A Taco Bell 10 mile race, sleeping naked in a museum and discovering if ‘sports leather’ really is the right fabric for an Ultra are just some of the running challenges Lee-Stuart Evans faced when moving to Connecticut from The UK. In his report from ‘across the pond’ we find out if his worry about Bears is valid, what ‘Trail Magic’ on the Appalachian Trail is and how a 343 Mile Fastest Known Time is the best way to make new friends and become an honorary member of a historical society.

In the 8 months that I’ve been Binge Running in the USA I’ve gone through something of a transformation from ‘reasonably accomplished UK Ultra Runner’ to USA Trail running novice. If USA Trail Novice sounds bad, 8 months prior when I first arrived I had just enough experience to get myself nearly killed on a USA trail so I have made some gains…….

The Appalachian Trail , Trail Magic and my first genuine worry about bears

Connecticut has nearly 60 miles of the famous Appalachian Trail running through it. A weekend spent on it taught me a number of things. Firstly that the ‘safety catch’ is set to off in the USA and what we would consider downright ludicrous in the UK ( a cliff climb, descent down a waterfall etc ) is absolutely fine here.

With huge boulders the size of buses, deep dense ancient pine forest, sheer cliffs and ridges and mountains the ‘AT’ in ‘CT’ is absolutely incredible. I opted to do the Connecticut section in September with high humidity and temperatures which also gave me my first taste of being thoroughly hot and miserable in the USA. Suddenly the phenomenom of ‘topless running USA guy’ made absolute sense. The added misery of ‘no see ‘ums’ biting me everywhere I had exposed skin also added to the learning experience.

The AT also introduced me to the concept of ‘Trail Magic’. As you pass along the AT you’ll find people will leave gifts out for you. I’ve seen drinks, sweets and crisps and even notes offering warm showers just off trail. When Shona and I left the trail for dinner in a local town we were helped by ‘Trail Angels’ who drove us to a go Cafe and others that drove us back to the trail head after. The CT section of the AT also has shelters for you to use every 10 miles or so making camping on trail far more civilised.

I got used to ,bear discipline’ where put our food in ‘Bear Boxes’ overnight or tied anything with a smell up in trees about 200m away from where we slept. I worried about bears all weekend. I did not see any bears all weekend. Worry about and not actually seeing bears has become a recurring theme for me in the USA.

Fastest Brit at the Taco Trials

With ten tacos in ten 1 mile laps round a Taco Bell the Taco Bell 10 Mile Race in Glastonbury had two distinct advantages for me, firstly that this would become an ‘eaters’ race from lap 7 and secondly that I was guaranteed to be ‘Fastest Brit’ in the race. I was indeed fastest Brit and I did finish, but it was not dignified.

The debate will rage about soft versus hard shell tactics and if a vegetarian option is necessary or actually an advantage. Never in any race have I ever seen toilets become such a necessity as the race wore on. There was a madcap spirit here that I recognised from UK events such as the White Star Running or Bad Boy Running events and I felt instantly happy finding ‘my kind of people’ in a frozen car park of a Taco Bell.

Its the FronTIER

Many of the trails in Connecticut are named after Native American tribes or legends. The exotic names like Metacomet, Mattabesset or Menunkatuck Trails are perfect for such a wide range of exciting, dangerous and challenging terrain that in one state has easily something to match anything the UK has to offer for runners or hikers.

The Beast Coast – Gods Gravel and what it means when they say ‘The Safety Catch is off’

There is literally nothing that prepares any UK runner for how tough the USA East Coast trails are. The irony is here that you have some of the most spectacular views but spend most of your time ‘running’ along looking 3 ft in front of you to avoid what I dub ‘gods gravel’. Local runners refer to this area as ‘The Beast Coast’. I use much much stronger language as I wheeze my way up rocky trails with huge drop offs.

mICROBURSTS, gODS cHAINSAW AND THE AGE OLD DEBATE OF CAN A HUMAN BE A LIGHTNING ROD

The weather here has every dial turned to 11. Its hot in the summer and there are beautiful blue skies most days all year round, but Ive seen ‘Ice Storms’ and temps of minus 20C as well.

The reality here is that most of New England seems to sit on a giant sheet of rock so it stays cold all winter. What this means is I can go for a run with ice spikes on when the outside air temp is 13 to 16C.

A state Park nearby called Sleeping Giant got hit by a ‘microburst’ of wind. Not even enough for a Tornado. This has left the park closed for a year while the state park authority try to remove all of the fallen and smashed trees. When wind hits the woods here it looks like mortars have been used. Trees dont fall over so much as explode. When leaving the house in the UK for arun I worry about taking a waterproof jacket or not. Here the decision checklist for a run is … 1-5 layers of extra clothing, waterproof jacket, puffy jacket, ice spikes for shoes, buff to protect face , insect repellant, bear spray and SOS beacon.

I’ve worn more clothes than I ever did in frozen Mongolia at minus 47C and yet also felt more miserably hot and humid and unbearably hot than I ever did in the Sahara on the Marathon des Sables. New Englanders get all 4 seasons of weather at any given time. I’ve seen a 30C temperature change in 24 hours here when out on trails.

everything could kill you …but doesn’t

In the UK your greatest trail running hazard is usually cows. The list of things to worry about in New England is rather long. Rattlesnakes, Bears , Mountain Lions, Bobcats, Coyotes . The good news is that Connecticut has the lowest rate of gun ownership so only 16% of people here are armed to the teeth. Ive had two armed run ins when out running and both were in the UK. Despite my constant absolute certainty that I am about to be eaten by Paddington Bears larger USA cousin the single biggest trail danger I’ve encountered so far is my own overconfidence.

Accidental FKTs

You have to love a country where some trails arent fully mapped or described online. This is proper frontier running. In the UK we see runners on strava and the FastestKnownTime website strive to beat each others times, whereas here simply completing a trail can be enough to bag the record. In my time here Im fairly confident Ive bagged an FKT by accident and even got one on a 3.1 mile loop record by accident when I was out for a hike in January .

The People make the experience

I’m known for being brash, obnoxious, loud and childish. So you can see where this is going straight away… The runners here instantly made me feel at home. American trail runners are my kind of crazy. They are friendly and bold, experienced and humble and have a sense of community here that sees lots of runners coming out to help other runners on races and FKTs. Its a joy to see and an aspect of UK trail running I particularly love.

Following in the footsteps of a Tramp

So after 6 months I was confident enough to create my own adventure. After running a few trails I kept seeing ‘Leatherman Cave’ on maps in different places and after falling down a Wikipedia Rabbit hole for 2 hrs emerged with a plan to run 365 miles round most of Connecticut and New York State during my one week spring break from my University Masters. The plan was as bold as it was stupid.

A local legend of a vagabond called the Old Leatherman wandered a consistent 34 day 365 mile loop through the area for many many years until he died in March 1889 led me to go out and recreate his route and visit the caves he used to sleep in on trail and 41 towns he was fed at as he travelled through. My plan was supported by the notion that what better way to get to know Connecticut trail running than to do ALL of it in a week.

I was honored with joining the 169 club which is apparently not a sex position during a 100 mile race but actually in recognition of visiting all 169 towns in Connecticut. It was felt that given that I had visited 41 towns in a week on foot I was technically ‘good for the rest’ at some point.

With a tracker on me to my website I had a huge number of visitors on trail, did live radio interviews, TV interviews and ended up in 7 local newspapers. I was also made an honorary member of 2 historical societies and even had a banner made for me outside a schooll I passed in Plymouth. When I finished I was also given a handmade wooden and leather plaque to commemorate my latest example of ‘Binge Running’. The USA loved Binge running. It was everything they stand for, lunacy in the face of nature, a unwaivering belief in your ability far beyond reality and surviving despite you own best efforts to get yourself killed.

I found the old leathermans caves and at one stage followed an old man I’d only met once into the middle of the woods at night to relocate a lost one , met runners who joined me for sections and was lucky enough to cry on a broad range of new types of trails and terrain.

My knowledge of UK long distance and multi day adventure racing came in handy when I would manage to consistently select the wrong shoes and clothes for literally every section and fortunately after a particularly vicious Thunder storm that left me questioning my sanity and which aspects of my kit conducted electricity I was kindly allowed to sleep in the Museum in Plymouth while all my clothes dried out over heating vents. They even left me the keys to lock up when I left !

The Old Leatherman taught me the most out here so far. From 130 years away he reinforced something I’d come to learn in the UK with long distance trails, the idea of ‘moving with the landscape’ and not to a set timed plan. If weather gets bad or you are tired its better to adjust, sleep when you need to not when the plan says. Organised races are fun, but I find the deepest satisfaction in the running equivalent of firing an arrow at random into the woods, painting a target round it and claiming victory. The best I’ve ever done in a UK Trail Ultra is second ( when there were only 3 people in the race).

Following in his footsteps I realised he had created a loop that literally took in the greatest scenery Connecticut has to offer and ironically for a man that shirked company or crowds he was the single biggest reason for making so many new friends since I’ve been here. I have a new deep respect for a man that lived in harmony with nature who did 24,000 trail miles in the last 6 years of his life.

The Old Leatherman was in my opinion the greatest self supported trail runner of all time.

I spent most of the 9 days worrying about bears at night. There are about 800 bears in CT and I passed through almost all of the sightings hotspots. It was the week they were supposed to be waking up from their ‘hibernation’ ( nerd fact bears don’t actually technically hibernate). I had visions of hungry grumpy bears tracking down the smell of my food and killing me for a Clif Bar.

I saw no bears on the Leatherman Loop.

I’m now a Bit more New Englander and a bit less Old EnglandER

I’ve now got my sights on a Fastest Known Time along the entire 233 mile New England Trail and want to go out to Upstate New York to the Finger Lakes area which looks stunning. ( New York State is larger than England Wales and Scotland put together ).

What is clear now is that New England and Old England share a lot in common with their running. The Taco race showed me something that I thought was only distinctly ‘British’ humour (humor) and that Yanks can laugh at themselves as runners just as much as we can. Boozy runs with the New Haven Hash House Harriers has only reinforced this. The landscape here and trails are just as varied and impressive than anything I’ve seen in the whole of the UK, but they come with a flagrant disregard for personal safety and weather so changeable you can walk on ice and snow wearing a T Shirt or get hypothermia in August.

I had my arse kicked coming to the USA as a runner. It’ll take me a few years to not panic running over such rocky terrain. What is for sure is that as soon as these Beast Coast runners find out how cheap Norwegian flights are into Gatwick we will see them winning every single UK Trail Ultra.

Being here has helped me go a long way to understand just why highly accomplished Brit Ultra runners get so ground up and spat out so severely at Barkley Marathons compared to locals.

I don’t miss the grey skies and drizzle in the UK, but I do miss running along enjoying the view and not scanning for rocks and rattlesnakes. I don’t miss climbing over styles and barb wire fences, but I do miss being able to blast along a well mapped trail and know exactly where I will end up (usually a nice pub).

I’ll report back in 6 months just as long as I don’t bump into any bears on the way.

You can find out more about my adventures at my website www.theairlandandsea.com