The New Jersey Ultra Festival 50K is part of the NJ Trail Series. The race took place on Saturday March 21st, 2015. The Course is a trail behind the County Fairgrounds in Sussex County, New Jersey. During the week leading up to the race day of the NJ Ultra Festival a lot of the snowfall in the area had melted. By Thursday conditions were looking like a fast run.

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.

It’s 6 am on Sunday morning and I am waiting at the race start.  Despite what you might think, I’m not nervous at all. Mainly because I started and finished the 50 mile race I had entered over 12 hours ago.  I now had the privilege of helping to crew a runner attempting to finish his first 100-mile race.

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.

March 24, 2012  Augusta, New Jersey Ultra Festival 100 mile race. I Ran this race the previous two years that it has been held. During the 2010 race I dropped out at mile 76 with shin pain. 2011 I came in second female in 21:24. In preparation for this years race I trained on more roads than trails due to the flat nature of the course.

I registered for the NJ Trail Series Febapple race sometime in January, with the hope of running the 21-mile race. This race would also be a good opportunity to support my MPF Campmor teammates, and promote my upcoming race, Lost Brook Trail Race, which benefits the Tenafly Nature Center.  However

I had the pleasure of running with my teammate, Zsuzsanna Carlson at Harriman State Park during the summer last year. At the time, I was training for my first 50 mile race. During our 3 hour run, I pestered her with questions about fueling, hydrating, how my legs would feel, how to train, what to expect, etc.

The Febapple was held on February 25th at South Mountain Reservation. It is a race organized by NJ Trail Series. The race offered distances of 50 miles, 50k, 21 miles and 10 miles. The Febapple was not on my original schedule, I had planned to do a 10k the week before but did not make it. On Wednesday I made a last minute decision to enter the 10 miler.

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.

In the midst of a record breaking heat wave, 100 plus participants decided to embark on a journey that made them wonder if indeed the devil had taken over their minds and bodies. I mean really their aren’t many people who participate in a race where the day time high was projected to be in the high 90’s to 100º with the northeast humidity added in of course.

Honestly, I signed up for this race with intentions of just showing face and having fun with with the trail running team and friends. It is 8 days before the BIG ONE, The Escarpment Trail Run....a definite goal race for me.