Lately, the last thing I ever want to do is run. Yep. Me, this girl, has lost her mojo. So, what made me decide to take on the 25K Scream Machine course?
Lack of oxygen to my brain? I had a lobotomy? I’m a pod person? Peer pressure? The compulsive need to want to be part of the “first crew” to run. How about none of that, or maybe, all of it. Read more
Submitted by Michelle Rizzo-Berg
Today! 6 Warriors decided to take on the task of joining other Warriors for what has been dubbed the Selden Hills “Meat Grinder 20K” course. With 5 water bottles and this time 2, yes 2 backpacks, we were on our way. What some of the others may not have known, was that these 7 warriors were taking on the task of adding additional flat miles before and after the hills! As we began our journey, we ascended up the hills of Adirondack, tackling each mile with confidence. We galloped up Rosemont smiling and as we heading up Berkshire we started to wonder what was up ahead. Though one never knows what they will discover on the hills and today it was a drunk man at the edge of his driveway passed out with his pants off and ass hanging out. We saw him move, so we knew he probably just tied one on the night before and we headed on our way. As we went to turn left on Bluepoint, what we thought at first was a mirage was actually the long flowing locks of Rick. He graciously handed us water and we were once again on our way. We found the mysterious cardboard sign sending us right onto the side streets of the hills and “oh no” we were lost. We had no idea which street to turn on!!! We of course paid zero attention to Lou’s directions. Or actually, we didn’t retain any of the info. Thankfully 2 of the Magnificent 7 were near and they guided us in the right direction. THANK YOU. As we headed south again on Bluepoint we saw what we thought was another mirage but we were so thrilled to see the SH flag and find Lou, Gills and Mary waving us in and provided us with delicious treats. Then, we got the horrible news. We had to head up portion road and then turn right onto another street and once we completed that loop we were to head back south AGAIN to pass Lou for the Slaughterhouse wrap around. WTF??? At that point I think we all wondered who had the bright idea to do this!!! Oh, and I forgot to mention, we had a newbie with us!!!! Though I’m pretty sure she won’t speak to any of us anymore. So, as we passed Lou (AGAIN) we were onto our final leg. Up north on Bluepoint we went and then, ugh, the dreaded turn off onto the final and last loops. As we were heading towards them we see john Oakley casually strolling out of locust onto his decent to the pole. We turn onto Laurel, we pass the plastic “slow down” people, “OMG, we know the end is near”…the ugly lion statues…almost there. Samantha REALLY must hate us twice as much! Finally, we get back onto Bluepoint and we take it to the end! 12.5 miles, done! Oh. and 3 of us went back out for two more miles after we started at 5am for the first 2. Today, the “Superb Six” completed the Slaughterhouse Sausage Meat grinder 12.5 plus 4 more 16 mile total run! We survived.
The first official running of the MEATGRINDER 20K hills course was a huge success!! All 32 who started out at 5:30 AM completed the course!!!! It turns out the course is a tad longer than a 20K(12.4 miles) by about a tenth of a mile. So all you hill miles counters credit yourselves with 12.5 miles whenever you take it on!!
Congrats to all you Warriors!!
A huge crowd came out to the Selden hills on a 29* morning to celebrate the 500th member running our 10K hills course! An additional 11 newbies joined our Ms. 500, Evi Scapellati, to send us on our way to our next 500! Cheers to you all!!!
I just want to thank everyone for making me feel so welcome today. I must confess the hills are quite intimidating. I ran the course a couple of summers ago with one of your warriors and thought this is not for me AT ALL! Feeling a bit stronger and a few pounds lighter I figured it was time to revisit this hills challenge so I decided to actually join the group and put forth my best effort. By the grace of the stars alignment I was tagged your 500th member. Now I know it was my time to join you wonderful CRAZY people who love this sport like I do! Thank you Lou and Nancy for making this tough run today sooo worth it!! -Evi Scapellati via Facebook
Are you ready for the next challenge Warriors??
I have been running our 10K course for just shy of 4 years now. My Rich Hollmann interview a few weeks back peaked my interest in creating a more challenging course for those that are routinely conquering our hills doing doubles, triples and even 4 trips…a hills marathon!!…in order to continue to challenge themselves and improve their running ability.
Therefore in addition to our beloved 10K course I have created The Selden Hills 15K Challenge. Or what will be come to be known as the Selden Hills Slaughterhouse!
On Sunday the scheduled called for us to have our Shakeout Prediction Run Relay. Many will want to run the hills to honor Jim regardless so I am proposing we run this event in his memory with all proceeds going toward a fund to be established in his name. We will call it the Jim Callaghan Memorial Prediction Run. The plan would be to run it each and every year on this holiday weekend in memory of Jim. For those runners not interested in running the prediction event or wanting to run it with their timing device, you can still make a contribution either Sunday or Monday morning at 8AM. I will post more information on future tributes in the coming weeks. Spread the word to those that are not members of hillbilly nation so they can participate if they choose. Let us always be mindful of the dangers of running on the roads of Long Island……..
