Our family spent all day at an ultra marathon trail race, and neither Debbie or I ran. However, a lot of our friends did. Today’s third Traprock 50K in Bloomfield, Connecticut, was a lot of fun. We crewed for my cousin, Danny Roy, who finished his first ultra. We cheered for all of our club-mates in the Shenipsit Striders. We helped out where we could.
Ben Nephew won the men’s race and Kristina Folcik won the women’s race. Ben didn’t get the course record, and likely due to the warmer than normal temperature. He was followed by the ageless Jack Pilla and Ryan Welts. The trails in Penwood State Forest were dry and dusty. The weather was warmer than usual, which was very different from past editions of Traprock. Debbie ran the inaugural Traprock in 2010, and both of us ran the race in 2011, but we opted to sit this one out.
There were nearly 100 finishers in the three lap race. Approximately 125 started. There was also a one-lap 17K race. Like the Nipmuck Trail that the Northern Nipmuck Trail Race was held on last week, the Metacomet Trail is another key part of the Connecticut Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails. The Metacomet is also part of the New England Scenic Trail. Race Directors Kevin Hutt and Steve Nelson said that proceeds from the sold-out event would benefit the Connecticut Forest & Park Association.
The Traprock team got support from several local sponsors. In addition to support from the Shenipsit Striders, support also came from the Bimbler’s Sound Running Club. Bimbler’s Jerry Turk and Kerry Arsenault handled the race timing.
The Traprock 50K in April and the Bimbler’s Bluff 50K in October, have become Connecticut’s two best ultras. It’s great to see how these races have grown.
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