A brand new race in Honeoye Falls, NY (near Rochester), CandleLight12 at EquiCenter (CL12) was a 12-hour night race benefiting (and taking place on the grounds of) a horse farm operated by a non-profit organization providing therapeutic equestrian programs to people with disabilities, at-risk youth, veterans, and their families.
When Egils "Gil" Robs, RD of both Mind the Ducks 12-hour and the CanLake 50s, announced this new race he was putting on I thought it fit perfectly into my plan for this year. Totally focused on trails and mountains through first half of the year for my 'A-race' at Laurel Highlands in June, it would then immediately be time to switch focus onto 'A-race' number two: A Race for the Ages (ARFTA) - a fixed-time, short-loop ultra on Labor Day weekend in which I will have 55 hours to complete as many laps of a one-mile (paved) course as I can.
When Gil announced CL12 - boom! - I had a set-piece long training run for ARFTA! I believe I was the fifth runner to sign up on the day registration opened.
