I just read on Facebook that this will be the last year for the Megatransect here in PA. This year will be the 13th running. While that doesn't seem quite long enough to label it an iconic race, the fact that it has a large following and is arguably considered the toughest trail marathon in the east allows me to attach that label to it. They normally accept about 1000 runners and it either sells out in minutes or crashes the server when registration opens up.
The race is run on land that is controlled by the DCNR, State Game lands, various municipalities as well as private land. Apparently there is going to be a lot of logging going on that will impact the race area. For myself I'm not sure why that means the race has to end as they always change the trails every year anyway. In fact they only release the map of the trail the night before the race so very few people actually know what route will be used in any given year. Of course I'm not on the committee so there may be a lot of other considerations going into this.
I only ran the race two years. The first one was one of the best races I've had, the other, not so good. It's another PA trail race that had a big party atmosphere at the finish, with many people coming and camping out for several days. While I had no plans to run it again in the near future I'm sorry to see it fall by the wayside.
Faster Than Your Couch!
I I might ask Craig, the RD, what's going on with that. I didn't see this one coming. Sad, it sure was a well-established and very much liked race in PA.
Run for fun.
Le professeur de trail
It's one of those races I have been wanting to run although the big crowd pretty much kept me away. I suppose part of the reasoning that softens the blow just a bit is the rise of other races in PA (i.e Call of the Wilds, Worlds End, Green Monster, etc.).
If you miss it that much, they do run the Frozen Snot in that area in January. I wonder why that one doesn't attract the big crowds
I am curious to the logging thing. I was just running in the mountains around here, in a game lands area and saw a ton of excavating going on (top of stony mtn.) and wondered what in the world they are doing.
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
I thought about doing the Frozen Snot. I wouldn't mind the snow but I was concerned about getting wet feet during creek crossings. I don't like frostbit feet. Been there, done that.
I was wondering if the logging would affect this race as well.
Oh, that stinks about the logging and the race. A local trail I run a portion of the forest was wiped out (except for a few scattered trees) for logging and it has shut down one of the trails until they are done. Thankfully there are other trails there but it makes it impossible to hook up a loop I used to run. That section just looks sad now. I suspect once (if) they remove the timber and brush it may open back up.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
Support the statement that the logging sucks. They have done that in my area, too, and re-routed a few trails. It's not excessive, but it sure changes the scenery.
my running buddy Stephen has run the Frozen Snot twice, and he really liked it. I think wet feet are not a problem as long as you keep moving on them, and of course air and snow temperatures are not extremely low. I have run in snow after several creek crossings at times and did not get frostbitten. However, I got frostbitten when snowshoeing, because I don't move my feet and toes the same way in snowshoes as I do when I run.
In a way I have to defend logging. When I was a kid we would do some picnicking at Tall Timbers natural area. After eating we would hike up the trails. Back then there was a lot of traffic on the trails and they were fairly easy to negotiate. One of the draws to that area was the tall, old trees. Back then they were mostly all in good health. When I started thinking about trail running that was the first place I headed off to. Now a lot of the trees are diseased, dying or dead. The trail basically sucks and doesn't seem to get much traffic. I wouldn't want to run there if there was much wind at all, there's just too many dead trees and branches. The last time I did run there it was shortly after a storm had come through and it was kind of scary to see how much debris had fallen from the trees. Logging kind of sucks when it messes up the trails but it's also kind of necessary for a healthy forest.