2019 LLTH Results and Race Recap

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

 http://69.195.124.103/~headfir2/Results/19LLTHreport.pdf

Results are now at:

http://69.195.124.103/~headfir2/Results/19LLTH.pdf

If you note any errors, send the corrections to Headfirst Performance.  Results will be posted on Ultrasignup once they are finalized.

Recap

The 16th running of LLTH is now history!

The weather always seem to play a part & adds to the challenge every year -- it was no different this time:

Ice

I didn't notice water draining onto the course & freezing, other than a small section of sidewalk, but on one access road to the race, there was water draining from the hill & it formed sheets of ice. The hill had been salted, but was useless as a constant stream of water flowed down & across the road & took the salt with it.

As the start of the race approached, it was observed that more race packets than expected were unclaimed.  Word came in that traffic had backed up on the hill coming from Fairdale when drivers could not get by the ice on the steep hill.  Someone was dispatched to assist, but word that the start would be delayed 30 minutes came too late for some in line & they gave up.  Everyone who was patient or just couldn't get out of the line made it in time for the start.

                Photo by Headfirst Performance

Trail conditions

At one time the forecast called for low teens on race morning & it was expected to freeze the course.  With a temp of 19 degrees though & sunny skies at the race start, the trails were partially wet in some areas, even on the 1st section.  I believe that the ground was still retaining some heat from the unseasonably high temps (mid 60's) less than 2 days earlier.  Temps would reach the mid 30's by late afternoon.  Many trails were rough thruout the day as there were many footprints & ridges pushed up that were frozen into the trail from foot traffic earlier in the week.  The most thawing I noticed in the afternoon was towards the west end of the course at Scott's Gap and where parts of the trails were exposed to the sun.

          Photo by Headfirst Performance

2019 winners:

50k:    Nathan Holland   4:23:21*         Sarka Petrickova      5:50:17

15m:   Eric Smith           1:58:24          Amanda Leblanc      2:22:55

6m:     Derek Montoya      49:57          Emma Kendall            54:39

*Nathan Holland picked up his 2nd straight win in the 50k by demolishing the competition (a record margin of victory) in the 3rd fastest time recorded at LLTH.

                Photo by Headfirst Performance

shirt, buff, gloves & finisher medal:

An award is issued to runners when reaching 10 finishes at LLTH.  2 runners reached that milestone this year:  Ben Mast and Patrick Schmidt -- Congratulations!

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


Photos by Headfirst Performance can be found here:

http://69.195.124.103/~headfir2/?bwg_gallery=19-louisville-lovin-the-hills


Congrats & Thanks to all!  Thanks also to the Headfirst Performance crew & all the volunteers.  Special Thanks to Cynthia Heady!


LLTH 2020:

There seems to be an increasing negative sentiment about LLTH with the management at the Jefferson Memorial Forest. This includes both the use of the trails and the Horine Center.   Don't know if it's because of new hires, new policy or the public, but I'm hoping this issue is resolved as planning for 2020 will not be able to start.





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Feb-6-2019 LLTH last minute notes

 Online registration thru Ultrasignup ends tonight.

There are 2 locations in Louisville with early packet pickup & registration on Friday, February 8:   KEN COMBS RUNNING STORE at 4137 Shelbyville Road from 11 am to 2 pm EST and at QUEST OUTDOORS at 4600 Shelbyville Road in the Shelbyville Road Plaza from 4 to 7 pm EST.  QUEST OUTDOORS will be having their FREE pre-race pasta dinner again this year at their store location from 5 to 7 pm EST -- everyone is welcome.

You can also register or pick up your race packet at the Horine Center at the Start/Finish area on race morning around 7 am EST.  It's recommended to pick up your packet on Friday to avoid the rush & lines on race day.

Flagging will be 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. 200 to 300 feet along the entire course.

It's been raining most of the day here with 60+ degree temps.  More rain is predicted thru tomorrow (Thursday):  FORECAST   Lots of water & several real muddy spots on the trails, but with a "flash freeze" predicted Friday, the concern will be ICE and slick spots on race day.  Most of the trails will be "crunchy".  Past experience on these trails has shown ICE can be a problem as sometimes water drains or seeps from the side of a hill down onto a trail & freezes solid.  Hopefully it won't Saturday, but BE WARY, especially on narrow downhill trails.

The courses are the same as last year with very minor changes due to damage from the major ice storm last November.


NOTE:

Some low-cost gloves (& hand warmers) have been donated to Headfirst Performance — you’ll find them in your race packet. These HI-VIS gloves can be handy when hunters are around.  Guys - Lg, Gals - M, both fit on the small side.


Keep Warm, Have Fun & Good Luck!



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2019 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=60574.  The first 200 people who sign up for the 50k and the 15m will receive a bonus race Buff.

Entry Fees:

		After Nov 14        After Dec 31
6 Mile		$40                       $45
15 Mile		$55                       $60
50K		$70                       $75

                
Online registration will close on Wednesday, February 6, 2019. 
 
There are 2 locations close to one another in Louisville with early packet pickup & registration on Friday, February 8:   KEN COMBS RUNNING STORE at 4137 Shelbyville Road from 11 am to 2 pm EST and at QUEST OUTDOORS at 4600 Shelbyville Road in the Shelbyville Road Plaza from 4 to 7 pm EST.  QUEST OUTDOORS will be having their FREE pre-race pasta dinner again this year at their store location from 5 to 7 pm EST -- everyone is welcome.

You can also register or pick up your race packet at the Horine Center at the Start/Finish area on race morning starting around 7 am EST.  It's recommended to pick up your packet on Friday to avoid the rush & lines on race day.

The 2018 info & links listed in the sidebar of this blog are in the process of being updated to 2019.  All the courses for 2019 will essentially be the same as 2018 with only minor changes.  
Updates will be posted here on this blog as needed.  A "last minute" update is usually posted 2 or 3 days before the race date.




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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:
                                



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:

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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