ROCKSYLVANIA DISPATCH

Trail runners don’t just swap splits and finishing times. We turn every long day in the woods into a story—complete with disasters, low points, unlikely rescues, and hard-earned triumphs. This essay starts with one accidental origin story from the Laurel Highlands 50K and follows the trail through psychology, mythology, and the strange possibility that the stories we tell may shape the lives we end up living.

This coming weekend is the Laurel Highlands 50K. Now, fourteen years later, I look back at my first ultramarathon. I have often wondered when exactly someone becomes an ultrarunner. Is it the moment they register for their first ultra? Is it standing nervously at a starting line knowing they are about to travel farther on foot than they ever have before? Is it crossing the finish line with a buckle, medal, or race result to prove it? For me, the answer began on a humid June

This is the story of what makes Ironstone… Ironstone. Don’t pretend I don’t know. I hear the whispers at aid stations. The muttering in parking lots after races. The cautious tone people use when someone says, “Yeah, I’m signed up for Ironstone this year.” Usually it’s followed by silence. A long stare into the middle distance. Maybe someone nervously tightening their hydration vest. Then somebody says: “Dude… why?"

The Ironstone 100K traces a 100-kilometer route from Canoe Creek State Park to Greenwood Furnace State Park through one of the most historically dense corridors in America. Along the way, runners follow ancient Indigenous trails that became warpaths, turnpikes, canals, and railroads; pass the remnants of industries that helped build the nation; and move through forests that were once erased and painstakingly restored.

[Note: This is one of many race reports from a blog I wrote called "Ben Runs on Beer" that I published when I first started trail racing more than 15 years ago. ] First 30k of the Hyner Challenge Course I was awake at 3:45am for a second Hyner Challenge 50K go around. “3:45? You mean to tell me there’s another 3:45 called AM?” I thought as I woke. I don’t recall waking up this early last year but nevertheless, here we go again. Last year I ran the 50k race for the first time

[Note: This is one of many race reports from a blog I wrote called "Ben Runs on Beer" that I published when I first started trail racing more than 15 years ago. ] Though I didn’t admit it to anyone at the time, I was psyched about the Hyner Challenge. I spent the entire week before race day looking at course maps, race results from previous years, weather, adjusting my nutrition plan, deciding what shoes and clothing I was going to wear–all of which lead to a few sleepless ni

[Note: This is one of many race reports from a blog I wrote called "Ben Runs on Beer" that I published when I first started trail racing more than 15 years ago. ] THE START Left to Right – Adam McGinnis, Sandy Evans, Joel Noal, me, Gary Frisco Lets begin with a slight confession. Even though I consider myself an avid trailrunner, I never raced in the two crowning jewels of northern PA trail running – The Hyner Challenge and the The Megatransect. Now that I admitted to the sac

"Crossovers are a pain in the a–. Everybody hates doing them, but they’re like ratings crack, and it's a bad addiction because you don't want to overuse it." — Dick Wolf (Producer of Law & Order and Chicago franchises), regarding TV crossover episodes. I haven’t even cracked a dozen posts on this blog and somehow… we’re already doing a crossover episode. Things are moving fast. Too fast. Like blasting down Huff Run with supreme confidence… only to cramp like your legs have be

This is the first of many race reports from a blog I wrote called "Ben Runs on Beer" that I published when I first started trail racing more than ten years ago. This race was the Sinnemahone 50K in the heart of the PA Wilds.