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Summary
A behind-the-scenes look at trail races and race directing in Pennsylvania—where logistics, chaos, and questionable decisions meet the woods. Part field notes, part long-winded opinion, and part rediscovery of races past. It's also an exploration of the places that make it all possible—the overlooked landscapes, their history, and the outdoor economy that quietly shapes them.
Coming Soon
Black Forest Ultra
The VOID
Old Race Reports from Oil Creek
... plus old and new race reports, event news, updates, more...
Oil, Fire, and the Number of the Beast
A look back to the 2015 Oil Creek Trail Races, when the Running Devil took on the hills, rocks, mud and questionable life choices of Oil Creek State Park. In this Rocksylvania Dispatch flashback, revisit a race experience where the miles were long, the terrain was unforgiving, and the devil apparently had running shoes.
Oct 716 min read
Missed Connection: You, 30-Something Ultramarathoner; Me, The VOID
The VOID is a 180-mile ultramarathon through an abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnel, where darkness, exhaustion, poor decisions and existential dread converge. This absurdly unhinged “Missed Connection” is a love letter to ultrarunners who willingly choose suffering, questionable life choices and 48 hours inside the abyss.
Oct 33 min read
The Great Mountain Lock: A First Frontier Story
Explore the history of Pennsylvania’s Allegheny corridor, where Indigenous trails became turnpikes, canals, railroads and highways. From Kittanning Gap and the Allegheny Portage Railroad to Horseshoe Curve and Route 22, discover how generations found their way through the mountains of the First Frontier.
Sep 2319 min read
The Megatransect: A Brief History of Questionable Decisions
The 2013 Megatransect was 26+ miles of technical Pennsylvania trail, 5,000 feet of climbing, boulder fields, creek crossings, and questionable decisions. Follow along as an undertrained runner discovers why “go light and fast” is excellent advice and why ignoring it makes the mountain considerably more interesting.
Sep 1720 min read
Featured Posts
Blog Roll
Rock ’N The Knob: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blue Knob
A look back at the history of Rock ’N The Knob, from early mountain bike rides on Blue Knob to the creation of one of Pennsylvania’s toughest trail races. Celebrating 1,500 unique participants, this Rocksylvania Dispatch explores the mountain, race evolution, waypoint names, ultramarathon ambition and the questionable judgment behind it all.
Sep 212 min read
Debby Downer: “It’s Only A Matter of Time”
In August 2024, Tropical Storm Debby turned Eastern States 100 into a battle against rising water, flooded roads, changing forecasts and one impossible decision: cancel the race. In this week’s Rockslyvania Dispatch, I look back at the 16-hour fight to save Eastern States, what ultimately forced us to concede, and what happened afterward. And somewhere on a dam beneath a sky full of Perseid meteors, I realized that sometimes the most important thing is not what you lost, but
Aug 2120 min read
It’s All Spreadsheets
Organizing an ultramarathon is mostly a sprawling network of spreadsheets, checklists, logistics, matrices, volunteer trackers, and color-coded operational documents held together by caffeine and conditional formatting.
This is a celebration of the hidden administrative monster behind trail running and the strange beauty of trying to engineer adventure through Google Sheets.
May 138 min read
A Race Director’s Mild Case of Spieltrieb
I can't understand why The Dirty Kiln race staff groans when I have a brilliant idea? 🤷 I’m never quite sure if I’m trying to keep these races fresh and quirky—or if I just have some deep, unexplainable urge to entertain myself. Maybe it’s a touch of benign chaos engineering . Or, if we want to get a little poetic about it, the Germans might call it “Spieltrieb” —the instinctive drive to play. Whatever it is, I’ve learned to lean into it. Every year, I try to throw in one or
Apr 21 min read
Built to Last: How Eastern States Found Its Path
In 2019, Eastern States 100 wasn’t just changing leadership—it was redefining what it meant to build something that endures. What followed was a shift toward stewardship, community, and a long-view philosophy rooted in the trails themselves. [ The Eastern States Trail-Endurance Alliance is a not-for-profit organization that promotes trailrunning and the responsible use of public lands, through events such as the Eastern States 100, Eagleton Trail Challenge and Ironstone 100K,
Mar 316 min read
An Open Letter to the Unprepared
Ultrarunning—especially Eastern States 100—isn’t something you stumble into. This is a reminder to show up prepared, informed, and ready to earn your way through every mile. It seems like every few weeks I feel compelled to rant about something. This is one of those times. Old Man Yells at Cloud. An RD Yells at Cloud. This one’s about taking it seriously. Not in a dramatic, self-important way. Not in a “this defines your entire existence” kind of way. But in the very real, ve
Mar 233 min read
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