Projects by Brian Cavanagh

Web sites set up for:

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 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 Basha Kill Area Association
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

Link to article on USATF course measurement and why it's needed -  complete with drawing of Jones-Oerth device, explanation of USA Track & Field measurement procedures, sample certification map, sample application for certification of a calibration course. Written and explained clearly by Brian.

The following race courses and calibration courses have been measured in Sullivan & Orange Counties.  Measurement done by Brian Cavanagh unless otherwise indicated.

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 (62.13712 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 (18.64114 miles):
Wurtsboro Mountain 30k Run; Wurtsboro, NY; USATF# NY01046AM

21.09749 K (half marathon, or 13.10938 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; Rock Hill, NY; USATF# NY03058AM

 
10 K (6.213712 miles):
Tri-State Classic 10k; Montague, NJ - Port Jervis, NY - Matamoras, PA; USATF#NY-06053-JG. Frank Giannino deserves credit for the original course lay out.
The Classic 10K Road Race; Middletown, NY  - measured by Bill Norton for race in and after 2006; USATF# NY06008JG

8 K (4.97097 miles):
FallingColors 8k; Rock Hill, NY; USATF# NY07078JG
General Montgomery Day 8K; Montgomery, NY; USATF# NY04035AM
Run For Our Future 8k; Fallsburg, NY; USATF# NY02039AM
Walden 8k; Walden, NY; USATF# NY03038AM

4 Miles (6.437376 K):
Run 4 Downtown; Middletown, NY; USATF# NY07030JG.
 
5 K (3.106856 miles):
5K4 CAITLIN: (w/ Bob Harris) Applewood Winery, Warwick, NY; USATF# NY08015JG
Beaverkill Mountain 5k Road Race; Lew Beach, NY (12 minutes northeast of Livingston Manor in the Catskills); USATF# NY07079JG 
CASA 5k; Bethel, NY; USATF# NY01047AM
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
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
Safe Harbors Off Broadway Run 5k; (w/ Bob Harris); Newburgh, NY; USATF# NY08020JG
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 This was the 29th course I've led or done USATF certification measurements for.

Calibration courses:
300m-Drury Lane 300m Cal Course (w/ Bob Harris); Newburgh, NY; USATF# NY08017JG
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
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)
Tri-State Classic 10k (enlarged map); Port Jervis, NY; USATF#NY95035AM, Frank Giannino measured & mapped (expired 12/31/05); original map

Course no longer used:
Orange Classic 10k (w/ Steve H, Kathleen Rifkin, Ed Homenick); Middletown, NY;  USATF# NY02058AM
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


 Jones-Oerth device measured, but not USATF Certified:

Amendola's 5k Rumble (w/ RD Nick Amendola in 2002)
A marathon route: Circleville, Bullville, Pine Bush, Bruynswick to Libertyville, NY (w/ Ed Homenick),
Smallwood / Mongaup Valley Fire Dept 5k, 2002
Wanasink Lake 8k, 2001
Wanasink Lake 10k, 2001
Wolf Lake 4 miler, 2002
Smallwood 2 mile, 26.4 foot ultra loop, 2002
Briscoe Rd 400m Calibration Course, 2002
10km out and back course on South Rd along the Basha Kill, Wurtsboro, 2001
20km out and back course on South Rd along the Basha Kill, Wurtsboro, 2001


History as of 2004

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.

In 2003, Brian earned USATF certification status for the Jeff Jam 5k in Jeffersonville, the Delaware Youth Center 5k River Run in Callicoon, and the Walden 8k. In  2004, Brian measured the Celebrate Life Half Marathon in Rock Hill and the General Montgomery Day 8K in Montgomery, bringing the total number of USATF certified courses in the region up to 16, then six more after that to bring the number of USATF certified race courses up to 22. He continued 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 Certification status, guarantees of course accuracy for ten years, on 29 courses ranging from 300 meters to 100,000 meters (100k) from 2001 to 2008. Bob Harris is quickly becoming proficient as a measurer (cyclist) who Brian works with. Bob has long held knowledge of calibration and measurement, Bob's recent work includes USATF measurement by Jones-Oerth device while biking the 5K4 CAITLIN in Warwick, the Off Broadway Mile and Off Broadway 5K in Newburgh, and steel-taping the Drury Lane 300 meter calibration course near Newburgh so that courses in the Hudson Valley that will be measured over the next ten years will have a calibration course closer than Middletown. Calibration courses now stretch from Bethel (Mongaup Valley) in the west to Claryville in the north (in the Catskills north of Grahamsville), Newburgh in the east, with Rock Hill and Middletown in the middle of the region (also the furthest south). Brian's long-term plan to improve the accuracy of courses in the region is growing, thanks to continuing efforts by Bill Norton, Frank Gianino and Steve Holmbraker.

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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