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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...
The Tiltrock Loop: 300 Miles of Appalachian Adventure, One Big Loop, and Absolutely No Excuse to Call for a Shuttle
The Tiltrock Loop is a 300-mile backpacking adventure connecting five established trail systems across south-central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. Centered around Everett, Pennsylvania, this ambitious route showcases rugged Appalachian ridgelines, remote forests, historic landmarks, and scenic public lands. Developed through collaboration among trail organizations, outdoor recreation advocates, and regional partners, the loop also offers new opportunities for rural tour
21 hours ago11 min read
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
Featured Posts
Blog Roll
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
The Eastern States 100: Ten Things You Should Know About the Race Everyone Suddenly Seems to Be Talking About
The Eastern States 100 is having a moment. After Kaylee Frederick's record-setting overall victory, more people are discovering what we've known for years: this is no ordinary 100-miler. It's 103.5 miles of rugged Pennsylvania Wilds, 21,000 feet of climbing, August heat, a roughly 50% finish rate, and a whole lot of grassroots grit. Here's what makes Eastern States different—and why the race is about far more than finishing times.
Aug 1710 min read
Pine Creek Valley: A Landscape Written in Stone, Water, and Sweat
Let's look at the forces that shaped the Pine Creek Valley, a little-known Declaration of Independence that happened here on the very same day as Philadelphia's, and how lumber transformed one of Pennsylvania's wildest landscapes.
Jul 2210 min read
Built by Women, for Women: SHEastern States 2026
SHEastern States is a deliberate created space for women to come together on the legendary Eastern States course and discover what happens when challenge, community, and shared purpose intersect.
May 2611 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
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