Registration for the 19th running of Louisville's Lovin' The Hills, to be held at 8:00 a.m. EST on Saturday, February 4, 2023, is open on UltraSignup at https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=96414 . Online registration will close on Wed, February 1, 2023 at 11:59 pm EST.
A training run has been scheduled for Saturday, January 14 @ 8 a.m. EST and for Saturday, January 21 @ 8 a.m. EST. Details are listed in #11 of the 2023 FAQ.
Preliminary results have been posted. The direct link is currently at:
https://headfirstperformance.com/Results/22%20LLTH.pdf
If you note any errors or have any missing information, notify Headfirst Performance -- the sooner the better. Results will be on Ultrasignup at a later date once the results have been finalized and HeadFirst Performance gets them uploaded to that site.
Recap:
The re-scheduled 18th running of LLTH is now in the books. There were more new registrants in the last 2 weeks since registration reopened than the number of runners who deferred their entry to next year. There were the usual drop downs & drop outs this year -- still over 250 finished.
start video:
The weather or trail conditions usually add to the challenge of LLTH. This year both made it tougher than usual:
The area received over 2” of rain on Thursday. However, with 2 cold nights, most of the course froze over. With temps starting in the low 30’s and only reaching the upper 30’s late, much of the course remained frozen the entire race day. Still, there were muddy spots/holes/short segments that expanded as the day progressed, but not real bad considering what it had been.
As for the weather, the skies stayed mostly clear and it was very windy. The wind chill made the 30’s feel like the 20’s all day. The 25+ mph wind gusts from the northwest were most noticeable on the hill tops and ridges.
2022 winners:
50k: Scott Ritter 5:34:16 Lauren Manuel 6:31:45
15m: Evan Heitz* 1:55:04 Jayla Elati 2:37:12
6m: Ronald Black 46:27 Jessica Miller 56:33
*Evan Heitz had the fastest time on the 15m course since the hilly Purple Heart section was included in a major change in 2014. Ryan Althaus still owns the LLTH record for 15m of 1:53:55 in 2013.
Other notes:
The free pasta dinner at Quest Outdoors was
unexpectedly attended by more than 3 times the usual number that had came
the 4 years previous. Runners will likely be queried during
registration next year as to if they (& any guests) might attend the
dinner to get a better handle on the number of possible attendees.
Quest Outdoors plans to expand the dining area and food quantities as
needed next year.
The homemade soups & assorted foods, including mystery burritos were again a hit at the post race meal at the Horine Center -- Thank you Cynthia from all of us!
Hats off to the Public Works Dept who cleared the trails of trees & debris since the ice storm 2 weeks ago and for
also clearing the trails, on very short notice, of downed trees after
the heavy rain and windstorm on Thursday.
As noted previously, 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.
If anyone has any photos/videos/race reports that they wish to share on this blog, send them or the link to me. Thanks!
Congrats & Thanks to all for making LLTH a success this year!
HeadFirst Performance re-scheduled LLTH (see last blog post) from February 5 to February 19 since the Jefferson Memorial Forest forbid the running of the event due to the ice storm. Registration has reopened at Ultrasignup:
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=87105.
Online registration will close on Wed, February 16, 2022 at 11:59 pm EST.
The HeadFirst Performance website is still under construction and currently not available. All previous links thruout this blog that went thru that site are also not functioning.
Early packet pickup will be at QUEST OUTDOORS at 4600 Shelbyville Road in the Shelbyville Road Plaza on Friday, February 18, from 4 to 7 pm EST. They will be having their FREE pre-race pasta dinner again at the store location -- everyone is welcome.
You can also register and/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.
Thursday, 2-17-22 -- last minute notes for the LLTH 2-19-22 edition:
The Parks Dept. has been busy the last 2 weeks clearing trees and debris from the trails due to the ice storm. With the heavy rain (2") and gusty winds today, some more weakened trees have fallen across the trails (there's currently at least one large one on the Siltstone trail). Don’t know if the crew will be able to get to them on such short notice — if not, they’ll just add to your race day challenge!
Since 2020, there have only been very minor changes to the courses, and those have mostly been on the 50k portion of the Siltstone trail -- minor diversions at: Jefferson Hill Rd for a new trail bridge; Bearcamp Rd aid station for a new road culvert; and reconstruction of the Scott's Gap trailhead.
Flagging is orange this year. As usual, trail junctions are marked with several flags & major junctions have signs or a volunteer on site. Intermediate/confidence flagging is spaced approx. 200 to 300 feet along the entire course.
And, as in 2020: In collaboration with Land Between the Lakes (LBL) Event, 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. When you finish at LBL, just let them know you did LLTH and they'll hand you the award.
Have Fun! Stay Safe!
An email was sent to all current LLTH entrants last night from Cynthia Heady, Race Director at HeadFirst Performance, via Ultrasignup. For those who did not receive it, this is a copy of what was sent: UPDATE
It’s 34 degrees here now with light rain falling. An ICE STORM WARNING has been issued for the area starting at 7 am today thru 7 am tomorrow morning. The most current forecast can be found here: NWS.
When Cynthia sends out the next email on the race status, I will add to this post.
2:30 pm update:
Jefferson Memorial Forest closed Tom Wallace Park (across from the Welcome Center) yesterday. Just learned they are now closing the entire Forest to the public due to the State of Emergency being declared in Kentucky & safety concerns. Cynthia will be preparing an email to all registered runners when she gets home to make it official that the race will be moved to the backup date of February 19.
3:25 pm update:
Received the latest email update from Cynthia, via Ultrasignup, making the backup date of February 19 official. For those who did not receive it, this is a copy of what was sent: UPDATE 2
