Projects by Brian Cavanagh

Past projects:

Wurtsboro Mountain 30km Road Run Spring race
100km Catskill Mountain Road Relay mid-August; since 1992; Ulster & Sullivan Counties
Nick Amendola's 5km Rumble Monroe, NY
Roosa Gap Roller Coaster Run (11.77 miles) last Sunday in September
Run / Walk For Our Future 5k / 8km October; Fallsburg, NY
The Trail Builders Project showing numerous trail maps and countywide trail system
Sullivan Striders walking and running club, co-maintained with Dennis Toscano 
CASA - Monticello Kiwanis 5km (3.1 miles) & Mile Children's Run Sept 2001; Bethel, NY
Catskill Nordic Ski Club (Sullivan County) - calendar of events
King & Queen of the Mountains Series: four long distance road races on hills and mountains
Running and cycling road maps in Catskills-Delware Valley-Hudson Valley region
Uphill cycling events in northeastern United States, Brian's new sport
Sullivan County Bike Club - maps, bicycling articles, calendar of events
Training Pages - some articles written by Brian
Fallsburg Cross Country Trail Building project with students and the Sullivan Striders

USATF Certified Maps for Walking & Running Race Routes, by Brian Cavanagh

Distances of USATF Certified race courses are of the highest level of accuracy and are guaranteed accurate. Distances of all other race courses are not of the same level of accuracy. A distance that is off by one tenth of a mile for a 10k could mean being the runner's time is wrong by 30-60 seconds. Race Directors who refer to their race as "certified" must provide the USATF certification number. To search for whether a course is certified or not, go to www.usatf.org/events/courses/search

A number of people have asked me about the accuracy of courses after they used a GPS watch.
Consumer-quality GPS receiver watches and other devices (not professional surveyor quality) will not give you an accurate measurement of a course's length. To test this, try wearing a GPS watch when running a series of 10k's (25 laps) on separate days on a professionally-surveyed 400 meter track, running one foot out from the curb or inner white line for lane one. Your GPS receiver will collect data from satellites about 20,000km (about 12,427 miles) away. Based on a technical analysis I did, I figured that your times for a 10k on a track could be off by 1:04-3:34 at 5:00/mi to 10:00/mile. That is a lot of error. A consumer-quality GPS will make more errors on any course which has turns compared to one which is one straight line from point to point with no turnaround. In the latter case, your GPS will measure between 6-10 meters longer or shorter than an accurate course.

Here are some of the sources of error in using a GPS:
Altogether this sums up to an error of ± 15 meters (10k time off by 5:21 to 10:42 at 5:00/mi to 10:00/mi). With corrections by professional surveyor systems like WAAS, which mainly reduce ionospheric effects, but also improve orbits and clock errors, the overall error is reduced to approximately ± 3 - 5 meters (10k time off by 1:04-3:34 at 5:00/mi to 10:00/mi). WAAS has not been developed to the increase the accuracy of consumer-grade GPS's.  Sources: http://www.kowoma.de/en/gps/errors.htm

Article on USATF course measurement and why it is needed - complete with drawing of Jones-Oerth device, explanation of measurement procedures, sample certification map, sample application for certification of a calibration course, explanation of USATF course numbers. Written and explained clearly by Brian Cavanagh.

Race courses and calibration courses measured in Sullivan, Orange, Ulster, Dutchess & neighboring counties of New York & Pennsylvania:

USATF Certified (accurate):
USATF certified courses are accurate until Dec 31 of the year that is ten years after the date of certification. The two digits after the "NY" in the course # represent the year the course was certified. All courses were measured by Brian Cavanagh unless otherwise noted.


100 K relay (62.137 Miles; divided up into ten relay legs of 6.213712 miles each):
100k Catskill Mountain Rd Relay (10x10km legs) (w/ Steve Holmbraker); Ulster & Sullivan Co's, NY; USATF# NY02057AM; the only USATF Certified single loop 100km course in the United States! Ten x 10km relay legs of unequalled beauty.

30 K (18.641 Miles):
Wurtsboro Mountain 30k Run; Wurtsboro, NY; USATF# NY01046AM

21.098 K (Half Marathon, or 13.109 Miles):
Beaverkill Mountain Half Marathon Road Race; Lew Beach, NY (12 minutes northeast of Livingston Manor in the Catskills); USATF # NY07080JG.
Celebrate Life Half Marathon (w/ Ed Homenick); from The Lodge [Hotel], Rock Hill, NY; USATF# NY10002JG -used in 2010 and later. Course designed by Kathleen Rifkin & Brian Cavanagh.
Dutchess County Classic Half Marathon; Wappinger, NY; USATF Certified Course# NY09048JG

15 K (9.321 Miles):
Hudson Valley 15k; Blooming Grove - Washingtonville, NY; USATF # NY08049JG; course layout by The 7:19 Club: Todd Jennings, John Finnigan, Gary Arne, Rich D'Ambrosio 

7.5 Miles (12.070 K):
Cornwall Lions Club 7.5 Mile Scenic Challenge (2009); Cornwall, NY; USATF#NY09067JG; course layout by Jackie McBride Gaillard

10 K (6.214 Miles):
Tri-State Classic 10k (2009); Port Jervis, NY - Montague, NJ - Port Jervis, Matamoras, PA, Port Jervis; USATF#NY09061JG. Course redesigned by Debbie Valentine with assistance by Brian Cavanagh.
The Classic 10K Road Race; Middletown, NY  - measured by Bill Norton for race in and after 2006; USATF# NY06008JG

8 K (4.971 Miles):
FallingColors 8k; Rock Hill, NY;
USATF# NY07078JG
General Montgomery Day 8K; Montgomery, NY; USATF# NY04035AM

7 K (4.350 Miles):
Jingle Jog 7K
(2008 and after); (w/ Bob Harris) Salisbury Mills, NY; USATF# NY08047JG; course layout by Todd Jennings. 

4 Miles (6.437 K):
Run 4 Downtown;
Middletown, NY; USATF# NY07030JG.

6 K (3.728 Miles):
Rod MacDonald 6k; Walden, NY; USATF# NY10032JG. This is the 44th course I've done USATF certification measurement work on. 

5 K (3.107 Miles):
5K4 CAITLIN
(2009 and after, w/ Chris Hammaren); Westtown, NY; USATF# NY09010 JG  
Beaverkill Mountain 5k Road Race; Lew Beach, NY (12 minutes northeast of Livingston Manor in the Catskills); USATF# NY07079JG
Cornwall Lions Club Fall Harvest 5K (2009); Cornwall, NY; USATF#NY09066JG; course layout by Jackie McBride Gaillard
Cystic Fibrosis 5K for a Cure; Malboro, NY; USATF#NY06052JG
Delaware River Run 5k; Port Jervis, NY; USATF# NY02002AM
Delaware Youth Center 5k River Race; Callicoon, NY; USATF# NY03039AM
Dutchess County Classic 5K; Wappinger, NY; USATF Certified Course# NY09047JG
FallingColors 5k; Rock Hill, NY; USATF # NY07077JG 
Jeff Jam 5k; Jeffersonville, NY; USATF# NY03034AM
Rhulen Rock Hill Run n Ramble 5k; Rock Hill, NY; USATF# NY06032JG

Run / Walk For Our Future 5K; Fallsburg, NY; USATF# NY08044JG

Safe Harbors Off Broadway Run 5k; (w/ Bob Harris); Newburgh, NY; USATF# NY08020JG
Stewart Marines 5K Race; Stewart Airport, Newburgh, NY; USATF# NY08037JG

Washingtonville Scholarship Run 5k; Washingtonville, NY; USATF# NY03013AM; measured by Steve Holmbraker and mapped by Kathleen Rifkin

1 Mile (1.609344 K): 
Safe Harbors Off Broadway Mile; (w/ Bob Harris); Newburgh, NY; USATF# NY08021JG

Calibration courses:
300m-Drury Lane 300m Cal Course (w/ Bob Harris); Newburgh, NY; USATF# NY08017JG
300m-Jennifer Dr 300m Cal Course (w/ Claudia Camargo); Wappinger Falls, NY; USATF# NY09046JG 
400m-Claryville Rt. 19 - 400m Cal Course (w/ Steve Holmbraker); Claryville, NY; USATF# NY02042AM
400m-Airport Rd 400m Cal Course; Bethel, NY (with Barry & Zac Shavrick); USATF# NY02041AM
400m-Wurtsboro Mtn. Rd. 400m Cal Course (w/ Bill Norton, Steve H); Rock Hill, NY; USATF# NY01043AM
400m-Egerton Rd 400m (by Steve Holmbraker; Brian assisted); Middletown, NY; USATF# NY02040AM; listed as "Egarton Rd. 400 meter" on http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/search/
1801.46 feet-Waywayanda Calibration Course; Middletown, NY  - measured by Bill Norton; USATF# NY06002AM

Certification expired:

Otisville 1000 foot calibration course, measured and mapped by Frank Giannino; USATF#NY94027AM (expired 12/31/04)

Course no longer used:
5K4 CAITLIN: (w/ Bob Harris) Applewood Winery, Warwick, NY; USATF# NY08015JG
CASA 5k; Bethel, NY; USATF# NY01047AM
CASA 5K for Children Race (2008) (w/ Dennis Toscano); Monticello, NY; USATF# NY08054JG
Celebrate Life Half Marathon (2008 & earlier); from former Dodge Inn Restaurant, Rock Hill, NY; USATF# NY03058AM
Orange Classic 10k (w/ Steve H, Kathleen Rifkin, Ed Homenick); Middletown, NY;  USATF# NY02058AM
Run For Our Future 8k; Fallsburg, NY; USATF# NY02039AM
Safe Harbors Broadway Run 5k; Newburgh, NY; USATF# NY07018JG; used in 2007, replaced in 2008 by Off Broadway 5K
Safe Harbors Broadway Run 1 Mile; Newburgh, NY; USATF# NY07019JG; used in 2007, replaced in 2008 by Off Broadway Mile
Tri-State Classic 10k; Port Jervis, NY; USATF#NY95035AM; Frank Giannino measured & mapped (expired 12/31/05)
Tri-State Classic 10k; (2006-2007) Montague, NJ - Port Jervis, NY - Matamoras, PA; USATF#NY-06053-JG. Frank Giannino deserves credit for the original course lay out.
Tri-State Classic 10k (2008); Port Jervis, NY - Montague, NJ - Port Jervis, Matamoras, PA, Port Jervis; USATF#NY08039JG. Course redesigned by Debbie Valentine with assistance by Brian Cavanagh.
Walden 8k; Walden, NY; USATF# NY03038AM

Jones-Oerth device measured, can be USATF Certified if contracted to do so:
A marathon route: Circleville, Bullville, Pine Bush, Bruynswick to Libertyville, NY (w/ Ed Homenick),
Smallwood 2 mile, 26.4 foot ultra loop, 2002
20km out and back course on South Rd along the Basha Kill, Wurtsboro, 2001

History
In the late 70's through the 90's, Brian coached track & field and cross-country on the elementary, middle, high school, college and post-collegiate levels, coaching four NY State Champions (5km, decathlon, two in marathon), one national champion, and an Ironman triathlete. His state champion decathlete competed in the four-man bobsled in the 1980 Olympics. He received his USA Track & Field Coaching Certification in 1986.

In the late 80's, Brian was VP of Sullivan County Rails to Trails Conservancy (SCRTC), inspected all sixty-five miles of potential rail trails in the county, wrote and presented a report summarizing what was needed on each section of trail. To help further the Genesee Valley Greenway project (Rochester, NY area), he represented SCRTC at the invitation of the National Parks Service and the New York Parks and Conservation Association. He also provided input to the Long Path Committee of the NY-NJ Trail Conference which led to a successful rerouting of the Long Path onto the Sullivan County Rail Trail along the Basha Kill wetlands area.

In the late 80's and early 90's, Brian wrote a series of coaching articles for the Orange Runners Club, wrote workout schedules and coached numerous runners in the club.

In the early 90's, Brian layed out, measured, marked and organized the only double-leg road relay in NYS, the 100km (62.2 mile) Catskill Mountain Road Relay for five and ten person teams. He continued to organize the race each year until 1999 when his wife Addie and infant son Kieran needed Daddy at home. In 1999, he handed over the reins to others, in 2000 became the first person to run the race solo, then came back to help organize the relay in 2001. 

In 1996, Brian envisioned then founded The Trail Builders Project which cleared or created eleven miles of trails in Sullivan County from 1997-1999 by recruiting and coordinating the efforts of eighty-nine volunteers who put in over 700 man-hours on state and county publicly owned land. Brian made numerous trail maps and proposed an interconnecting countywide trail system using existing trail segments. In 1996 and 1997, Brian wrote articles for Hudson Valley Sports Magazine and was one of the original event organizers for Eventure, a series of outdoor adventure competitions organized by Barry Levinson which included professional bike race promoter John Vande Velde (whose son Christian raced on Lance Armstrong's USPS team in the Tour de France in 2001). Barry, John and Brian were like-minded in that they saw the potential for great events in this region. They realized that promotion, money and hard work would be the keys to success.

In 2001 and 2002, Brian did USATF (USA Track & Field) certification measurements for several road race courses for running so that they would meet the high national standard for accuracy for road races. A precise 400 meter calibration course was laid out in July 2001 under Brian's guidance with the assistance of former Orange Runners Club President Steve Holmbraker and professional Surveyor Bill Norton, both members of Sullivan County's new running and walking club, the Sullivan Striders. USATF granted official certication status for this calibration course on August 29, 2001 which allowed course measurers to precisely calibrate the Jones-Oerth counter with which road race courses are measured. Since the Jones-Oerth counter registers 20-24 counts per wheel revolution, the high degree of resolution in measurement produces more accurate courses than an odometer would.

In the fall of 2001, Brian was a founding member of a new marathon committee which included Orange County Sporting Goods' Frank Giannino, whose inspiration it was to create a major marathon in the Hudson Valley region. Frank is friends with Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray, whose transcontinental running record Frank broke in the early 1980's. Frank had been in discussion with Dave about what it takes to create a major marathon, then Frank approached Keith Yeates, president of the Orange Runners Club, then discussed it with Brian. All liked the idea very much and felt it "would fly". Two other experienced and knowledgeable invitees to the inaugural marathon committee were ORC members Steve Holmbraker and Barb Linton, Assistant Commissioner for Veteran's Affairs in Orange County. Together, the group brainstormed ways to create a major marathon in the region. Keith and Frank drove to Boston and met with professional road race directing consultant Dave McGillivray to seek further input on developing the race. Brian began to pursue route development.

After Brian spoke with several people about possible routes, fellow runner Ken Newman had the excellent idea of a marathon route from Circleville to New Paltz. This kernel idea was brilliant because of the manner in which the proposed route would parallel the Shawangunk Ridge as it went from southwest to northeast, thus staying in the valleys and minimizing elevation changes. Over a period of several weeks, Brian used new computer software to explore all potential marathon routes in the region, then mapped, layed out and measured the flattest possible routes. The final proposed route was a variation on Ken Newman's idea which used quieter, traffic-free scenic roads to go from Circleville to the Ulster County Fairgrounds in Libertyville. Brian drove the course, biked the course with Ed Homenick as they did the measurements with Jones-Oerth counters, then rebiked variations on that route to fine-tune it further, adjusted the course more with the mapping software and continued to look at other variations on the route. When Brian was confident he had solved the logistical problems he and Ed had discovered after doing the initial measurement, he biked the fine-tuned route and back, cutting all tangents and riding sixty one miles in one day. Brian proceeded to piece together all the measurement data, designed maps of the race route, then proposed the route to the marathon committee at their second meeting. The proposed course was reviewed and approved by committee.

Brian
continues to measure courses for biking as part of creating an online compendium of bike information for Sullivan County and surrounding areas, including a century route (100 miler) in late 2006 from Bloomingburg to New Paltz and back on low-traffic back roads.

Brian has helped to achieve USATF Course C
ertification status, guarantees of course accuracy for ten years, on 40+ courses ranging from 300 meters to 100,000 meters (100k) from 2001 to present. Calibration courses & USATF Certified courses now stretch from the Town of Bethel (Mongaup Valley, in Sullivan County) to Claryville (in the Catskills north of Grahamsville), east to the Town of Wappinger (Dutchess County), with Rock Hill and Middletown in the middle of the region (also the furthest south), thanks to efforts by Bill Norton, Frank Gianino, Steve Holmbraker, Kathleen Rifkin, Barry & Zac Shavrick, Bob Harris, Ed Homenick & Dennis Toscano. Brian's long-term plan to improve the accuracy of courses in the region is succeeding with the cooperation of race directors throughout the region.

Brian continues to grow his school's cross-country and track & field program by conducting an intramural program for 5th and 6th graders with Lucille Carter-Harris, providing coaches with books and videos and information on how to build the program. He is teaching youth how to train in a sustainable way so that it is appropriate for their developmental levels. In Oct 2009, Jay Shapiro and Bob Scheinman undertook earth-moving operations to improve a segment of Brian's
Fallsburg elementary school x-c course. By installing a huge culvert pipe and filling a ravine, this allowed the creation of a path connecting grassy areas at the school so that no pavement would ahve to be crossed for the entire 1500 meter course. Brian subsequently measured the 1500 meter x-c course for Fallsburg elementary school students by using a calibrated Jones-Oerth device. A map of the route is visible here: http://www.sullivanstriders.org/FCS_BCES_x-c_map2009.jpg

Starting in June 2009, Brian started coaching elite distance runner Claudia Camargo Nero. Using a variety of healthy training approaches, Claudia started showing signs of a return to previous fitness with a 1:19 half marathon (Kiawah Island, SC; 6:02 per mile, 1st woman) in mid-December. In late January 2010, she ran a 1:15:35 at the 3M Austin TX half marathon: 5:46 per mile (3rd out of 2,422 female runners). In early March, she ran 16:35 for Coogan's Salsa, Blues & Shamrock 5k (1st out of 2,613 female runners).  All of these races were on USATF Certified accurate race courses. By using these times and the Purdy Points system of assessing road race performances, Brian was better able to ascertain Claudia's level of fitness than if she had been running inaccurate courses. These accurate times and Claudia's physiological responses to them helped to determine appropriate workouts. Claudia continues to progress as an international-class distance runner and is a pleasure to work with. Following her March 21, 2010 run of 1:18:40 in the NYC Half Marathon as an invited elite, Claudia and Brian are looking forward to seeing her compete in a number of high-profile events. As of June 2010, she continues to rack up wins around the region and in various races across the nation.

Summary

Brian Cavanagh has done accurate professional road race course layout and measurement via Jones-Oerth device
on bike (USATF certification method), designed web sites, course elevation profiles and maps for road races and trail users, and directed and consulted for races. Contact him by email at: acavanagh ( at) hvc.rr.com for work on your event. (Note this spam-free way of listing email address; change the "( at)" to "@".)


www.sullivanstriders.org/brians_sites.htm

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