"What the #*&!% is a Megatransect?" Alan Evans wondered last fall as he examined the September racing calendar in the Finger Lakes Runners Club
newsletter.

The Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect is advertised as a "daunting" 24.9-mile endurance run and hike which takes entrants up and down mountains, across streams, over boulder fields and in view of breath-taking vistas near Lock Haven, Pa.

"The Megatransect immediately caught my attention," said the 42-year-old Hornby resident. "Maybe it was the distance -- 24.9 miles. I could get into that. I hate those last 1.3-miles of a marathon...(The race Web site) said the the Megatransect is designed to appeal to the hardcore trail runner. Now, after surviving this adventure, I'm here to report that this race is a real gem, but definitely not for the weak ankled. If I didn't know better, I'd say they imported all those rocks for the race, as if being subjected to unrelenting climbs and dowhills with vertical gains of 5,000 feet, is just not challenging enough."

The drive to Lock Haven from Corning was an easy two-hour drive, but Evans arrived at the race campsite after dark. As he pulled into the Castanea Fire Company Picnic Grounds, he spotted red lights beaming far above the horizon. Perhaps UFOs, but most likely antenna lights high atop Bald Mountain. Fortunately, the darkness masked the true adventure which awaited Evans the next morning.

But before snoozing off, Evans read the pre-race, night-mare inducing literature.

"I read the description of a boulder field called 'Bald Spot,' where they warned there was no trail," said Evans, the research director of Optical Physics and Networks Technology at Corning Inc. "Contestants simply choose a line to the top, and once committed (in more ways than one!), turning back is extrememly dangerous. I decided then to give it up and go to sleep after reading that at mile 20.7, a rope is available to help with the first 75 feet of this infamous area, and for the next three-quarters of a mile when I would have to travel on a 45-degree angle to the top of the mountain."

No problem, you say, because Evans is pretty good at everything he does: eight victories at the Finger Lakes Snowshoe 7.6-Miler: Corning Inc., corporate team championships, local road races and cross county; and a one-year reign as the king of the Stoneheads on the Finger Lakes Trail Runners Circuit.

All good dramas include all-night rain, and that's what happened while Evans slept. He awoke to a misty and gray dream-like world, perhaps with trolls hiding beneath wet bushes. But first, the Megatransect served its participants breakfast (oatmeal and scrambled eggs) and that's where Evans got a good look at the other 480 entrants, mostly endurance hikers. Was this Alice in Wonderland, and had Evans fallen down the rabbit hole?

Just before the starting gun at 7 a.m., the runners and hikers assembled and were read the usual list of dos and don'ts.

"Then came the part about not crawling on all fours through the boulder field," Evans said. "First off, they said, you'll never make it, and second, the snakes basking on the rocks might be hungry. After the gun went off, I looked back to see that there was only a single line of runners who cared about the two second advantage of being on the (front) line. Most were content to hang back in preparation for a full day in the woods."

During the early miles, Evans tucked in behind the second-place runner as the race's leader seemed uncertain of where exactly to go at intersections. The first four miles were on roads, and then the steep ascents awaited runners after they entered the trail section.

"I was enjoying a few easy miles to get into the swing of things," said Evans, who called the Megatransect a kissing cousin of the Escarpment 30K. "It's not on every trail run you can gaige how far the leader is ahead -- in this case, one city block. And, it helped that the fog was still obscuring the full height of the mountain."

Evans also came to the conclusion that the guy he was following was not a seasoned trail runner.

"What tipped me off was the sound of him falling hard on some of the early rocky parts," evans said. "Actually, falling is a normal reactIon to this rock-infested trail. Even the dirt roads had rocks requiring careful attention."

The best was yet to come: tip toeing through the boulder fields.

"This is where the thought occured to me that the more appropriate name for this race would be MegatranSICK!" Evans said. "And a better name for the Bald Spot would be Picasso's Stairs. Every so often, I would have to stop and look up to the spot the next flag, a 100 more feet up the slope. It was like swimming in open water, and keeping sight of the buoys. And, scattered along the trail were spectators or marshals, and don't ask me how they got there?"

An audience gave Evans a chance to play wise guy.

"I managed a few smart remarks like, 'I sure picked the wrong marathon to qualify for Boston.' Then I caught sight of the leader exiting the boulder field, and I was thinking, 'This is MegatranSICK, no MegatranSUCKs...'"

At mile 16, Evans caught the leader who was walking because of a sprained ankle. After checking to see if he was OK, Evans pushed up the hill to open up a gap. Still to come: the rope and 45 degrees of climb.

"I asked myself, 'Can it be that bad?' and I soon found the answer was yes," he said. "I admit, I did use the rope, and yes, I was doing the pushing down on my quads with my hands to get up the 45-degree power line hill from hell. It just didn't want to end."

The descent from the top was too steep to let loose, so Evans walked with caution.

"I never walk down hills, so this says something about this one," Evans said. "Soon I was back on the roads for four miles until the finish. What, on the way out, was a smooth warm up, now became inerminable pain to the finish.

Evans won the race in 3 hours and 48 minutes, a course record. The second-place runner finished in 3:54. The first female finisher completed the course in 4:58. Everyone has 14 hours to finish the race.

"After the finish, it was time to appreciate the great food and hospitality of the volunteers and other racers," Evans said. "You can't beat a fireman
chicken barbecue to replenish a serous calorie deficient, not to mention the Troegs brewing out of Harrisburg, a race sponsor. I would have loved to hang out the rest of the day, and compare war stories. But I was back on the road to get to my daughter's soccer game in Corning in time to see many others on the road heading towards the finish."