As September neared its end, I was preparing for my 3rd Mountain Madness 50k. I had mixed feelings about the race this year. Last year I had trained on the course often and had more miles in my legs but felt under trained this year. A busy schedule had kept me from but just 1 training run on the course. The course was also different this year due to pipeline construction. Never the less, I signed up and prepared to do my best.

I wasn’t sure what to expect racing the 7 mile Mountain Madness trail run, but my hunch was that the relatively short race would be fast from the gun. While I was operating under a number of assumptions, things started off as I had envisioned. I had a quality 15 minute warm up, and I was at the front on the starting line.

When the summer ends and fall rolls around there are a number of things that you can look forward to: Crisp cool air, leaves changing colors….& Mountain Madness.

It is 4:30am, Saturday, September 29th.  I wake up and realize I am pretty nervous about the activity I am going to partake in today.  It is my first trail race for the year and to make it even more nerve racking is it one of the toughest 50K’s in the Northeast.

It’s that time of year again, Mountain Madness 50k (aka MoMa)!  For the last 3 years, this race has been a staple of my race calendar, and no matter what other events I had planned or injuries I sustained throughout the year, I have always managed to make it to the starting line of this race.

Here are the photos Joe Azze from MPF took during the 2012 Mountain Madness 50k races that is put on by NJTrailSeries each year. 

Saturday morning, 5AM.  I wake up and can’t believe the day has finally arrived.  Today will be the third running of the Mountain Madness 50K.  Seems like only yesterday when I toed the line for the very first race.  Like every year I spent a lot of time on the course training, trying to remember every turn, every hill, and anything else that would give me an advantage on race day.  This 50K in my opinion is one of the toughest in the Northeast.

Out of all the NJ Trail Series races, this is one of my favorite events.  Mountain Madness is a rugged 50K with approximately 5,000 feet of elevation gain held on the rocky trails throughout the Ramapo Mountains of Northern New Jersey.

“Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Focus.  Enjoy it.”  I told myself.  There I was again, standing on the starting line with butterflies in my stomach, like I had done so many times before, but this time was different.  This day had some history behind it…

Good Legs are only part of the equation…Mountain Madness 50k (referred to often as MOMA) is a trail race put on by NJ Trail Series. It is held in parts of Ringwood & Ramapo state parks in northern NJ. Now in its 3rd year, MOMA had races of 50k, 25k & 7.7 miles. This years event took place on October 15th.