the shirt thing)!

Be particularly careful of the hybrid Buffalo-SLUG. Not only do they run a lot of ultras, they consume a lot of beer...keep your beer cooler under a watchful eye!

Weekend Pictures

If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 79,000 words on my Picasa Clinton Lake album from this weekend. These are all from my Sunday late morning run. I plan to take pictures at least once/month to document the changing seasons on the trail.

Alone on the trail 2

Another solo run on the Clinton Lake trail. This time after volunteering from 6:30-9:30am at the Allerton trail race. Drove directly from Allerton Park to Clinton Lake State Recreation Area. I started at the north fork boat access lot (race parking area) and ran "backwards" (clockwise) taking about 75 pictures along the way. Still finished in 2:01. The trail was in better shape than yesterday. Lots of colorful leaves (see photo), but no slippery spots. Beautiful sunshine and no wind made it a great day to be on the trail. Didn't run into anyone until I was done--then fellow buffs Nancy and Jason popped out of the trail as I was getting back in my car. Hope they had a good run. If March 29, 2008 is like today...it's going to be a wonderful race day! I feel a bit bad for the runners this year--they faced massive amounts of water and mud and very strong winds all day. Some of the worst conditions I've ever seen on the trail. Sign up again and I guarantee better weather. Really...you'll have better weather and faster times.

Alone on the trail

I did the Clinton trail late this morning. Just me and the trail. No buffalo friends--they were all tailgating or cleaning the Allerton course for tomorrow's race. The Allerton Trail Run is a 5.5 mile race at Allerton Park in Monticello, IL. It's Second Wind's biggest race with a normal turnout of over 500 runners. Pretty easy course, and it's only 5.5 miles, so I encourage anyone looking to do their first trail race to consider Allerton. Now back to real trail running...

I ran the Clinton trail medium-hard and finished in 1:29. It felt good. That was one of my faster times on the trail--must have been motivated by my new Joss Stone music (her new CD is quite good). The trail was a bit slippery due to rain on and off all day yesterday and last night. The small wooden bridges were REALLY slick! There were wet leaves on most of the trail and the hills were not muddy, but definitely slippery. My old Teva X-1 trail shoes (I'm boycotting Inov-8 until they tell me whether they are sponsoring my race!) handled the terrain well and my new bright orange long sleeve Rock Cut Hobo shirt seemed to keep the hunters at bay. With cool temps, a slight breeze, and overcast skies, it was almost perfect running weather. Hope to go back tomorrow and do an easy run/walk while taking pictures. Maybe I'll convince some buffalo runners to join me. If not, it'll just be me and the trail again. And my Teva X-1 shoes. Come on Inov-8, my Flyrocs and Mudrocs are waiting in the back of my closest.

Two special volunteers

Mike from IDNR goes beyond his duties to maintain the trail at Clinton Lake. Without him and IDNR there wouldn't be a north fork trail. In a similar vein, without Jeff and Gregg, there wouldn't be a Clinton Lake ultra. In addition to running the trails with me almost all the time, Jeff and Gregg are key supporters and volunteers at the race itself. When I get up at 3am to head out on race day, Jeff and Gregg are right there with me--hauling food, drinks, coolers, ice, finish line equipment, course signs, aid station tables and chairs, racer packets, first aid kits, etc. Our three cars are packed! All day during the race they both lead volunteer activities and troubleshoot problems. After the race, they help me pack up supplies and clean up the finish line area. Their involvement goes well beyond just race day activities--they help me year-round with planning, support, advice, trail measurements, and marking.

I have lots of club support and volunteers for the race, but Jeff and Gregg are two special volunteers. Thanks guys.

Who maintains that trail?

The north fork trail at Clinton Lake is a 10-mile loop (some signs say 11 miles) with very little vehicle access. Yet the trail is in great shape almost all year. How is it maintained so well? The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is responsible for its upkeep. They do a nice job--especially Mike at IDNR. He mows the grassy meadow sections, cuts back the thorny briars, and removes fallen trees. Occasionally the Boy Scouts and buffalo trail runners from Champaign help Mike with trail maintenance. I've gone out a couple times with local runners to weed-wack and prune sections of the trail that get overgrown in the summer. It's dirty & sweaty work in the heat, but well worth it when you run the freshly cleaned trails! I encourage everyone to volunteer at a local park or trail. You develop a great sense of satisfaction and ownership. It would be nice if you volunteered at a local race too. I'd like to have a volunteer requirement for future Clinton Lake runners. In order to register you'd need to confirm on the race application that you've volunteered at a race in the past 12 months. Any race in any capacity. Pretty easy requirement. And we'd be on the honor system. We could all do that, right?

Word about our sponsors

I'm fortunate to have such great race sponsors. Marathon & Beyond magazine is providing advertising, mini-subscriptions, running socks, and a rain poncho. It doesn't get any better than that! M&B is the best source for in-depth information about marathons and ultrarunning. I have every issue going back over ten years. I'm proud of my collection and look forward to every new issue. You couldn't ask for a better person to represent a running magazine than Jan.

Second Wind Running Club is the Champaign-Urbana running club that hosts the race. They provide liability insurance, advertising, volunteers, money, and emotional support. As a non-profit RRCA organization, the club supports running in the community through fun runs, club newsletter and web site, races, and training programs. I've been a member for a number of years. I've also been on the board of directors...and even president for two years. They're a good group and I'm glad they agreed to add Clinton Lake to their busy racing schedule. It's not easy to start a new race, but with the club's support we've managed to get Clinton Lake off to a great start. The club is a non-profit organization so any race profits are channeled back to club activities. Any losses are sucked up by the club. Many ultramarathons lose money. I was fortunate to make a very small profit last year.

Body n' Sole Sports is our local running store. I'm sure they have a bundle of other products, but I only pay attention to their fine selection of running apparel, shoes, and running related accessories. Their staff are knowledgeable and friendly. If they don't have the specific product you are looking for, they'll order it. In addition to offering great running products, they support and sponsor races all over central Illinois...including the Clinton Lake ultra. Without their support I would never be able to provide high quality shirts and random give-aways. Mike and Jed really do care about runners and running.

Succeed! Sports Drink is owned by an ultrarunner and it shows. Karl has been a great supporter of the race from day one. We get Succeed! Ultra Sports Drink and Succeed! S-Caps for the race. Wonderful products for ultrarunners. It doesn't hurt that Karl is a University of Illinois graduate too. Go Illini!

A race can't exist without sponsors and volunteers. I have some of the best. If you want to sponsor the race, let me know. There is always room for one more sponsor. Maybe even two.

Clinton Lake ultra now 20% full

The Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run has 25 entrants as of last night (25/125=20% full). It wasn't until mid-November last year that we reached our first 25 registrants. Early registration deadline is February 1, but the race may close well before that date. Get your entries in soon! In addition to good old fashioned Midwestern hospitality and the opportunity to run on one of the nicest trails in the area, $45 gets you:

• Technical fabric race shirt
• Finisher award
• 6-month subscription to Marathon & Beyond magazine
  
• M&B running socks
• M&B rain poncho

So far we have 6 states represented: IL, IN, MI, MO, GA, CO.

Running Technique

Running is pretty easy. You simply put one foot in front of the other and repeat...over...and over...and over. So why do so many people have problems with running injuries? Most often the problem is too many extra miles...or miles run too fast...or both. Speed and distance need to be moderated. But that's not the only issue. The real problem is that we don't know how to run! We have poor running technique. Did anyone ever teach you how to run? How to lift or place your feet? How to move your arms? Fortunately we have several good books and DVDs on the market that address this educational lapse. My two favorites are POSE and ChiRunning. They each teach how to run--and come up with remarkably similar guidance. Both books are very informative (I prefer the POSE one) and they each have an associated DVD (I prefer the ChiRunning one). What are some of the keys to proper running form? Keep your body (head, shoulders, hips, feet) straight, but tilted slightly forward from the ankles (use the force of gravity to pull you along). Lift your heels up, not your knees. Don't push off with your feet. Use short, quick strides and never extend your front leg ahead of your center of mass (don't reach out with your front leg/foot). Land on the ball of your foot, not the toes or heel. For more guidance on how you can run faster with less effort and prevent injuries, check out these two books, DVDs, and web sites. Before you know it, you'll be running light on your feet and ready to tackle a trail ultramarathon. I have a good one I can recommend.

Training has begun

Training for the Clinton Lake ultra has begun. For now it is "unofficial"--just me and friends running the trail on a regular basis. In the early spring, the club will post official training runs on their web site. I ran the north fork trail yesterday (1:37 pace) with 10 buffalo and again today (2:09 pace) with two more buffs. The race course is in fantastic condition. Rains earlier in the week have softened the trail, but not to the point of making it muddy or slippery. We have just over 5 months until race day. Twenty-four people are already registered and I "recruited" 5 more this weekend--it pays to carry race entry forms in your car trunk. It also helps to go to breakfast right afterwards in Farmer City. If you run beautiful trails, grab some good grub, and have the application form pushed under your nose by the race director while enjoying fresh hot coffee, you find yourself agreeing to do almost anything! Feel free to join me and my friends as we train for one of the best ultras in the Midwest. You may fall in love with the trail and register for the race...I know where to find a registration form. Heck, you may end up doing the full Illinois Trail Ultra Grand Slam! More discussion of the slam later.

Clinton Lake ultra hits the blogosphere!

This is the official blog of the Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run. Don't be fooled into reading those other unofficial race blogs. The race director (that's me) will post his musings about the race, the north fork Clinton Lake trail, ultra running, shoes, buffalo runners, SLUGS, etc. I anticipate regular trail running reports (most from the Clinton Lake north fork trail) as well as critiques and commentary on running shoes, runners, races, and magazines. Essentially anything related to running...mostly on trails...mostly at ultramarathon distances. I suppose the best place to start is with basic race details:

2nd Annual Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run
Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 8am
Clinton Lake State Recreation Area (DeWitt, IL)