On September 26, 2020 I finally completed running the perimeter of the City of Buffalo – which I came up with as all the races were being closed due to COVID. This was a solo run and I only saw a few other runners on this route even with the decent weather.
Starting at UB just after 5 am, I headed to the Eastern border of the City of Buffalo and headed South. Weather was great and there was hardly any traffic, so I was able to run on the streets for the most part. No need for a headlamp with the streetlights. After grabbing water at a gas station, I crossed the 190 and I was able to see the Sun coming up on Griswold. Continuing South through residential neighborhoods, I came up on a nice herd of deer off Mineral Spring Rd.
13 miles into the run, I was able to begin the relatively straight shot West running through South Buffalo. Exiting South Park, I grabbed a Gatorade & Clif bar that dropped off the day before and I began running down Ridge Road in Lackawanna in order to get the South West corner of the City. Once I crossed Fuhrmann Blvd, it was time to head North. This took me through the restored Outer Harbor. Leaving Lake Erie, I headed inland crossing over the Buffalo River to stop at my second pre-staged cache at the BSRA boathouse. I then ran into a friend who was working there, and we had a masked socially distanced conversation, it was good break. After that it was time to head to the Niagara River.
After nearly three hours along the Buffalo waterfront (Lake Erie, Buffalo River, Buffalo Harbor, Niagara River), I climbed up the Vulcan St pedestrian bridge to begin the Eastward portion of the run. At this point the heat has climbed into the 80’s and I lost the breeze from the Niagara River. My legs were not happy with me and I dropped off my pace significantly for the next several miles. It was then a relatively straight shot down the sidewalk on Kenmore Ave. I think I got caught at every light in the last two miles. At the end of Kenmore, headed North on Main St. to get back to the University at Buffalo sign. Next time I may just do this on a bike.
Resupply / Nutrition:
Started the run with a handheld with Gu Roctane in it and carried the mix for 2 more servings. Stopped at several gas stations / convenience stores for water or Gatorade. Two pre-staged caches: one at the exit from South Park and the other at the BSRA boat house. Both with 32 oz of Gatorade and Clif Bar.
Total nutrition was 1750 kcal / 218 kcal per hour, made up by
3x Gu Roctane (750 kcal)
5x Gatorade (I do not like the Cherry Frost version – yuk) (750 kcal)
1x 16 oz Water
1x Clif Bar (250 kcal)