Today (Sunday the 31st) was the 40th running of the Escarpment 18.6 Mile Trail Run. We had pouring rain and slick conditions, but with the hearty souls that toed the line and the volunteers the braved the conditions, the 40th running of the Escarpment Trail Race was an epic success!

Len was focused on the Vertical K on Saturday, which was extremely challenging. He was a bit unsure about the 2nd days Marathon but with encouragement from his wife, he ended up having a weekend to be proud of! 

It was a another big weekend of racing for the team with The North Face Endurance Challenge visiting the great trails of Bear Mountain & Harriman State Park of NY, as well as the Rock the Ridge 50 Mile Endurance Challenge.

Up Up Up. Those are words my 15 month old daughter says to me to be picked up. Those are words that one could also use to describe the Breakneck Marathon & 25k race held on 4/18 in Beacon New York. The course was a combination of monster climbs followed by brutal descents. 

Earlier in the winter, or should I say the extended fall, I was thinking that this run on the Breakneck Point race course might be relatively snow free, or at least have somewhat fast conditions. How things change!  I can easily say that that was my slowest, uh, attempt at forward motion, ever!

We covered just over 8 miles of trails in Sterling Forest, most of it was covered in ice. The rocks and trees were even wrapped with a thick layer of ice. With the weather we had today, it is especially important to be prepared and carry some emergency gear.

Temps started out at about 40º and rose steadily through the morning. Trails were slushy, some had ice and a little snow cover, others were wet but traction was surprisingly fine at times. Looks like some cold weather is in the forecast and more rain on the way tonight, microspikes may be in order. Lets hope for some snow this coming Tuesday!

Each year we look forward to November because of the changes that it brings. Cold weather slowly moves in with the winds, trees become barer by the day and the chance of snow increases each week.

I heard about the Vermont 50 back in the spring from several of my Mountain Peak Fitness / Campmor teammates. Joe Azze was doing the 50 mile bike and Jules Moore the 50 mile run. I had not run a 50 mile race in 2 years so I wanted to give it a go. My obstacle though was my new baby daughter.

By MPF Athlete, Len Huffman
I am what companies call brand loyal. When I find a product that I like and it works for me I tend to stick with it. I am like this with my running shoes. I started my running days in Pearl Izumi's. I loved them. I had 4 or 5 pairs, same model (shines). I ran my best marathon in Synco Fuels. Unfortunately Pearl Izumi stopped making the ones I liked and the models they replaced them with just didn’t feel the same.

The 2014 Escarpment Trail Run was held on July 27th. This was my second running of the race, which has been happening since 1977. Held in the Catskills Mountains, it a grueling 18 mile trek up and over 3 peaks on trails littered with roots & rocks. I was excited to try to best last years time of 4 hours 20 minutes. My goal was 4 hours.

Hey Bear Mountain - shove it! Yeah, you heard me. Yes I am pointing 2 appendages your way. You always try to thwart us with your rocky and rooty paths. Your climbs often make us want to curl up into little balls. This year you added streams of water where there shouldn’t have been and mud...

The weekend of May 4-5th brought The North Face Endurance Challenge back to Bear Mountain in New York. I was competing in Sunday’s half marathon for the fifth time. This race has been my spring goal for the last few years. I have enjoyed high finishes and went into this years race looking for more success.

On race morning my wife and I drove out to Reading for the race. It was only about a 2 hour ride. The race had an 11am start time so it was nice not to have to rush out to early. Check in was held at a “social” club at the race finish

I started my 2013 race season on February 3rd at the NJ Trail Series last race of the winter season. My goals for the first half of the year consist of shorter races so I signed up for the 5 mile race