If it seems like I just ran a race, well. . . you’re not wrong. This race was a relatively late addition to my 2026 calendar. When Eastern States Trail Endurance Alliance (ESTEA) announced The Void earlier this year, I immediately signed up for it. I mean, 160 miles in a tunnel? How could I possibly pass that up? After a couple weeks, I noticed there were now four long ESTEA races (Eagleton, Ironstone, Eastern States, Void) and I thought it would be fun to run all of them in the same year. I dubbed it The ESTEA Gauntlet and a made-up challenge was born.
I had initially passed on Eagleton 86 when it was originally announced. The 47k race has been around for a number of years, however this is the first time they’ve offered an 86 mile option. Well, technically it was 85 miles and has subsequently been cut to about 82 miles to reroute around a large rattlesnake den. I have historically shied away from the 100k distance because it’s a long way to run without the satisfaction of a hundred mile finish (it’s my issue, not yours). 86 miles seemed like an even more ridiculous distance without my coveted hundred mile finish. Adding the race into a fake series though has me genuinely excited to tackle the course.
The course itself sounds downright epic. Lots of gnarly off camber trails with several aid stations 9-11 miles apart. The 2pm start is a little different and there’s only 20 people signed up for the race so I should spend most of it by myself. The weather seems about perfect with temperatures ranging from mid-40s overnight to low-60s during the day and only a chance of rain. I feel like I’m just about fully recovered from Coast to Coaster and can’t wait to do my first new race of the year.
Let’s GO!