Tuesday, November 12, 2019

2020 Louisville's Lovin' The Hills 50k/15m/6m Registration


The new official website for LLTH is at HeadFirst Performance (updated).  You can follow the link to registration on Ultrasignup from there or use this direct link:  https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=70415

Entry Fees:


                                      After Dec 9   After Jan 9
6 Mile $35                 $40           $45
15 Mile   $50                 $55           $60
50K   
$75                 $80           $85
                
Online registration will close on Monday, February 3, 2020. 


There are 2 locations in Louisville with early packet pickup & registration on Friday, February 7:   KEN COMBS RUNNING STORE at 4137 Shelbyville Road from 12 noon to 3 pm EST and at QUEST OUTDOORS at 4600 Shelbyville Road in the Shelbyville Road Plaza from 5 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.

Race buffs will be available to 50k & 15m runners who register thru UltraSignup.  After online registration closes, any remaining buffs will be distributed to late registrants on a first come first serve basis.


In collaboration with Land Between the Lakes (LBL), a special award will be given to those who complete both LLTH (50k, 15m or 6m) and LBL (50m, 60k, marathon or 23k).  Information on LBL can be found here:  https://runsignup.com/Race/KY/GrandRivers/LandBetweentheLakestrailruns.

The 2019 info & links listed in the sidebar of this blog are in the process of being updated to 2020.  All the courses for 2020 will essentially be the same as 2019 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.




HOME

Saturday, February 9, 2019

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

http://headfirstperformance.com/Results/19LLTH1.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://headfirstperformance.com/?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.





HOME


Wednesday, February 6, 2019

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!




HOME