2018 LLTH Results and Race Recap

Preliminary results have been posted.   The direct link is currently at:

http://69.195.124.103/~headfir2/Results/18LLTH.pdf

If you note any errors, send the corrections to Headfirst Performance.  Results will be posted on Ultrasignup once results are complete and Headfirst Performance has uploaded those results in the format required by Ultrasignup.

Temps would be a "balmy" 46 at the start, slowing dropping to 40 by late afternoon. There was a light breeze in the morning that picked up late in the day.  Light rain was falling at the start.  It was a misty, drizzly day with occasional periods of light rain.

     photo by Larry Hilton:

 Like last year, there were 400 or so entrants.  Unlike last year, there were many no-shows and also many runners that dropped down in distance.  The field was noticeably smaller in the start video:
                                

The theme for LLTH this year was, of course, MUD.   Who would have thought with a colder than normal winter up to now, that for race day it would be warmer than usual?  Or that it would rain for the 1st time in the 15 year history of LLTH?  Yes, it's been very muddy before, but it was from a thawing course or from melting snow/ice -- and then, only in the afternoon.

a few mud pics:

 

mud slog around mile 29, run time 1:20 min :

2018 winners:

50k:    Nathan Holland   4:50:09          Alicia Heyne     6:27:04

15m:   Greg Fraze          2:12:25          Sally Etherton   2:48:32

6m:     Lee Tichenor          45:55          Donna Vakalis     46:55

The winning times were quite impressive this year considering the trail conditions!


shirt, buff & finisher medal:

3 mud runners:

 NOTE:  The runner mentioned in the video was able to get up & continue the race before help arrived.



Other notes:

If you finished the 15 miler & did not receive a medal, text Cynthia Heady at Headfirst Performance.  Her phone number is listed on their website.

An award is issued to runners when reaching 10 finishes at LLTH.  3 runners reached that milestone this year:  Peter Brondum, Steve Durbin & Donald Summerfield -- Congratulations!

If anyone has pictures they wish to share with others, post your link or send it/them to edibo@insightbb.com.   Thanks!

Larry Hilton's photos can be found here:

    Horine:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ki6p81Wz439YoJfr1

    Dam:     https://photos.app.goo.gl/3azPgNCZhTUeAbjy2



Congrats & Thanks to all!  Thanks also to the Headfirst Performance crew & all the volunteers.  And as always, special thanks to Cynthia Heady, who makes this race happen.



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Feb-7-2018 LLTH last minute notes

The deadline for online registration thru Ultrasignup has been extended to tonight.  Late registration will be available at packet pickup.

There are 2 locations for early packet pickup on Friday the 9th: at KEN COMBS RUNNING STORE from noon to 4 pm EST and at QUEST OUTDOORS from 5 pm to 8 pm EST.  QUEST OUTDOORS will be having their FREE pre-race pasta dinner again this year at their store location at 4600 Shelbyville Rd in the Shelbyville Road Plaza in Louisville -- all runners are welcome. 

Packet pickup & late registration on race morning will start around 7 am EST at the Horine Center at the FINISH area. There are a limited number of race buffs in the packets for the 50k & 15 mile runners only.

Flagging will be orange this year.  Trail junctions will be marked with several flags & major junctions will also have signs or a volunteer on site.  Intermediate flagging is spaced approx. 200 to 300 feet along the entire course.

As of this morning, the FORECAST for the race is for temps to be in the 40's & a chance of rain.  Currently, the trails are pretty wet from the half inch rain last night.  Streams are still low.

On the Blue Trail on the 15m/50k course at the dam earlier this morning:

The course is the same as last year with only one change:  a short re-route of the Siltstone Trail at the 50k/15m split where the trail meets Tom Wallace Lake at the dam.  Due to the change at the dam, the aid station that was located there in previous years has been moved a quarter mile to the gravel overflow parking area across the road from the Welcome Center.  With this change, there will be one less aid station for the 50k runners, now 7 total.  15 mile runners will still have 3 aid stations.  See the 2018 FAQ for more info.

A traffic note for those traveling thru Fairdale on the way to the race:  The dog-legged (offset) intersection in Fairdale was replaced by a traffic circle last summer.  Your GPS probably won't show the new traffic pattern and since the new road signs are difficult to see, the best advice I can give you is:  get on the road with the brick building (fire station) -- that's Mitchell Hill Road that will lead you to Holsclaw Hill Road & the race start.

Have Fun & Good Luck!




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2018 Louisville's Lovin' The Hills 50k/15m/6m Registration

The official website for LLTH is at HeadFirst Performance.  You can follow the link to registration on Ultrasignup from there or use this direct link:  https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=49028.  The first 200 people who sign up for the 50k and the 15m will receive a bonus race Buff.

Entry Fees:

		Dec 1 - Jan 31        After Jan 31
6 Mile	$35	$40                       $45
15 Mile	$50	$55                       $60
50K	$65	$70                       $75

                
Online registration will close February 6 -- now EXTENDED to February 7!

The 2017 info & links listed in the sidebar of this blog are in the process of being updated to 2018.  All the courses for 2018 will essentially be the same as 2017 with only minor changes.  

Blogger.com automatically started to provide a mobile version of this blog last year, however, it did not show the sidebar which caused some confusion for last years' event.  That version has been bypassed so only the desktop version (with small print) will be shown on mobile devices now.

Updates will be posted here on the LLTH PLUS blog (http://llth50.blogspot.com) as needed.  A "last minute" update is usually posted 2 or 3 days before the race date.




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2017 LLTH Results and Race Recap

Preliminary results have been posted.   The direct link (subject to change) is currently at:

http://69.195.124.103/~headfir2/Results/17LLTH.pdf
  
IF the link does not work, check the HeadFirst Performance website, under the results tab, for the latest revision.  If you note any errors, contact HeadFirst Performance.  Results will also be posted on Ultrasignup.

A record crowd attended the 14th running of LLTH.  Entries numbered over 400 for the 1st time -- due, in part, to the expected weather & trail conditions, which were better than usual.  The temps would range from 17 to 39 on a partly cloudy day & there was a very light breeze.

As expected, the trails were frozen thru mid-morning.  With the hard overnight freeze, parts of the trail that were only damp on previous days had ice form near the surface.  Then as the sun & temps rose higher, the trails did develop some slick areas & a couple fairly muddy spots in the afternoon.  The trails were actually in better shape earlier in the week despite the lack of any precipitation since then.

A better quality version of this start video has been uploaded to OneDrive.  It's in HD format, so not everyone may be able to view it.


2017 winners:

50k:   Scott Breeden      4:14:37**           Jessica Southers     5:27:38**

15m:  Clinton Barrett    1:59:04               Kristin Patterson    2:22:39

6m:    Kaleb Patterson     46:26                Sara Mahoney           46:31

** Scott's time is 2nd only to the record (4:07:38) he set in 2013.  Jessica's time is 2nd only to the record set by Ellen Erhardt/Byron (5:18:05) in 2008.


shirt, buff & finisher medal:

 

Congrats & Thanks to all!  Thanks also to the Headfirst Performance crew & all the volunteers.  And as always, special thanks to Cynthia Heady, who makes this race happen.

If anyone has pictures they wish to share with others, post your link or send it/them to edibo@insightbb.com.   Thanks!



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Feb-1-2017 LLTH last minute notes

Online registration thru Ultrasignup closes tonight.  Late registration is available at packet pickup on Friday (3rd) at Ken Combs Running Store from 12 noon to 5:00 pm EST and on race morning from 6:30 - 7:30 am EST at the Horine Center at the FINISH area.  There are a limited number of race buffs in the packets for the 50k & 15 mile runners only.

It has come to my attention that the sidebar of this blog may not be visible with all mobile web browsers -- sorry.  The sidebar contains useful links about the race & is visible on a PC.

All races start at 8:00 a.m. EST. Sat 2-4-17

QUEST OUTDOORS has announced they're having a FREE pre-race pasta dinner again this year at their new store location at 4600 Shelbyville Rd in the Shelbyville Road Plaza in Louisville at 6 p.m. Friday (3rd).  All runners are welcome.

HeadFirst Performance just recently changed their website host. Their race website is still under construction.  The location of the race start is in the Horine Section of Jefferson Memorial Forest.  The entrance to the Horine Section is at 12304 Holsclaw Hill Rd, Louisville, KY.   The start of the race is about a half mile from the entrance down the narrow park road.   The address (11311 Mitchell Hill Rd) currently listed on Ultrasignup for LLTH will take you to the Welcome Center, about 2 miles from the start and on the wrong road.   More specific directions, using Google Maps, can be found using the links in the sidebar of this blog.   If there's any question about the race, you can send it by adding a comment to this post, or you can email me directly at edibo@insightbb.com or you can email Cynthia Heady, RD, cynthia@headfirstperformance.com.  Things are really busy now till the race so will try to get out an answer if there's time.

There's been a record number of entries (383 so far, usually 300 or less) this year.  It's recommended to arrive early as the usual parking areas will likely overflow. There's been some consideration to staggering the start time of the 6 mile runners this year & in the future due to the increasing number of runners -- nothing has been decided at this time.  Everyone starts on the gravel road for the first 0.6 miles, but inevitably a bottleneck/backup eventually forms as it narrows down to single track trail at that point.

Flagging will be a light orange this year.  Trail junctions will be marked with several flags & major junctions will also have signs or a volunteer on site.  Intermediate flagging is spaced approx. 100 to 200 feet along the entire course.

Current forecast is for partly cloudy skies with upper teens to low 20's at the start & highs in the upper 30's to low 40's. The streams are mostly dry.  Trails are in very good to excellent condition.  It's rare to have the trails in this condition this time of year.  If there's a frost heave race morning, that will bring some moisture to the surface -- possibly causing spotty slick spots if or when the ice melts in the afternoon.


On the Blue Trail on the 15m/50k course this morning:


The course is the same as last year with only one very minor change that those familiar with the course might notice:  the bridge just after the start of the Siltstone Trail (15m & 50k) has been replaced & relocated away from the road -- bypassing the steep, sharp rock steps (made of siltstone) and replacing them with slab rock & a short switchback.

Have Fun & Good Luck!

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2017 Louisville's Lovin' The Hills 50k/15m/6m Registration

 NOTE:  If you're using an I-Phone & viewing the mobile version of this page, 1/2 the blog is not visible -- you'll need to view it on a PC.  Home page for this blog is http://llth50.blogspot.com


New this year is race registration thru UltraSignup.  The races will continue to be directed by HeadFirst Performance.

Entry Fees:
                                        After Dec 30         After Jan 31
6 Mile              $30                 $35                     $40                       
15 Mile            $50                 $60                     $65
50K                 $65                 $75                     $80
 
Online registration will close Wednesday, February 1, 2017.
 
The info & links listed in the sidebar of this blog are in the process of being updated to 2017.  All the courses for 2017 will essentially be the same as 2016 with only very minor changes.  

A last minute update has been scheduled to be posted here the Wed or Thu before race day.  HeadFirst Performance is making a website change, so links with headfirstperformance.com in them, like results, will not work -- check back later.  Some past results can be found on UltraSignup.

  



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2016 LLTH Results and Race Recap

The 2016 race results are in.

The 13th running of LLTH is now history.  There was a good turnout as the weather cooperated for us again this year.  A little colder (27 degrees) than forecast in the morning but that helped keep the mud on the course frozen thru mid morning.  As the temps slowly rose to the low 50's, the mud would reveal itself although it wasn't as bad as last year when there was a similar weather pattern.
           Photo by Debi Alexander

  

Debi Alexander of Indianapolis offered her time & photographic expertise & has provided hundreds of great photos.  All are free to download -- Thank you Debi!

Photos:

Start - https://goo.gl/photos/wjZXhBuakZ5S3UFr7

Mile 6/First Water stop - https://goo.gl/photos/Vd6jkg35MpVJtu4eA

Out on the Course - https://goo.gl/photos/mEbi6jK3b75dtfkA6

Finish Line - https://goo.gl/photos/po3BP1Ji7x7dmURH6

Hunter - https://goo.gl/photos/6MHqe3ArurdNrjbR9

                                   Photo by Debi Alexander

                       

                                  Cynthia Heady (RD)                                 

2016 winners:

50k:  Troy Shellhamer   4:53:37                    Ashley Cearbaugh    6:53:13

15m: Greg Fraze           2:02:31                    Alicia Heyne            2:18:06

6m:   Lincoln Williams     40:47                     Sally Etherton            50:10


buff, shirt & finisher medal:

 

  10 year finisher award:

Congrats & Thanks to all runners who made 2016 LLTH a success.  Thanks also to the Headfirst Performance crew & all the volunteers.  Special thanks to Cynthia Heady who made this race happen & once again provided some great homemade soups.

If anyone has pictures they wish to share with others, post your link or send it to edibo@insightbb.com.  Also, you can send any name spelling or results corrections to the same address.  Thanks.


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