Two foot races mapped out over the tough and mountainous coastal terrain of East Orland and Sullivan have been scheduled for Oct. 26 and Nov. 2. Online registration is open.
The Downeast Double Trouble Trail Race Challenge, a mini race series, was created after the Frenchman Bay Conservancy and Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust mistakenly planned races on the same day in fall 2012.
“We decided that we couldn’t do that again,” GPMCT Executive Director Cheri Domina said. “But we thought, what if we worked together to do something and make it bigger and better?”
In 2013, the two land trusts teamed up to organize the first Double Trouble Trail Race Challenge.
“We created a buzz around it, and it really worked,” Domina said. “Both groups tripled their attendance at the races.”
More than 50 people ran both races, and many more participants only ran one race or the other.
“It was a fun thing, and we got to know some people better,” Domina said. “It really introduced people who liked to hike and run trails to new trails in the area.”
This year’s first race, the Wild Lands Trail Run, will be held at Great Pond Mountain Wildlands Hothole Valley Parcel in East Orland on Oct. 26. Sponsored by GPMCT, the race is a 6.3-mile course on dirt roads and single track, over roots, rocks and mud, up and down small mountains and over streams. The total climb is about 1,200 feet.
The second race, the Autumn Trail Race, is scheduled for the following weekend, Nov. 2, at Baker Hill and Long Ledges Preserve in Sullivan. Sponsored by FBC, the 4-mile race will start at the Sumner Memorial High School fields. Runners will enter the woods, where they’ll run over varied terrain under towering old white pines to views of Long Pond.
“The race is almost entirely on single-track trail, which is pretty rooty,” Tobin Peacock, board member of FBC, said. “There are some nice views. But most of the time, people will have their heads down. You do get up on the open ridges to run along the granite. There are some steep uphills and downhills.”
Entrance fees are $20 per race, if pre-registered; $25 per race on race day; and $35 if pre-registered for both races. Space is limited to 150 runners at each race. Walkers are welcome. Dogs will not be permitted this year.
Proceeds from the race will go to GPMCT and FBC, nonprofit organizations that conserve land, maintain trails and run educational outdoor programs for the public.
“In some ways, we see it more as a friend-raising event than a fundraising event,” Peacock said. “It helps to have sponsors on board and we do make a little money off of it, but I think it’s more about getting people out for one last event for the year, enjoying our preserves. We give free memberships to everyone who comes.”
People who sign up for and complete both races receive a Downeast Double Trouble Trail Race Challenge prize. T-shirts or bandanas also will be available for pre-registrants at both races, and there will be prizes for top finishers. Lunch will be available at both events.
New this year, the top two runners of each race will be invited free of charge to next year’s race to wear the No. 1 and No. 2 bibs.
“They get to defend their position at the top of the the mountain,” Peacock said. “We’re trying to promote a bit of competition.”
For check-in times and other details about the races, visit frenchmanbay.org and greatpondtrust.org, where a race route map is also available. Register online for one or both races at getevent.com, or download the trail run entry forms on the land trusts’ websites. You also can pre-register for races by calling Peter at 288-3909 or emailing him at pktrldrt@myfairpoint.net.
Sponsors of the races so far include Awards, Signage & Trophies; Stanley Subaru; Nick Vachon, DPM, Penobscot Bay Yacht Exchange; Tradewinds Market of Blue Hill; MacLeod’s Restaurant; Cadillac Mountain Sports; Curtis Family Shoe; and Morton’s Moo. If interested in becoming a sponsor, call Cheri at 461-6929 or email info@greatpondtrust.org.