Wurtsboro 30K- Long Path Race Series
Photo by-Christine Westerman
3.31.16
Saturday, April 2 is the running of the Wurtsboro 30K, in its fourteenth year. The approximately 18-mile course is challenging, especially this early in the season. The first four miles are up, then rolling hills. It’s never really flat and the last 10k - more rolling hills.
The route starts in Wurtsboro, goes up Wurtsboro Mountain Road ,Old Route 17. west, then turns left onto K-Line Bridge Road, over Route 17, pass exit 112. Runners then take a right and head up Mountain Prosper Rd. Next hang a left onto Yankee Lake Rd at the top of the hill. The next turn is a left onto Pine Kill Road, right onto Route 209, left onto Sullivan County Route 163,becomes Orange County Route 61, left onto Indian Orchard Road, South Rd, follow for the finish at Emma Chase School in Wurtsboro.
This year the Wurtsboro 30k will part of the Long Path Race Series. The Long Path is a 357-mile trail through mountains of New York State from New York City, at the West 175th Street subway station, to Altamont, NY north of Albany.
Saturday, April 2 is the running of the Wurtsboro 30K, in its fourteenth year. The approximately 18-mile course is challenging, especially this early in the season. The first four miles are up, then rolling hills. It’s never really flat and the last 10k - more rolling hills.
The route starts in Wurtsboro, goes up Wurtsboro Mountain Road ,Old Route 17. west, then turns left onto K-Line Bridge Road, over Route 17, pass exit 112. Runners then take a right and head up Mountain Prosper Rd. Next hang a left onto Yankee Lake Rd at the top of the hill. The next turn is a left onto Pine Kill Road, right onto Route 209, left onto Sullivan County Route 163,becomes Orange County Route 61, left onto Indian Orchard Road, South Rd, follow for the finish at Emma Chase School in Wurtsboro.
This year the Wurtsboro 30k will part of the Long Path Race Series. The Long Path is a 357-mile trail through mountains of New York State from New York City, at the West 175th Street subway station, to Altamont, NY north of Albany.
The name Long Path was inspired by the opening stanza of Walt Whitman's Song of the Open Road.
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
– Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road.
Ken Posner and Todd Jennings, of Shawangunk Adventures, conceived of the idea of a race series to show off this lesser known hiking trail after Posner did a thru run on it.
“Ever since I ran the Long Path in 2013 I’ve been Long Path obsessed,” Posner said. “It’s the coolest trail I’d ever been on before”.
The criteria for including a race in the series are pretty loose.
“It has to go on the Long Path. The Long Path takes roads through Wurtsboro,” Posner said.
There are eight races in the series starting with Wurtsboro and ending with the Assault on Schunemunk in October.
The others- Phoenicia Ridge to Valley Trail Race, Ellenville Mountain Running Festival: 1/2 Marathon, 11 Miler, Marathon, Catskill Mountain 100k Road Race, Thacher Park Running Festival, SRT Run/Hike: 13/30/50/70-mile Trail Runs, and the Hambletonian Marathon.
Having a series would help drive participation in the events, the pair, who are also race directors of Rock the Ridge 50 miler, thought.
Shawangunk Adventures manages four of the races and four are managed separately but part of the series.
Runners get a score for every race participated in based on the mileage they run relative to the winner’s time. The winner of a marathon gets 26 points. A runner that finishes half as fast as the winner gets 13 points. “It’s a yearlong competition,” Jennings explained.
Categories are male, female, male master and female master over 50.
Runners participate for a variety of reasons, but mostly to challenge themselves.
"After unintentionally winning the overall male last year mainly because of quantity of races I ran, I wanted to try to and least give it a go for a repeat," Chris Regan, local runner, said. "As much as I don't consider myself a trail runner because it takes so much thought while running; I do love the events around the area. And I think a lot of Ken and Todd's events go back to the basics of running. It's you, the road/trail, and what you need with you. It's much more about understanding yourself and your needs and seeing wonderful places while also finding a deep understanding of yourself".
There is also a 100-Mile-Long Path coin. “As soon as you cover 100 miles you earn this coin,” Posner said.
Earning the coin is a goal lots of people can participate in from the super elite trail runner to distance hikers. This is recognition of mileage covered.
Although Posner already thru-ran the Long Path he doesn’t get a coin until he completes races in the series.
Winners of the series will get prizes from the two sponsors- Aroma Thyme and Kenco Outfitters.
The fee to register for the series is $15.
The Long Path trails are built and maintained by the NY-NJ Trail Conference volunteers.
The Long Path is a real NY State experience, according to Posner. On one hand there is some of the most beautiful areas of Hudson Valley. And at times the Path runs along the side of highways. There is sprawl, little tiny towns, weather stations, and mountains. And some of the most spectacular views...
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
– Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road.
Ken Posner and Todd Jennings, of Shawangunk Adventures, conceived of the idea of a race series to show off this lesser known hiking trail after Posner did a thru run on it.
“Ever since I ran the Long Path in 2013 I’ve been Long Path obsessed,” Posner said. “It’s the coolest trail I’d ever been on before”.
The criteria for including a race in the series are pretty loose.
“It has to go on the Long Path. The Long Path takes roads through Wurtsboro,” Posner said.
There are eight races in the series starting with Wurtsboro and ending with the Assault on Schunemunk in October.
The others- Phoenicia Ridge to Valley Trail Race, Ellenville Mountain Running Festival: 1/2 Marathon, 11 Miler, Marathon, Catskill Mountain 100k Road Race, Thacher Park Running Festival, SRT Run/Hike: 13/30/50/70-mile Trail Runs, and the Hambletonian Marathon.
Having a series would help drive participation in the events, the pair, who are also race directors of Rock the Ridge 50 miler, thought.
Shawangunk Adventures manages four of the races and four are managed separately but part of the series.
Runners get a score for every race participated in based on the mileage they run relative to the winner’s time. The winner of a marathon gets 26 points. A runner that finishes half as fast as the winner gets 13 points. “It’s a yearlong competition,” Jennings explained.
Categories are male, female, male master and female master over 50.
Runners participate for a variety of reasons, but mostly to challenge themselves.
"After unintentionally winning the overall male last year mainly because of quantity of races I ran, I wanted to try to and least give it a go for a repeat," Chris Regan, local runner, said. "As much as I don't consider myself a trail runner because it takes so much thought while running; I do love the events around the area. And I think a lot of Ken and Todd's events go back to the basics of running. It's you, the road/trail, and what you need with you. It's much more about understanding yourself and your needs and seeing wonderful places while also finding a deep understanding of yourself".
There is also a 100-Mile-Long Path coin. “As soon as you cover 100 miles you earn this coin,” Posner said.
Earning the coin is a goal lots of people can participate in from the super elite trail runner to distance hikers. This is recognition of mileage covered.
Although Posner already thru-ran the Long Path he doesn’t get a coin until he completes races in the series.
Winners of the series will get prizes from the two sponsors- Aroma Thyme and Kenco Outfitters.
The fee to register for the series is $15.
The Long Path trails are built and maintained by the NY-NJ Trail Conference volunteers.
The Long Path is a real NY State experience, according to Posner. On one hand there is some of the most beautiful areas of Hudson Valley. And at times the Path runs along the side of highways. There is sprawl, little tiny towns, weather stations, and mountains. And some of the most spectacular views...
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