The Twisted Branch Part 1
The record shows that I finished the 2022 Twisted Branch Trail Run 100k in 19 hours, 18 minutes, and 48 seconds. In doing so, I qualified for the Western States Endurance Run lottery. I had achieved the one running goal I had set out at the beginning of the year. I had never before been singularly focused on one objective since I took up this sport
No More Expectations
We all have expectations. Expectations about things, people, relationships, jobs… and running. I think it might be time to let them go. At the very least, we need to make these expectations more flexible. Not that long ago, I was a pretty decent runner, especially at distances between ten and fifty miles. I wasn’t elite by any stretch, but I was competitive. Then, slowly but surely,
The Aid Station: What is Sports Nutrition?
Health, nutrition, and sports go hand in hand. It can be difficult to discern what is considered healthy when there are a plethora of influencers, marketing scams, and general toxicity in social media pushing people to act, dress, and behave in a certain way. What it is to be healthy can be hard to define, hard to understand, and it is often over shadowed by
YOUR TRAIL: Let’s head to the shores of Lake Ontario and find out why their #TrailsRoc
This week we are going to visit Rochester, NY - A small city on the shores of Lake Ontario with a booming trail scene. (Full disclosure, this is where your author is from). Rochester offers incredible trails with a county park system that years ago invested in open spaces as well as numerous volunteer trail organizations that build, maintain, and advocate for the trails in
Blood Ties
With love, I dedicate this column to my grandfather, Joseph Vincent Behe, who would have turned 97 this month. Some time after my paternal grandfather–”Pappap”–passed away in late December of 2020, my dad shared with the rest of the family a press clipping from a local Harrisburg newspaper. Written with the zippy flare and unapologetic corniness of bygone days, the piece features Pappap front and center
My First DNF and What It Taught Me
It stung because I was now only 20 miles from the last aid station, and in my own mind, I was in the home stretch. “What do you mean I can’t continue?” was the first thing my mind offered in silent response to the aid station captain informing me that he could not allow me to continue past that point because I had timed out. All I
The Aid Station: Should Women Fuel Differently Than Men?
Like Beyonce sang, “Who run the world? Girls.” Women really do run the world - over the last decade more women are the people running across the finish lines than men. According to the NY Times, “in the United States alone, women make up 57 percent of finishers — that's about 10.7 million women racing. Globally, female race participation is up 25 percent, compared to
Your Trail: Get off the city streets and let’s run the trails in Northern NJ!
Often falling in the shadow of that big city in NY, and ignored as an area with trails due to population density, Northern New Jersey has tucked away a number of worthy parks and runnable trails with views and a ruggedness you just would not expect there. Let’s get off the city streets and find out what Northern New Jersey has! The “You need to run
A Runner’s Guide to the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Listen up, people. I’m sure you’ve noticed the same thing I have; there’s been too much positivity in the news lately. Puppies kissing babies. Babies kissing puppies. Rainbows. Babies and puppies playing together under rainbows. It’s sickening, if I’m being honest. Where’s the realism, the pragmatism? As trail runners, we’re all too familiar with the fact that things can be going just swimmingly until, out
Too Much Gear
Running, at its foundation, is a minimalist activity. Yet through the choices we make, we are rewriting this narrative. And we are changing the story at the detriment to our environment. At its roots, running is an inexpensive and minimalistic activity. To run, you need your legs and feet…perhaps a pair of comfortable shoes to protect those feet, and for some of us, a sports bra. Yet
