Seneca Creek
Greenway Trail
Marathon and 50K

2010 Feedback

Ed,

I have been remiss in writing a "thank you". What an awesome race. With the sketchy weather and the fact that I failed to get any of my local running partners to take the trip, I had every opportunity to skip the race. I am so glad I did not. For a local "club race", put on by "road runners", this race exceeded my expectations by a mile, or more. I could not find a single flaw, and the race is definitely the best bargain out there, bar none. This race definitely qualifies as a "destination" race, well worth the trip from anywhere. My sincere thanks to you, all your volunteers, and all the runners who made this race so enjoyable.

I have a write-up posted on my running group's blog, if you would like to take a look: http://mrbimble.com/WordPress/2010/03/me-myself-and-i/

Jay Avitable

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thanks for a wonderful day at the race, I had a great time look forward to this all year..

Travis Warren 

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Thanks for organizing a great race! The volunteers were super friendly and helpful, and the course markings were clear the whole way through. And thanks for the nice weather too!

Looking forward to next year's event!

Silke

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Fine job.  I haven't had so much fun in years.  I couldn't believe you ran us through a stream at mile 2.  That made it a fair race for those of us who don't wear gore-tex lined shoes.  Everybody ran with wet feet.  (Except, I met three women who took off there shoes and socks; waded across; and reshoed. Smart chiks) It was evident that much work had been done on the course. Super super job.  And you picked nice weather to boot!  Thank you,  Mike Clem

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Congratulations on a well-organized and run event.

You had many friendly, cheerful & helpful volunteers and managed to make this a mostly run-able course under imperfect conditions.

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Thank you so much for a great race. The race was well organize and the people were Wonderful people.

Actually, I run the section 355 to the lake last Saturday. I could only walk it!!  Great surprise on the race day - Thanks again.

See you on one of the Saturday training run if they are available,

Yochanan

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Ed,

Just wanted to send a quick thanks to you and all of your volunteers for a great race today. I would recommend this event to anyone. For an event that is advertised as limited aid, I thought there was more than sufficient aid for the runners. (The home made cookies were fantastic.)

The trail markings were also excellent. I never had a problem deciding where to go even though I was running by myself a fair amount.

Thanks again.

Steve Davis

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Hello,  thanks for a wonderful day at the race, I had a great time look forward to this all year.

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Dude, the results aren't posted yet, and it's almost 4:00!!! What gives?

Great day for the race, and your trail work really showed. Aide, as always, was great.

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I want to thank you on today's race. What a great experience it was for me.

Thanks again,

Michael Hannon

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I just wanted to pass on that the course was surprisingly easy to follow yesterday.  I hadn't run the course before, but if I got confused I never hestitated more than 2-3 seconds before seeing a ribbon marking a course.  It was obvious that a lot of time went into marking the route.  Great job!
 
Unfortunately my dad had to drop out at the 11 mile aid station due to an old knee injury, but we both had good time.
 
Thanks
Tim Smith

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Congratulations on a well-organized and run event.

You had many friendly, cheerful & helpful volunteers and managed to make this a mostly run-able course under imperfect conditions.

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Thanks again for a great race. The day was perfect and the course just wonderful. We're home safe and with a head full of wonderful memories. 

Thanks again and any time you're up in our neck 'o the woods drop us a line we could hook up, tell you some trails to run, and where the best beer are.

Christine.

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I want to thank you on behalf of all the PA Folks who participated in the race over the weekend.  The many hours you and your team put into the course prep truly paid off.

Your event is one of the best which I will run all year!
Thanks again.  
Michael J. Rebuck

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All,
 
I ran the Seneca Creek Greenway 50K on Saturday, along with a few other VHTRCers.  Trail was in great condition thanks to the efforts of some hardy volunteers.  Ed put together a great race,  I have a full write up on my blog if you have time to give it a read.
 
http://ultrafaith.blogspot.com/
 
Semper Fi,
Mike Huff

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Thank you for an awesome race. It was a great experience for my first 50k  the trail conditions just added to the adventure. Really appreciated your volunteers- especially the lady who gave us a ride back to our car after the picnic.  Lynne

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What a great event. It was wonderful. The trail was great and the volunteers and aid stations were wonderful.  Again many thanks.

Vanessa

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I want to thank Ed and all the volunteers who made this a great race this year and even got the "weather gods" to cooperate. It was a real treat seeing all the friendly faces at the aid stations (although I was hoping for fried catfish as opposed to goldfish at route 28. It was interesting starting in the snow in Damascus and ending up amid the new witch hazel blooms near Rileys Lock -- maybe it should be called the "Winter to Spring" Marathon.
Thanks for everyone who made it a great success and a lot of fun for those who ran it.
Bob Yarchoan

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I couldn't find you at the end of the run to say thank you.  Just want to let you know that I had a blast on Sat and truly appreciate all you did to make the run happen.

Best regards!

Dave

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Just a huge thank you to your self and all the volunteers both at the race and the days prior that worked so hard to make this run doable. 

It was a perfect day for a run and the course was in fantastic condition (considering!) and you could see how much work everyone had done.  Some incredible people out there helping all week.

I had decided to do the regular start, however, ended up getting a ride with someone and was at the start in time for the early start so ended up doing it after all b/c a bit chilly to stand around for an hour!  It was a nice option to spread it out a little.

Again thank you for all your hard work in organizing and to all the volunteers. 

Once again a fantastic run.

Suzie

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I had a fun run on the trail marathon. I finished! So I was proud of myself.

I had few muscle cramps but was never tired.

Thanks for organizing such a great event.

I will be traveling to New York on business this coming Sunday; so I will not be able to join you for a run. I will see you on March 21st.

Argaw

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I second Bob's comments --- tnx, Ed & Co. --- wonderful run, wonderful day, wonderful volunteers and organizers --- bravo to all!

Mark

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I was a great trail run... having the handwarmers - omg, wish more RDs were like you ...
While, driving 250miles to and another 250miles from, MD was a lot to handle ... I think that I'll be back next year
PS - and BBQ was good, too
Tnx a lot and have a great week,
Iliana

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I just wnted to write to say thank you for such a great race this weekend.  It was my first time running Seneca, but I’ll definitely be back next year.  It was a great course, and even though a little muddy, we were so lucky with the amazing weather and that much of the trail was dry.  I tried to thank as many volunteers as possible, but please pass on my appreciation to all of them, their hard work and enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed.  And thank you for organizing such a great run!

Sincerely,

Beth Foster

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You put on a great race. Cudos to your volunteers (especially the brownie making ones :)) I definitely underestimated the course. Calves are still tight and I was about 45 minutes longer than I thought. I will recommend it to my running community.

Thanks again.

Craig Litt

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Great race Saturday!! Seneca is always one of our faves!!! After dropping last year at the lake loop, I was able to finish the 50K this year :)

Again, well put on race, great trail markings, and awesome aid! Good Job and Thank you!

Thanks

Tina

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Hi Ed,

Great race Saturday!! Seneca is always one of our faves!!! After dropping last year at the lake loop, I was able to finish the 50K this year :)

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Thanks for organizing the run. It was great. I had lots of fun.

Thanks also to all the volunteers who manned the aid stations, flagged & swept the trails, ran the picnic, did the timing, .....

Gavin

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Ed,

It turned out to be just what I needed; to get outdoors.  But I did run out of energy about 3 pm, and went home, so I missed congratulating you on another extraordinary event.  After we waited for the sweep, who had found the lost male runner, the lost woman came in at about 1:00 PM.  Then I went to the finish line and picnic area and made sure everyone got an REI coupon.  Mike and the other folks at 355 were great to work with, and pretty much ran things while I made sure folks made it over the bridge.  Thanks again, Ed for a great event!     Mark

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Ed,

Thanks for a great run.  I enjoyed the day and running such a fun event.  Thanks for all your and the volunteers hard work.

All the best,

Prasad 

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First of all I want to say a big THANK YOU to you and all the wonderful volunteers for an awesome run on Saturday.  Everything was so well organized and the volunteers could not have been nicer and more accomodating.  Please let them know that their efforts were very much appreciated. 

On another note - I found a little green Ipod while on the course.  Can you please get then word out so I can give it to it's owner?  Perhaps someone has already asked you about it.   

Thanks so much once again and happy trails!

Best Wishes,

Cassy Crouse-Rizoulis

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I'd like to echo Bob and Mark's comments. Ed and his team of volunteers did a really fantastic job of putting on a fun race. The amount of work volunteers did to get the trails in race shape was unbelievable. The trail markings were abundant and easy to follow, the aid stations were excellent, and the barbeque was yummy. And only $10! Many thanks to all of the volunteers!

Cindy Cohen

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Subject: The Greenway Race - it's over and we did it! YAHOOO!!!

Hey guys -

 Congratulations on a great race everyone! We slogged through the snow, mud, and water to finish, but gosh did we have a gorgeous day to be in the woods. Yay us!!  I'm sorry I didn't get to run with most of you, but I'm glad I got to see a few of you at the finish. I CANNOT believe how challenging it was. I mean, I knew it would be hard, but good grief! I never thought I'd look down at my watch and see 7 hours pass, the clock still ticking and know that I'm STILL not at the stupid finish line. At more than one point during the race Meg and I said to each other "what the heck were we thinking when we signed up for this?" About 4 miles from the finish we also said "if we hadn't run the lake, we'd be done now." Needless to say, there were some times when we weren't exactly full of motivational quotes. Of course I'm glad now (almost 2 days later) that I did it - lake and all.

   Thanks so much especially to everyone with whom I logged a bunch of miles to train for this crazy endeavor. As y'all said, it was easier to run the race without a dog and/or a toddler, but only a little bit! ;-)

   Ed - you put on one heckuva race - the trail was well-marked, the aid stations were well-stocked, and the volunteers were to a person cheerful and helpful. Although I still don't know why Brian & Bob couldn't have shoveled the first 7 miles of trail or drained the boggy parts for us - clearly they are slackers. ;-) As an aside, I met up with a couple of NYC firefighters at the picnic who said they had a fantastic time and would definitely be back - both did the 50k and for one it was his first ultra. They were raving about how well organized the race was, how beautiful the trail is, and how cheap the entry fee is.

   Jane - thanks so much for volunteering and for being a bright light at the 15/19 mile mark. I'm so grateful you brought provisions for me and others - it's nice to know a friendly face and yummy treats will be waiting 3+ hours into a race. Oh, and thanks so much for snapping a photo of us too. I'll post that to FB today. ;-)

   Meg and I ran the whole race together which was just an awesome experience, and crossing the finish line together was bliss. Thanks for being such a great running buddy! 

   Finally, Brian gets a huge shout out for a)clearing so much of the trail so we didn't have to jump over any more debris than absolutely necessary, b)believing I could do this in the first place, c)caring for Casey so I could run all those training miles, and d)being almost as excited as I was that I finished. He even wore his teeth! Now THAT's love. ;-) 

~Lori

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Thanks for having the race. Everything was perfect and I had a ball. Your volunteers were great. Please thank them for me. I can’t imagine the amount of work needed to get the trail in as good a shape as was. This is a very special event every year. Thank you

Gregg

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The race was a great success this year.  I really appreciate the work that you do.  This year the volunteers outdid themselves.  They were courteous, helpful, and flat-out fantastic!  I especially appreciate how much time went into clearing the trail this year.  They did a great job with the blown down trees.

Thank you again!

Pete Pontzer
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I don't know why people would not like the BBQ - may be they expected like burgers and sausages and hot dogs? I ate a full plate of salad and the pulled pork (it was that, right) (no carbs) after I finished, then I walked to the car, changed and drove back to pick up my friends and had another full plate (overfloating both times) of meat and salad. I loved that there was a porta-potty (somewhere in the first 10-15miles) that was great 'cause my tummy was upset (I didn't expect porta-potty given it was a trail)... but I loved that.... There were home made chocolate brownies and tangerines at the last two AS and I loved those too ... And the signs with the gold fish were awesome ... Phil Rosenstein with who I run half of it told me last year it was marshmallow ... I loved it and I will be back!!!  Below is my friend report for the race (I hate writing - but may be I should b/c I really liked this race especially how I out of nowhere got all this energy and run from mile 18 to the end, when this supposed to be a training run for me and I should have not raced people :) Thnx for putting an awesome race and exposing us to bag balm (it rocks and I'm so getting it - didn't have any issues with my feet regardless the water crossings) ... oh and the hand warmers, again, love it!!! Volunteers were great! The next day on Sun, I volunteered at the Nationals 50K at Caumsett State Park and I so appreciate now the "other" side and I'll make a point to volunteer more!
Here is my friend race report - http://worldofcherie.blogspot.com/2010/03/50k-dayseneca-trails-50k-race-report.html
Tnx,
Iliana

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I responded to you from home (Friday night), but am doing so again from here.  Thanks again for a great run, most years I've run it you haven't charged me a penny (because I'm active duty), this time I paid the $10 and you rewarded me with a mudslide on the Clopper lake portion of the race.  What a great way to finish my "Seneca creek" career.  I'll certainly miss the wonders you and mother nature cooked up each year (too hot, too icy, too snowy, too muddy, too cold ... often more than one in each race!) and yet, despite all of that, always a pleasure.  So I guess, deep down, I don't mind the snow, ice, mud or cold (the heat I do mind ... mostly because it actually makes me sick, and last year that meant not even eating a barbeque sandwich).

In any case, I had been carrying around "thank-you" gift cards to pass out at the aid stations, which I'd done last year, but completely forgot while running, and didn't even notice until I was emptying my sweats on the way home.  People ask why I run these things and I tell them "to clear my mind", sometimes it's more effective than others.  Could I mail them to you, and you can just pass them out to whoever you'd like?  If so, send me an address.

Thanks, I'll miss you next year,

Jason

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I wanted to write to sincerely thank you for putting on an awesome 50k (or so) race last Saturday.  It is definitely on my list as a favorite from now on.  I enjoyed my late-early start on to the snow and ice, and especially the mud and muck – we were all like big kids out there.  That course is wonderful: the sites, almost all trails, and fun crowds.  I would also like to extend my absolute appreciation for all the incredible volunteers that were out there.  I did not hear one negative thing come out of their mouths and in fact had some incredible belly laughs per station.  Who could ask for a better ultra experience!!  The picnic was delicious, so good, I went back out after eating a pork sandwich with the cole slaw and ran 6 more miles to find my friends still out there running (who did the later start).  I’m still high from Saturday, thanks to you and your amazing crew!

Very appreciatively,

Paula Carrigan

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Thanks for putting on the race Saturday, you did an awesome job.  Please pass my many thanks, as well, to your volunteers and the trail crew-they really put some time into the trail and it was in great condition.  I have written a full race report on my blog site at  http://ultrafaith.blogspot.com/  .  Please feel free to post the link or report on your website.  Thanks for taking care our troops and recognizing their efforts.

Semper Fi,

Michael Huff

LtCol USMC (ret)

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Your team did a great job getting that course ready. Thanks Ed!

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    I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work you and I am sure many others did for the race on Saturday.  Your race defiantly changed what I want out of racing!  I had forgotten that running could be that much fun!  

    Please share my gratitude with those you helped you.  I know I thanked many volunteers along the way however, I am certain that many more worked very hard to allow me and all the runners to have a safe and amazing race. 

    I will be back next year without a doubt!  I am already looking for other races that will reach the bar that your race has now set. 

Joyful gratitude from a converted road runner! ;-)Shelly Cable

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To report broken links, mistakes, or other problems, contact Ed.