The 14th Annual 5k/10k Race/Walk to Stop Violence

Here's an upcoming race put on by Family Services Incorporated in Altoona. The 5k/10 will be held on the PSU-Altoona campus.

Registration is online, and timing is courtesy of Herb Cratty and Miles of Smiles.

Here are some details from their website:

Race Information
The 5k/10k Race/Walk to Stop Violence begins at 8am on Sunday, June 1, 2014 at Penn State Altoona. The starting line is located at the Parking lot near the Chapel. Race will be held rain or shine. 

Runner’s Course
A scenic rolling hill, loop course around Penn State Altoona. Course certified by ‘USA Track & Field – Road Running Technical Council’. No walkers to weave through, can you post your best time? 

Walker’s Course
A scenic marked, loop course inside the perimeter of the beautiful Penn State Altoona Campus. Separate course from the runners. Strollers and leashed pets welcome. Bring the entire family!! 

Lollipop RaceThe 2014 Lollipop Race offers a variety of activities for children ages 3-10. The $10 fee covers the following activities:

• Race around the pond

• Craft Activity

• T-shirt

• Childcare (for those parents wishing to run or walk the 5K or 10K events, Family Services Inc. will monitor your kids during the race!)

• Participant Medal

• Healthy snacks and refreshments

Electronic TimingTiming now provided by Miles of Smiles Timing Services. This year disposable timing bibs will be used. 

Awards
Trophies will go to the top 3 male/female finishers. Medals will go to the top 3 male/female finishers in each of the following age groups:

• 14 and under 

• 15-19 

• 20-24 

• 25-29 

• 30-34 

• 35-39 

• 40-44 

• 45-49 

• 50-54 

• 55-59 

• 60 and over

No medals or trophies will be awarded in the 5K Fun Walk. 

Early Bird Registration

• Register for the 5K/10K or Walk before May 1st for $20 

• After May 1st registration is $25 

• Late entries after May 24th will be $30

The Half & Half Duathlon

Leave it to Central Cambria cross country/track coach Randy Wilson to think up another creative way to use the Ghost Town Trail.

This time, it's the "The Half & Half Duathlon," a 13.1 mile run followed by a 13.1 mile bike on Saturday, May 17. The run starts in Vintondale and finishes in Ebensburg, and the bike route retraces this route in reverse. So it's a net uphill run, and screaming downhill bike.

More details are below.  And here is a PDF of the race entry. As an added bonus, proceeds for the race benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. Burning quads, for a good cause!

UPDATE (4/3/14): The race organizers have decided to include a 2 person relay!  One person runs, the other bikes. Cost is $35 per participant.

The 4th Annual April Fools 5K

If you're looking for an excuse to visit State College, check out the 4th Annual April Fools 5K, on Saturday, March 29 at 9 AM.  The race begins at Medlar Field and winds through campus. So it's a relatively flat and fast course.

You can send in a registration form or sign up online. The race also has its own Facebook page.

Beer Runners: Best. Kickstarter Campaign. EVER!!!

Here's a cause EARCites can get behind...

A recent Runners World newswire alerts readers to Beer Runners, an unfinished documentary about a Philadelphia-based group known as the Fishtown Beer Runners.

To raise funds for the documentary, the filmmaker, Justin Wirtalla, started a Kickstarter campaign. The project site describes the origins of this unique running group:

The Fishtown Beer Runners began with two friends on a run, discussing studies that were done in Spain with exercise and beer.  After giving it a try, they decided they needed to share that experience, and the Beer Runners were born.  Every week they run to a different bar and conclude the exercise with a craft beer or two.

The club presently has over 100 members, and Wirtalla wants to travel to Spain to interview the researcher who first conducted these studies.

At first blush, Beer Runners appears rather whimsical, showcasing two things that seemingly contradict each other. But after you watch the clip and read the description, you might be convinced as I am that this merry band of beer runners is on to something.

So check it out for yourself.  And now that Pour on Center has brought new life (and craft beers) to Ebensburg, perhaps it's time for EARC to give this a try!


 

Dirty Kiln Trail 5-Mile and Half-Marathon: Early Registration Ends Today!!!

If you like trail running, check out the Dirty Kiln Trail 5-Mile and Half-Marathon on Saturday, April 5th. And if you're interested, hurry up and register now on their site because the price goes up after March 14th. Also, there is no day-of-race registration, and the field is limited to 350 runners. Our friends the Allegheny Trailrunners host the event, and they are promising awards, door prizes, and discounts from REI, Salomon, Subaru gear and more. Looks like fun!

Here is some information from the race's website:

Description 

The third annual “Dirty Kiln Trail Races at Canoe Creek State Park” brought to you by Allegheny Trailrunners, Inc. will be Saturday, April 5th, 2014! WE ARE A "TRAIL RUNNER MAGAZINE" RACE SERIES EVENT! Trail runners will have a choice to run the 5-mile course up Moore’s Hill and around the lake. The half-marathon course will go around the park a second time but on a more hilly and challenging half-marathon course! Both courses have a lot of variety of trails from wide paths, winding singletrack, stream crossings and mud… lots of mud.
Course maps, descriptions, photos and more are on the website - http://www.alleghenytrailrunners.com/dirty-kiln-trail-race/ 

The Course 

The First Loop Around the Lake (5 mile)
Runners will start in the ball field in a long mass start before heading down a slight hill toward the lake. You will cross a paved service road and then onto Limestone Trail past the Blair Limestone Company Kilns on your right and onto Moore’s Hill Trail which circles the hill before climbing to the top and then down the other side. At the bottom, you will pass the remains of another kiln on your right and the first stream crossing and onto Beaverdam Trail back to the lake to a boat mooring area near Pavilion #3 and a water stop. 

After the mooring area, it is single-track to the breast of Brumbaugh Dam. The trail then hugs the shoreline which lots of rolly-polly up and downs until you make it near the spillway, up a grassy service road up a hill, and second stream crossing. The last half mile is a service road past the spillway, and past the main park grounds and to the 5-mile finish. 

FOR HALF MARATHONERS: After passing the 5 mile mark with the other runners, continue past the 5-mile finish. Instead of bearing right toward The Limestone Kilns, runners will run up the hill to the left called Smith Hillside Trail, along the edge, then back to Limestone Trail but running opposite direction you did on the first loop. Next, you will take a sharp left onto a nice limestone grade up to Hartman Trail as it climbs up above the quarry cliffs to the top. Runners will reach a four-way intersection – continue straight down the hill toward a water tower, and back up the top of the hill to The Horse’s Back. The trail will drop down the spine of the hill back to rear of the Limestone Kilns. Behind the kilns, you make a left and uphill to another climb, then down, then back up, down and back up again Moore’s Hill until the final downhill on the backside of Moore's Hill to the first stream crossing you made on the first loop. Follow the same course you did around the lake past the breast of the dam and the stream crossing. (4 stream crossings for half marathoners). Before the finish, runners will make a left past the wastewater plant instead of going straight. From here you will zigzag along a few of the horse trails before reaching the finish.

Cook Forest Half Marathon and 5K

If you're gearing up for a spring marathon or half, here is a good tuneup race. While it's nearly a 2 hour drive from Ebensburg, the 11:00 AM start gives you plenty of time to get there. 

From the Cook Forest website...

30TH ANNUAL COOK FOREST HALF MARATHON AND 5K RACE 

It’s time to get out your running shoes! The Cook Forest Half Marathon and 5K are scheduled for Saturday, March 29th, 2014! Click HERE to register online! (Or HERE for the registration form)

Half Marathon: 11:00 am – 5K: 11:15am

          Entry Fee:

Half Marathon: $25.00 until March 14th, then $30.00 (pre-registration guarantees T-shirt)
5K: $20.00 until March 23rd, then $25.00 (pre-registration guarantees T-shirt)
Current Clarion University Students – Half Marathon – $20, 5K – $15

Location:
Cook Forest State Park, Cooksburg. Twenty minutes north of Clarion and Brookville. From I-80, take exit 78 and Rt 36 North, or Exit 60 (Rt 66 North), then right onto Rt 36. From Pittsburgh, take Rt 28 North to Brookville, then Rt 36 North to Cook Forest. 

Course:
The half marathon is flat to gently rolling entirely on river Road along the beautiful Clarion River. Course is out and back on traffic controlled roads. The 5K event is also out-and-back on the same road. 

General:
Event is organized and managed by Clarion University Cross Country/Track & Field Team & Timing with Champion Chip by Runner’s High 4 water stations on the course, each mile is marked. No shower facilities come dressed to run. No bicycles permitted on the course and no pets permitted on the course.
Start and finish near Pale Whale Canoe Rental.

Path of the Flood Historic Half Marathon & 5K

Now here's an interesting way to mark the 125th anniversary of the Johnstown Flood. From the Johnstown Area Heritage Association (they have a Facebook page too)...

Commemorate the past and celebrate the present while reliving the history of the Johnstown Flood. Imagine yourself as part of the infamous wall of water while "roaring" along the Path of the Flood Trail. Following the Conemaugh River, Path of the Flood Historic Half Marathon participants will be challenged by a rolling hybrid road/gravel trail course that offers expansive views of the gorge through which the waters of the 1889 flood poured, celebrates the resiliency of the communities of South Fork, Mineral Point and Johnstown, and showcases the newly completed portions of the trail.  

Runners will also pass through the National Park Service's Staple Bend Tunnel, the first railroad tunnel constructed in the United States. Why just read about history when you can be part of it? 

Our 5K course will allow participants to feel the power of the last 3.1 miles of the flood's course on the same route as the half marathon. This route begins in Franklin Borough and will remain on roads to the finish at Peoples Natural Gas Park within site of the famous Old Stone Bridge. 

Event schedule and times 

May 30 - 31, 2014: Packet Pick Up, Times and location TBD 

June 1, 2014:

• 7:30 a.m. Bus loading Commences 

• 9:00 a.m. Half Marathon and 5K Start 

• 10:00 a.m. Post Race Celebration commences at Peoples Natural Gas Park 

Award ceremony to follow as soon as results are compiled. 

Cost is $50 for half-marathon participants, and $25 for the 5K. Runners 18 years of age and under may participate in the 5K free of charge. Click here to register online! 

3rd Annual Bunny Dash 5k

Not just trophies; bunny trophies.

Last year, I made my way to Portage to run the Bunny Dash 5k. In addition to having a beautiful day, everything about the race was terrific. The course was challenging, but not ridiculous. There was no shortage of enthusiastic volunteer support. The post-race had both great food and a festive atmosphere. And our friend Herb Cratty of Miles of Smiles Timing Services did the results--and you can never go wrong with Herb.

So yes, this race comes highly recommended. This year, the Bunny Dash will be held on Saturday, April 19. It starts and finishes at the Portage Football Stadium. You can sign up online or by completing the registration form below. For updates, go ahead and "like" their Facebook page. They are capping the race at 500, so make sure to sign up early!