Welcome to where Don Runs and where even your crew has to be crazy!
These runs will be presented by
The Harrisburg Area Road Runners' Club
For more information contact Donald Halke II on Facebook or e-mail to donrunsfar@embarqmail.com
HARRC's Conococheague 50K Trails Ultra will be held
Saturday July 30, 2016, at 8:00 AM.
Registration for HARRC's
Conocheague 50K Trail Run is now open.
The Conococheague 50K Trail run will held at same location, but will be using a slightly different course than the first 3 years. Don't worry, your favorite climbs will still be included, and maybe a few bonus climbs to top off your day!
RACE STARTS at 8:00AM, July 30, 2016. You Must check in at start before start.
Bring donation for aid stations to start.
Trail briefing at 7:45AM!
These run are approximately a 50K, and is run on well marked trails and forest service roads. We will limit the field to no more than 100 runners.
The Tuscarora Trails Ultra, which is held in March or April, and the Conococheague 50K are FAT ASS events, which means they are free to participants.
Donations of water, food, Gatorade, etc., will be requested for the aid stations about a week before the event. Please do not sign up if you have no intention of participating. And if you have signed up, but need to withdraw, please leave me know as soon as possible.
There will be at least 3 manned stations.
Location and Start/finish area:
Big Spring State Forest Picnic Area
Tuscarora State Forest,
Perry County, Blain, PA
GPS Coordinates: 40.263986, -77.659201
First, I want to Thank the Harrisburg Area Road Runners' Club for allowing me to direct these two FREE events for the club. Running should be fun and affordable and that is what we are trying to do here!
I have the old map for the Conococheague 50K and , as well as pictures of the trail. Entry for the this 50K is will open on or near June 1, 2016. Since we are limited by the Bureau of Forestry as to how many participants we can have, you must register to run. You will be able to do that here, on line. And registration is free, too!!!
This narrative is for both of the events, however the Tuscarora Trails Ultra will not be using the Tuscarora Trail and is not nearly as technical as the Conococheague 50K. Most of this run will take place in the portion of the Tuscarora State Forest which is located near Blain and New Germantown, Perry County, Pa. (I hope you don’t have any problems with our traffic signals. We just got the second one in all of Perry County and they are a bit confusing for some of us.)
The run will travel on miles of single track trail that lace the Conococheague, Rising Sun and Big Top mountains, with a few miles of forest service road and logging road thrown in to help break up the day. There will be at least four aid stations.
While running this course, you will get to see the failed attempt to tunnel through Big Top Mountain by the narrow gauge Path Railroad, way back in 1894. You will run through trails once frequented by then Iroquois and Delaware Indians and the area that provides the head water for the Sherman's Creek, flowing to the Susquehanna and the Conococheague Creek, which flows into the Potomac, reaching that destination near Williamsport, Maryland.
For our friends that have run on the MMT course, we will introduce you to a few sections of the trail that will make a lasting memory for you. How are your repelling skills?? You don’t need a rope, but you might wish you had some! And for those of you who want to see some of Pennsylvania’s legendary trails with the really rocky sections, well, I think we have you covered too!
Some advice and Contest rules: This is NOT a race, but a run. We want everyone to have a great time and enjoy our trails. But we are going to offer a contest, of sorts. You will be running in an area that will be “buzzing’ with morning excitement as the sun warms the rocks and logs of our mountains. The first three participants, and that includes volunteers, that provide us a memorable picture of wildlife, will get a specially selected award. (Remember, the race director is a little crazy, so don't get too excited until you see our award!)
Now the contest: This race director enjoys wildlife and seeing pictures of all sorts of creatures. A prize (OK, the race director is a little crazy, so you can’t say what the prize might be..) will be given to the first three persons that share the best wildlife photo taken during the run. Snakes, bear, deer, coyote, bobcat, Bigfoot, or any wild thing. Just show him or his designee your photo when you are done running and let the judging begin!
Pronunciations of Conococheague are varied, but two common and accepted pronunciations are: “Kahn-uh-kuh-JIG.” or “KAH-no-KAH-cheek
“In 1822, the Moravian missionary, John Gottlieb Heckewelder (1743-1823), widely traveled among the Delaware Indians, sent to the American Philosophical Society a long descriptive list he had compiled of Indian names of geographical features. On his list (p. 373, as published by the American Philosophical Society in 1834) was “Conococheague,” which he then phoneticized as “Guneukìtschik,” with the accent on the penultimate syllable. He offered the translation as “long indeed, very long indeed.”*”
*This history was written by John Buescher and was posted as a response to a question on the website: Teachinghistory.org
An important note:
In Pennsylvania, rattlesnakes and Northern copperheads are protected, and are only allowed to be killed by licensed fisherman in a very limited period between June and July. Thus, unless licensed, NO one is permitted to harm any snake on our course on race day!!! And I prefer you never hurt any.