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In terms of iconic cities that invoke the wild spirit in trail runners everywhere, Concord Township, Ohio is probably not one of them. Most people, even in Ohio, probably would have a hard time pointing it out on map. This is part of what had me intrigued when I read about the Olde Girdled Grit trail race hosted by the Greater Cleveland XC as part of the Lake Health Running Series. Once I found out there was only 300 spots available for the 50K, marathon and half marathon distances, I figured that it has to be a bit of a purists type of trail race. I was in.
As I drove to the parking lot of the Lake County Metropark, I couldn't help but notice how overcast the weather was. Checking my watch, I saw there was a very high chance of rain and thus the dreaded wet feet. The start of the Olde Girdled Grit marathon was scheduled for 8:15am, right next to the Environmental Learning Center in the Lake County Metroparks. The learning center provided an excellent heated location to serve as morning packet pick up, restroom stop and place to gather before or after the race. Since the Olde Girdled Grit marathon was two laps of 13.1 miles each, the middle point of the race was also the Learning center. This center provided a full loaded aid station, restroom and medical stop. This type of service was greatly unexpected from such a small race but much appreciated.
Shortly after I arrived and the race staff announced the marathon start 10 minutes beforehand and helped guide the runners to the start, a short walk from the learning center. I quickly pinned on my racing bib and headed out with the other runners. As the pack lined up at the start line, I could see this was a small race, with only about 20 or so runners in the marathon. The race staff announced that the 50K runners were already on the course, with a 30 minute head start on us, and the half marathon was staggered 30 minutes behind us. This was a great idea to stagger the events and helped me pick people to pace off of much easier. There was a quick countdown and off we all went down the road.
The first 1.8 miles of Olde Girdled Grit was not a trail race. It started with a run that was on the road and only partially shutdown to traffic, which we were told to take all normal precautions with running around moving vehicles. Although this was not a trail, there was a bit of an insidious climb that started around the 1/2 to 3/4 mile mark and went on for the better part of a mile, with a few brief flat spots. The climb looked worse than it was but it still but a some wear on the legs early, the last thing any distance runner wants. This road lead to the entrance of the Girdled Road Metropark Reservation and the first water only stop. There was a surprising number of aid stations for this small trail race, even though two of them were water only, the course looped back on them nicely providing any runner the ability to run this race without carrying much in way of supplies.
The race continued onto some nice wide and well groomed trails, with a nice downhill to the highlight of the race, this bridge:
This bridge was amazing! It bounced all around and really required some attention when crossing it. The sides where lower than normal and I'm sure I could have easily fallen over if I were to actually run across it and gotten off balance. I walked across this bridge each of the 4 times I crossed it in the race (roughly miles 2.5, 9, 15.5 and 22) just to be safe but enjoyed it each time. I was also forced to walk for about a minute after each crossing (or more) as my legs were left feeling very wobbly and borderline unsteady. I think this bridge really showed my lack of recent work on accessory muscles due to this wobbliness. Either way, this bridge really made for some fun in the middle of this race!
After the bridge, there were some steeper climbs up the trails over relatively smooth trails that bobbed up and down through the densely wooded areas of the reservation. Nothing was too aggressive and all of these hills were runnable. The trails opened up to some very well kept wetlands, that are probably pretty amazing once the ducks and geese return to Northeastern Ohio. There did appear to be a good sized beaver dam that spilled onto the trail providing some more proof of how much wildlife this small reservation holds. After looping around several small ponds, through a well stocked aid station, there was a quick dive back into the forest over the previously mentioned bridge, up a large hill and back out to the road where the race started. The map below show the roughly 9 mile loop in the Girdled Road Reservation.
After heading back towards the Learning Center, there was an additional small loop on a trail next to the Learning center that included a rather large hill. By mile 12, this hill was kind of brutal given the profile change of this race and most runners were walking it. I was not ready for this as I did not scout the full details of the race and I'll admit it was a bit demoralizing even though it was a nice little jaunt through a nice little wooded outcropping. On the second loop it did feel nice, sort of like a victory lap to the finish except there were no fans.
The double loop nature of this course was nice, as to it helped me pace myself well on the second half, taking full advantage of the uphills, the water only aid stations and save some for the flat spots. This was not my favorite race and is not as difficult as other races I have run, but for being a race in Ohio, I really found it quite enjoyable. February can be brutal for running here but the weather held off, not raining once while I ran. The event hosts had the course VERY well marked (see the white sign and red arrow in the bridge picture) and it was impossible to get lost. Despite being a fairly remote race, there was plenty of aid and I really can't say enough about how nice the Learning Center was. There was enough food at the end to have a full HOT lunch and coffee! I've never seen this before and it really added a great warm feeling to the cold weather. The final thing two things that made me really love this was were the great custom made sweater blanket they gave everyone for participating and this awesome medal that is pretty large and heavy:
There aren't many February marathons in Ohio and only the crazy runners will run them. I never expect much from small races, other than timing chips and a medal, but this race really took it once step further and made the race feel like an event among friends. I'm happy I did it and, pending calendar issues, will plan to do it again.
Here are some pacing and elevation charts from my race. Sorry Strava shorted me a little less than a mile, but please trust I did the full course as it was laid out for us:
