by Ian Hepburn
TUCARD: The Terrifically (And Unnecessarily) Complicated Adventure Race Duathlon. I am prefacing my race report with this expansion of the acronym so that I can emphasize the “Unnecessarily Complicated” aspect of this event. I will try my best to describe the rules that TUCARD participants had to follow in this year’s race, with the understanding that I probably can’t make them that clear in the space I have allotted. 
On Sept 21st, 2024 I participated in my first TUCARD, which is an annual event facilitated by the Marsh Island Trail Runners. I am not the first Strider to take part in this event (see previous TUCARD race reports form Amy Stabins https://www.centralmainestriders.com/news/race-report-tucard-2021 and https://www.centralmainestriders.com/news/race-report-tucard-2022). The TUCARD has elements of an orienteering challenge, i.e. navigating to points on a map, combined with running and biking (or other modes of conveyance, which I will get to in a moment). Complexity is added by the terrain itself, as it takes place in/on/around the trail networks north of Bangor like the Bangor City Forest, the Orono Bogwalk, the Caribou Bog Conservation Area, and other trails in that vicinity. The Veazie Railroad Bed runs through these trail systems as well, connecting them all. Some of these trails, like the railroad bed, are wide and flat, but they are connected by smaller, capillary like trails that are rougher, steeper, and difficult to move quickly on. 
On top of the physical challenges posed by landscape are the rules of the TUCARD. The boundaries of the race environment are defined by the “Shadow of the Pony” (you will notice a distinct equestrian theme to the TUCARD, especially if you go to their website and check out past TUCARDs). In this year’s TUCARD, there were four waypoints, whose coordinates were given to registered participants before race day. The race organizers did not provide any context or guidance about these points until the day before the race, when the “Sparkle Pony Rule” (more equestrian stuff) was revealed. This dearth of information until 24 hours before race day is a hallmark of the TUCARD. In the case of this year’s event, it was revealed that racers had to collect three of the four points, but there were some stipulations. 
WARNING: ATTEMPTED EXPLANATION OF COMPLICATED RULES FOLLOWS! 
In the map below, you see the Shadow of the Pony, which outlines the edges of the course. Within the Shadow, you can navigate to any of the points in any way you choose to, as long as it does not involve anything powered by a motor. So, if you decide to swim or paddle across a pond instead of running or biking around it, that is allowed. However, modifications to a racer’s time may be applied based on the surface they are racing on, as well as their form of locomotion. No modifications are applied if you are walking or running on a trail. However, if you are walking or running on a paved surface, a 2x modification is applied so that every minute of time spent on foot on a paved surface counts as two minutes of race time. If you are biking on a trail, a x1.5 modification is applied. If you ride your bike on a paved surface the timing modifications are compounded so that for every minute spent riding your bike on a paved road counts as three minutes of race time. However, time spent boating applies a x1/2 modification to your time, and time spent swimming applies a x1/4 modification. Part of this year’s Sparkle Pony Rule added a new form of locomotion; time spent dribbling a soccer ball applied a x3/4 modification to your time. So, if you spent 60 minutes navigating through swamps, thickets, brambles, and other environmental hazards while kicking a soccer ball, it only counted as 45 minutes. Racers are required to record their progress using Strava or other digital exercise logging system, and this is how the race staff can apply the appropriate time modifications to each racer’s raw time.

The other major twist in the race was that only two of the four points were available to be collected at a given time. In the :00 to :29 part of an hour, points ‘u’ and ‘n’ could be collected while points ‘b’ and ‘p’ were not available. In the :30 to :59 part of an hour, ‘b’ and ‘p’ were available and the other points weren’t. So, racers had to determine a strategy where they could get the points at the times they were available while navigating through the trails and waterways, and making decisions about things like if the speed afforded by a bike would be worth the time penalty. Complicating this even further were two points near the extreme north and south ends of the course, where you could get a token to invert the time rule for the availability of the points…. 
I think that if you have read this far you get the point that the TUCARD is more complicated than most other races. Fortunately, the post-race pot-luck lunch was refreshingly straightforward, with almost every 
participant bringing food and beverages to share and discussing their race strategies. The race organizers encourage pot-luck participation by offering to subtract five minutes off of your race time if you brought a food item to share. 
What I observed during the race was that many participants used bikes as their primary means to get around, but there were a lot of others who went on foot. As the ‘D’ in TUCARD stands for Duathlon, every racer had to employ at least two forms of locomotion, so racers without bikes had to swim/boat at least part of the course. In my case, I used a sturdy mountain bike to cover ground quickly. I felt pretty smart on the morning of the race as I had visited these trails a few weeks earlier to get an idea of the terrain and how easily navigable the trails were, and using this knowledge I was able to move quickly from the start to my first point (point ‘p’ on the map). My attitude changed pretty quickly once I tried to move east towards point ‘n’, and I discovered how steep, rooty, rocky, and swampy the terrain between the points was. My strategy fell apart and I was forced to make some decisions on the move. I had to choose between pushing hard over narrow steep trails to move directly to the next point with the distinct possibility of not making it in time and being forced to wait 30 minutes for it be available again, or moving south to the waypoint that would allow me to collect a token to reverse the time rule for point ‘n’. I opted to add distance to my route and collect the token, then proceeded to point ‘n’. I then headed for the northern half of the course to collect my last point, where I was again forced to make a decision between a direct route to the point, or to collect another time inversion token before getting to the last point. I won’t go into further detail, but I will state that when I crossed the finish line, I had travelled 16.7 miles in 2 hours, 29 minutes. 
I am writing this on October 30th, 2024, 39 days after the TUCARD, and the official standings haven’t been published yet. This is typical, as the scoring for the race is as complicated as the race itself. The race staff has to scrutinize the digital records of each participant’s route and apply the appropriate time modifiers to determine the final official times and standings, which has typically taken about a month. So I may have actually won the 2024 TUCARD (highly unlikely), or maybe I came in last (more plausible), but either way it was a blast. I enjoy orienteering races, and the creative challenges posed by the terrain and the race rules ensured that no part of the race was boring. If you are looking for a physical and mental challenge and aren’t easily frustrated by ambiguities and contradictions, then the TUCARD is the race for you. However, it will help to keep these things in mind: 
1) Preparation is helpful. If possible, acquaint yourself with the trails before the race 
2) You will not get all of the information you want about the race when you want it 
3) Mike Tyson said “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”. That applies here, as the Sparkle Pony Rule serves as the metaphorical punch that will disrupt the strategy you might have formulated prior to the race, so keep your mind open and be flexible. 
I apologize for the long report, but there is a lot to this race and I highly recommend it, so hopefully I’ll see you at TUCARD 2025. 
To quote the classic film “The Outsiders”: Stay golden Pony Boy!

by Sapan Bhatt

Race Date: May 12, 2024
Location: Eustis, ME to Kingfield, ME
Distance: 26.2 miles

​Pre-Race:
The Sugarloaf Marathon is one of the few Spring Maine marathons and hugely popular Boston Qualifying race due to its elevation drop of ~1000ft from miles 10-26. I chose to drive up from Waterville the morning of the race, leaving at 4:45am to make the 7am start time. Cathedral Pines, the starting location, is quintessential Maine forestry; picturesque pines growing tall standing guard over the two-lane road. The campground buzzed with excitement; runners warming up, bib check-in (which was very quick, only 5min of waiting), and a nice bag drop. 
Bathroom situation was a bit squirrely, there were plenty of them but a parked bus prevented people from lining up properly in front of them. That led to Billy and I lining up about a minute before start. 


Me, Shannon, and Billy before the race

Miles 1-5:

The race began with a surge of adrenaline as we crossed the starting line. It’s a flat shot out of the pine trees on route 27. Conditions were pretty ideal, about 40F at the start warming to 50F as the day progressed. The pace seemed speedy from the start; with 60+ runners all going out at 6:40 pace or faster. Many thanks to course feedback from Julie, Ryan, Drew and others who all said to go conservatively until you crest to hill at mile 10.  The scenery reminded me of the Downeast Sunrise Trail with the added beauty of mountains in the background. For anyone from a city, I can see why this would be a destination race.
Miles 6-10:
The rhythm set in nicely by mile 5. This was true for me in much of my training too; you don’t loosen up until about mile 4. There were plenty of fluid stops which were well stocked (many thanks to all the volunteers). I planned on using 4 GU gels (miles 8,13,18, 23). For the next one, I would probably add another 1 or 2. The major climb goes from mile 8 to about mile 10.5 and I took down my first gel before the ascent. I tucked in with a couple of guys who were also planning for 2:56 finishes and slowed down about 20 sec/mile. This worked very well, keeping the strain off the legs. There are 2 steeper sections during the climb, 1 at the beginning and 1 at the end, the rest is more gradual. I stuck with my running buddies until we crested the hill and was grateful to be feeling fresh. 

Miles 11-20:
The downhill after the climb is also no joke. It’s fairly steep and can do a number on your quads. My goal was to keep in control and try to stay loose. That mile was about 20 sec quicker than goal pace so you can definitely make up some time lost on the climb. The course is very forgiving after the hill, flat to slight decline. It was relatively easy to get back into a rhythm and stack some more miles at the 6:40 goal pace. After the halfway mark, a larger pack started to form (we went from 3 of us to about 8) and it was fun rolling along until mile 17/18 as a nice group. 
Legs were still feeling very good at this point and I was debating to push the pace with about an hour left of racing. I remembered my first marathon, Maine Coast 2018, where I bonked after mile 16. The loss of speed, the burning in my legs, were fresh in my mind and I decided to stick to the 6:40 pace plan until mile 19/20 and then see what was possible. 
I felt the Saucony Pro 4 was a great choice for a super shoe. It helped keep my legs fresh and kept my momentum going forward.

Miles 21-26.2:
From 19 on, I was starting to feel it and see the effects of the marathon around me. A few competitors slowed to a walk and the time between miles seemed to stretch. Although I was putting in more intention and energy into picking up the pace, fatigue was dampening my efforts. It’s during the last 8 miles where that extra gel might have left me fresher. After each mile, I envision the distance remaining (just a 10k left, just a 5 miler, just an out and back on Ridge Road, etc.) Another thing which helped was I set my watch to lap time. While it was a little more effort to press the button at each mile, it kept me focused on just the mile I was running and helped me stay in the moment. Once I entered Kingfield, the crowd swelled and I let that adrenaline push me over the finish. 2:53:49, a Boston qualifying time and 17 min off my previous best.
Still feeling strong. One complaint I heard was about the camber of the road on this course. I felt the cars were very respectful giving runners the full lane so it was easy to run in the middle where it was level vs. on the shoulder

Post-Race:
I was able to sync up with Julie and Ron who graciously stuck around the finish for over an hour. Billy and Stephanie came in soon after and it was great to recap with them. Shannon drove from the start to the finish so it was great to see her on course and at the end. The food was on point, basic but well executed. Delicious soups and pastry, chocolate milk (my favorite). If you’re looking for a great entry into the marathon, Sugarloaf is hard to beat. Weather has been ideal for the past couple years, it’s much less hilly than MDI or Maine Marathon in the Fall. Thanks again to everyone who shared advice about training, gear, the course, etc. 
This was almost a year in the making for me. I was 5+ years removed from the marathon, always saying next year I would train for one. Last June, both my achilles and thought my best running days were behind me. Starting with the Quarry Road summer series, I’ve been building fitness and results which culminated in this race. I did much of my speed work on the treadmill, so if that’s something that fits your schedule/lifestyle better than roads, feel encouraged. Here’s to an exciting summer and more adventures ahead.

by Ron Peck
Ever wanted to run through the Maine woods in the dark? Enjoy staying up all night and riding in cars with other smelly runners? If that sounds like a great time, consider joining a Central Maine Striders team for the Downeast Sunrise Trail Relay (DESTR) in 2024! Teams of up to 8 people run legs of various lengths from Ellsworth to Eastport. DESTR start times are assigned so teams start Friday evening (between 5 pm and midnight-ish), and all teams finish about noon on Saturday.
This year, DESTR is July 19-20th. Runners of all abilities are welcome! The only rule is that you can only be a little cranky at four in the morning when you've just run 5 miles with no sleep. Last year, the Striders were proudly represented by two teams: OG and Twopoint0. (Click here for inspirational video montage of our races) We plan to have two teams again, and it would be great to add a third team this year. If you're interested, please email me at [email protected]. I'll keep a list and contact people around April when registration opens to finalize teams.

On Saturday, December 9, the Central Maine Striders met at a member's house to hold their annual holiday social, meeting, elections, and jingle bell social run.  Most attendees came dressed up in their finest holiday-themed running outfits and ran around 3 miles around the neighborhood.  Despite sending out an email earlier in the week reminding the social run group about the start time, Treasurer Ron Peck forgot the meeting time and showed up nearly a half hour late, but still managed to get a couple miles in before the business meeting began.  Also before the meeting began, Ian Hepburn took the holiday outfit game to another level by changing out of his light bedazzled running outfit and into a full holiday-themed suit!

One of agenda items at the club's year-end meetings is typically some sort of awards.  Following the pattern of last year, awards were given out to two members in each of three categories, as chosen by the club's officers.  Besides getting a beautiful certificate and the glory of being a Strider award winner, the winners each received a $25 gift card to RunningWarehouse.com (which, combined with the club's 10% discount, technically held a value of $27.78).

The 2023 Striders Spirit Award was given to Sapan Bhatt and Alicia McCarthy for their positive spirit while representing the club.  Next, the President's Award was given to Julie Millard and Martha Nadeau for their invaluable contributions to the club during the year.  And finally, the 2023 Striders of the Year awards went to Billy Kobin and Lindsey Madison for their running achievements while representing the club during the year.  While we don't have the room nor the memory to list all the accomplishments of these amazing six club members through out the year, we can say that all of them contributed immensely to the club by volunteering at events, setting various personal bests, hosting other runners for social runs, and just generally being wonderful people who continually show up and participate in our little club.

The final item of business for the evening was to announce the election results.  By unanimous decision, the entire Board of Directors was reappointed to their positions.  The Board of Directors includes Patrick Guerette, Alicia MacLeay, Tom McGuire, Julie Millard, Ron Peck, and Ron Paquette.  Secretary Amy Stabins, Treasurer Ron Peck, and Vice President Kate Scott were all re-elected to their positions,  And, Martha Nadeau was elected to be the next club President.  Tom McGuire pointed out that Martha will be the club's first woman president, to which Ryan Goebel added that it is also the first time that the majority of the club officers are women.  

After the meeting was adjourned, most attendees stuck around to continue eating lasagna, holiday treats, and drink beverages.  Some Fireball may have also made the rounds.

Several Striders ran well on the trails of Lost Valley in Auburn and then also drank well at the Backyard Brew Festival on Nov. 4.

The Saturday morning event offered a 5K, 10K and 15K race up, down and around the Lost Valley ski area that had nice and muddy trails in late fall.

Lindsey Madison and Billy Kobin were the top female and male finishers, respectively, in the 5K. They cheered on Julie Millard as she won her age group in the 10K and then kept encouraging Ron Peck as he braced three loops of the tough course to take home first place in the 15K.

The real fun came afterwards, when a dozen or so brewers - all from Maine - set up tents and offered pours of various beers that tasted even better after a morning trail run.

Julie’s favorite beer came from Fluvial Brewing in Harrison (perhaps a field trip to Harrison should happen one of these days).

Billy most enjoyed the Mr. Grumpypants (coffee stout) from Norway Brewing Company in Norway. Lindsey and Ron both liked best the choices from Side By Each Brewing Co. in Auburn. 

Cheers to more runs, beer fests and fun times!