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Humourous sign by Trish Photo Credit: Andrew Swistak The most memorable runs are always the ones you had to suffer the most and fight the hardest. Up till I moved a couple months ago, I had saved most of my race bibs from the last two to three years of running. Moving 20-30 pieces of paper wasn't hard; however, I realized many of them weren't worth saving. While packing and going through the race-related pile, I ended up only saving a self-made trail map with the Looking Glass Look Around route, the West Virginia Trilogy bib, and a bib with my trail name on it from Rabid Squirrel (which technically was not a race). Those races/runs have a special place in my heart for the lessons I learned from them, the people I met/ran with, and the struggles I had to overcome. Adding to the list of memorable races is the Mill Stone 50k . Photo credit: Andrew Swistak When I signed up for the race while still recovering from my calf & shin injuries, I wasn't even sure I...

“More kilometers means more fun,” says Kilian Jornet after getting lost during his record-setting time of running up and down Mount Olympus earlier this year. He's such a tremendous runner with much grace, humility, and passion. I had my mind on what he said while running through the woods yesterday. Trail times defies the normal measure of time. It wasn't until almost two and a half hours into the race till I first looked at my watch. Minutes and hours did seem to stretch longer and longer as the race progressed, but I still savored every bit of it. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD,who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2 ESV) For Kilian, mountain has a soul and he draws its energy as he runs. Having grown up in the mountains, he has a much deeper understanding and appreciation of them than I do. But it's not hard to imagine the breathtaking views, the immensity of mountain range, and the limitless sky abov...

The first eight minutes of Woods Ferry 24Hr. I was in the first few seconds standing around waiting for race start.

Did I think I could run for 24 hours? No! But I entered the Woods Ferry 24 Hour Ultra Trail Run anyway and came out finishing my first ultra in the least expected and unplanned way. For one, I didn't sign up until a week ago. And I didn't even think I could finish a marathon distance. Let alone an ultra. Woods Ferry 24 Hour is a low-key trail race organized and directed by Terri Hayes, who started the South Carolina Ultra Trail Series. Four years into its existence, the series now offer five races featuring various distances in different forests throughout SC. The best of all? They are all free events. No frills, no chip-timing, and no t-shirts. Only labors of love, fully-stocked aid stations, unique finisher's award, and good times. The race didn't start until 4 p.m., but I arrived early to set up my tent. Terri briefed us about the course 15 minutes prior to start. It's a lollipop-shaped course which consists of a 1.3 mile out-and-back connecting to a 4.5 ...