Before I get into things, I want to start with a couple public service announcements. PSA #1 This course is straight up hard. Now the website and RDs don’t come out and sell this as an easy course, but the charts and course descriptions have this listed at 8,600 feet elevation gain and most of…
2021 C&O Canal 100 Mile Race Report
Saturday was the 8th running of the C&O Canal 100 Mile. The course consists of 3 “loops” on the C&O Canal towpath starting from Camp Manidokan near Knoxvill, MD. The first loop is 38 miles followed by two 31 mile out-and-backs. The race starts with a small loop around the field where you park and…
2020 Stone Mill 50 Mile Race Report
First off, huge congratulations to the RD and all the volunteers who were able to pull off this year’s Stone Mill 50. I can’t imagine the time and effort required. I felt safe from start to finish. Simply an amazing job. Due to COVID, we started in waves of 20 people every 5 minutes from…
Pine Creek 100 Mile Race Report
Pine Creek Challenge is held just outside Wellsboro, PA on the Pine Creek Rail Trail. It’s put on by the Tyoga Running Club who offer 4 race distances (100M, 100K, 50M, Marathon). The Challenge uses 25 miles of the trail, which mostly follows Pine Creek. It’s a wide flat trail and impossible for someone to…
2020 Catoctin 50K Race Report
Last weekend was my second running of the Catoctin 50K or what I’m sure will become known as the COVID CAT50K. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the race was quite a bit different than last year’s race. Here a just a couple of the changes: No official start time. You could start whenever you wanted…
2020 Long Haul 100 Race Report
Flat ain’t easy. Here’s the thing. After 6 years and 30 some odd races, I’m starting to become an old hat at ultras. Unfortunately, I’m also becoming forgetful in my old age as lessons I’ve learned in the past need to be relearned on a periodic basis. Like flat courses aren’t as easy as they…
2019 Fast and Furriest 5K Race Report
Man, I hate racing 5Ks. It’s not the distance. I love running and 3 miles is typically when I start getting warmed up. But racing? That all out, ragged breath, heart in your throat type of running? Not my thing. But our family does Thanksgiving in Ocean City, NJ and like to run this race.…
The Olde 96er 100 Mile Race Report
The Olde 96er is a self supported road race from the Ohio River in Wellsville to Lake Erie in Ashtabula, OH. This was the second year of the race, which also featured a 200 mile option that began 2 days prior. Since self supported ultras are a niche segment of an already small section of…
2019 Eastern States 100 Race Report
Eastern States is a 100 mile footrace in the Wilds of PA (i.e. north central middle of nowhere). The race website has a wealth of information on course description, aid stations, mileages, etc., however it’s missing some details on the climbs that make up the bulk of the race’s difficulty. So here is my small…
2019 Catoctin 50K Race Report
Let’s address any doubts you may have about how difficult this race is right at the beginning. Yes, this race is as hard as advertised. If anything, it might even be more challenging. First, start with the extra 2 miles (course measures 33+ miles). Then toss in temperatures that are always hot and humid (over…