At the bottom of my Race Results page, I have my upcoming calendar. I think I’m locked in as to what I want to do in 2025 at this point. I’ve registered for everything listed below that’s opened at this point and should be able to get into the rest without too many issues. Rim to River is the only race that sells out quickly enough that I’m not guaranteed to get into.
- Phunt – January 2025 – Volunteer
- The Wild Oak Trail 100M – February 2025
- Rabid Racoon 100M – March 2025
- Coast to Coaster 230M – April 2025
- More Miles Last One Standing – May 2025
- Jigger Johnson 100M – July 2025
- Eastern States 100M – August 2025
- Virgil Crest 100M – September 2025
- Rim to River 100M – October 2025
- Devil Dog 100M – December 2025
My first thought when looking at this list is “what the heck am I thinking”? ES100 is typically the hardest race on my schedule each year, but it could end up slotting in as only my fifth hardest next year. The Wild Oak Trail (28k elevation, unsupported) and Jigger Johnson (32k elevation, limited support) are Hardrock or almost Hardrock difficult. Coast to Coaster is on roads, but unsupported and 230 miles long. More Miles is a backyard race so depending on how long I last it could end up being more challenging. All of these will slot in with only a month or so between them. I’ve recovered very quickly from my last couple races (7-10 days max) so think this is doable.
2025 will end up being my second consecutive year with nothing shorter than a hundred on my schedule. Part of me thinks I’m missing out. There are tons of sub-100 mile races that are on my bucket list (Hellgate, SRT, Hat, Bull Run Run to name a few), however none of them are able to quite beat out the races on the list above. Maybe in 2026. These are the events that interest and motivate me though so that’s what I’m going to do. One of the ways I’ve not burned out over the years is to sign up and do races that motivate me. I’m not going to put races on my schedule just because I think I should be checking a race distance diversity box.
You’ll also notice that I’m really starting to ramp up the number of races on my schedule. My son is now a freshman in college (Go Pitt Panthers!) so as an empty nester I can justify being away a couple more weekends each year. Goodness knows the wife can’t wait to get me out of the house. Based on this year, I don’t necessarily think this is too many races, however I will definitely be paying attention to how I feel as the year progresses. If I begin looking forward to my races less than I normally do, then I’ll know it’s time to dial back on the quantity.
The biggest gap in my calendar right now is volunteering. I’ll head down and help Carl at Phunt, however I really need to start adding in more volunteering events. Beast Coast does a bunch of races in the area so maybe I’ll pick out one or 2 of theirs to help out at. For some reason, I can’t quite muster up the same initiative to sign up to volunteer as I do races. This despite the fact that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of the times I’ve helped out at races. It’s like I have this mental block to give back to this amazing community.
What events are you most excited for next year?
EDIT: Jigger Johnson moved back to August in 2025 so Viaduct is my currently scheduled July race.
EDIT 2: I’m swapping Export 100 for Rim to River in October as it’s several hours closer and just outside Pittsburgh allowing for a visit to my son at school.
Hey Phil, great meeting and running with you a bit at Wild Goose. You crushed it man, I was not feeling it so bailed. But yeah Rim to River is an amazing event and I trust will be in your top list of hundos after you do it. I think you can do sub 24 there fwiw. Its very runnable.
Sorry to hear about your WG100. It was great to spend some miles with you chatting. Pretty sure I’ll bump into you again soon.😁