Category: GLR Leg Rankings

I figured it was pretty dumb to do this one leg at a time.  As if this concept wasn’t dumb enough to begin with.  So here’s the next 5.

17.

Matt: #15
Josh: #15

I haven’t run this leg as a part of the official GLR, but I did stay in the area one year and of course, got my GLR fix by running it.  There’s some hills here, especially on Richardson Rd.  Not as bad as C-14 though.  There’s also a HUGE pothole on Heniser coming out of the exchange where I’ve seen multiple cars bottom out.  Many runners miss the turn onto Tucker, but by this point, runners are well-seasoned and don’t get turned around for long.

T15

Matt: #9
Josh: #18

There are some reasons Josh has it so low.  At this point in the day, you’re running by yourself.  It’s partially out in the open, the parts not in the open are hilly and on a tiny, rutty road.  This was once half of a leg, the other half being C-17.  Combined, they made up one of my better runs ever.  Not even just GLR, not even just races, maybe the best I’ve ever felt on a run.  You’ll see why later.

Matt: #14
Josh: #13

Did not realize the Boardman River extends this far south.  I seem to remember this leg being extremely sandy.

14.

Matt: #13
Josh: #12

I have fond memories of this leg, not because of the actual leg itself.  The directions purport this to be confusing, it’s not.  Some runners stop at the intersection that formerly had a tree in the middle (who knew roundabouts existed this far north?), but most do the right thing and keep running.  The exchange is in a nice, peaceful, tree-lined area.

That nice tree-lined area is where I was stranded by my team way back in 2012.  That incident resulted in much yelling, crying, and almost a severed friendship.  None of that included me, of course.  I jumped in a car with 4 girls and drank PBR with them on the way to find my team.

13.

Matt: #17
Josh: #6

This is the first instance where we truly diverge.  For those of you into that sort of thing, I found a video of someone driving the leg:

Josh: “I ranked Last Hill high because I’ve done it and conquered it and also have been conquered by it.  I cried for like 30 seconds after it one year because I was emotionally and physically spent.  I couldn’t even stop it.  It was weird.”

See, team captain of mine, you’re not the only one crying after GLR legs.

Well, it happened.  I met a person who may be as, or more obsessed with the GLR than I am.  It took awhile, but Josh Eccleston and I finally connected over our love for college basketball, XC, and the Great Lakes Relay.

I’ve been frantic over here wondering why they haven’t released the directions, I’m guessing many others are in the same boat.  To pass the time, I contacted him the other day and asked if he’d provide his ranking of the legs on Day 3 (which never change, except for that dumb UP thing), and I would do the same.  I added our rankings together and I’ll be listing them from worst to best.  I’ll give my thoughts on all, Josh has some comments too.

18.

Matt: #16
Josh #16

Yes, this is a beautiful leg.  In the latter stages of Day 3, you’re really not going to find any tree cover, so at times this is a welcome respite.  The road is rutty as heck.  Now most roads are rutty as heck, but by now you’re sick of it and just want to cruise.  The difficulty I would place as more like an 8.  Like I said, you think you can roll this leg, but it’s secretly hilly, steep uphills too.  The worst part is the cars.  You’re free of cars for the first two miles, but they join you for the last mile.  They travel super slow, the road is super narrow, so you’re constantly weaving around cars and ruts.

Josh: “Not even all that scenic and you could bake in the sun.  Or get dusted by vehicles passing.  No thanks.”