Thursday, July 23, 2015
Pickin' and Grinnin' 5k
This 5k will take you through the beautiful Shawnee State Park near Bedford, PA. With the course mainly along the Lake Shore Trail you will witness the fall migration of waterfowl and the changing colors of the autumn season. The starting line will be near the beach concession stand and the finish will be close by near the boat launch. This race/run/walk is to help raise funds for Living Waters Camp and Conference Center which is very near to the park. With your registration you will receive a t-shirt and the proceeds will help continue the legacy of an amazing camp and retreat center. After the race, everyone is invited to attend a bluegrass festival at Living Waters Camp. Food will be available for purchase and it is sure to be a great time.
If you are pickin' our 5k then you'll be grinnin' at the end.
Monday, May 18, 2015
2 Marathons- 1 on land, 1 in water: Darren Miller
On April 9, 2014 twenty-two people were injured during a
young man’s attack in the hallways of Franklin Regional High School. The physical and mental scars still remain with the school but the community support was astounding. Civic groups, businesses, individuals and churches reached out in support to help the community heal from this tragedy. At 8pm on April 15th, only a week later, on the night before students returned to school, individuals and churches
came together to offer prayers upon the school and to share stories and offer
hope for those effected. I was a part of
the group that organized this meeting and it was here that I met some amazing
people including a Franklin Regional alum, Darren Miller.
As a motivational speaker and endurance athlete, Darren has a heart for helping others and he wanted to show his support by doing what he does well; run. Known as the “FR Project 22” Darren and a group of trained runners wanted to run from Franklin Regional High School to the hospitals that cared for the individuals that were hurt during the April 9th event. This run would cover 22 miles on State Route 22 which showed the community support for the 22 people hurt. Darren’s run took place on April 27th and at the April 15th “Sending Back to School” rally Darren was gathering signatures on the “Flags of Hope” that he and others would carry on the run.
In the weeks and months following these community events, I got to know Darren and hear his story of faith, courage and ambition. Darren’s drive to do great things is an aspiration in which we all should have. In 2013, Darren completed the Oceans Seven Challenge which is a completion of swimming seven straits from around the world including the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Cook Strait in New Zealand and others. Each of these sections of open-water swimming is more than 10km (6.2 miles) which is the equivalent to a swimming marathon. Darren was only the fourth swimmer to ever achieve the goal of swimming all seven straits.
In the weeks and months following these community events, I got to know Darren and hear his story of faith, courage and ambition. Darren’s drive to do great things is an aspiration in which we all should have. In 2013, Darren completed the Oceans Seven Challenge which is a completion of swimming seven straits from around the world including the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Cook Strait in New Zealand and others. Each of these sections of open-water swimming is more than 10km (6.2 miles) which is the equivalent to a swimming marathon. Darren was only the fourth swimmer to ever achieve the goal of swimming all seven straits.
In an effort to raise awareness and monetary support for Children’s
Hospital in Pittsburgh, Darren is using his abilities as an athlete to raise
money through his non-profit, Team Forever.
This organization raises money for the Forever Fund at Children’s
Hospital which helps families pay for medical costs. Darren is not only a great athlete but a
kindhearted philanthropist.
On June 20, 2015 Darren is attempting to make history and
be the first person ever to complete a swimming marathon (6.2 miles) in under 3
hours and in the same day run a land marathon (26.2 miles) also in under 3
hours. There are a few souls that have
tried to complete this feat but none have accomplished it. In the waters and on the land at Presque Isle
State Park I will be offering support for Darren. For the swim I will be paddling a support
kayak and will provide nutrition to Darren as he swims in the open waters of
Lake Erie. Please join me in prayer for
the safety of this great man as he uses his talents and ambition to achieve
what no one has done before. This event is also in honor of Darren’s fiancee’s 11 year old cousin who was recently diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma. Please check out his website at Darren-Miller.com for more information and links to the various
references used are below.
Have a great summer!
Ryan
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
2014 Adventure Racing!
TRAST is alive and well!
New for the 2014 adventure racing season, TRAST has partnered with Performance Kayak and their racing team! We are participating in many adventure races throughout the eastern US and have built a quality team of individuals. Training is well underway and many miles have been put in on both water and land.
Performance Kayak Team's main sponsor is Performance Kayak which is a dealer of Stellar Kayaks and Surf Skis, Riot Kayaks, Kokatat Gear, and Thule Rack Systems. With locations in Greensburg, PA and Brookville, PA an appointment can be made to get you into the proper kayaking equipment. Contact information is located here.
Our race season is looking promising and busy. With many events in Pennsylvania you will be sure to see the team at almost any adventure race in the western half of the state.
A few races that the team will be at:
Upper West Branch Triathlon on May 17, 2014
Millcreek Adventure Race on June 7, 2014
Pittsburgh Adventure Race on August 2, 2014
and the main event! - Laurel Hill Adventure Race on August 3, 2014
Come out to compete, check out Performance Kayak's great selection of gear, or come to cheer on your favorite endurance athlete!
Let the racing season begin!
New for the 2014 adventure racing season, TRAST has partnered with Performance Kayak and their racing team! We are participating in many adventure races throughout the eastern US and have built a quality team of individuals. Training is well underway and many miles have been put in on both water and land.
Performance Kayak Team's main sponsor is Performance Kayak which is a dealer of Stellar Kayaks and Surf Skis, Riot Kayaks, Kokatat Gear, and Thule Rack Systems. With locations in Greensburg, PA and Brookville, PA an appointment can be made to get you into the proper kayaking equipment. Contact information is located here.
Our race season is looking promising and busy. With many events in Pennsylvania you will be sure to see the team at almost any adventure race in the western half of the state.
A few races that the team will be at:
Upper West Branch Triathlon on May 17, 2014
Millcreek Adventure Race on June 7, 2014
Pittsburgh Adventure Race on August 2, 2014
and the main event! - Laurel Hill Adventure Race on August 3, 2014
Come out to compete, check out Performance Kayak's great selection of gear, or come to cheer on your favorite endurance athlete!
Let the racing season begin!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Brookville YMCA Adventure Race 2013
Ryan here:
After a couple days of recovery, Hansel and I are quite excited that we had the opportunity to race in this year's race. Hansel was recruited on a very good relay team that finished in fourth place and he did the 26 mile road bike section, had a small break, and then did the orienteering section for his team. I only learned about the race 2 weeks before the event and was recruited to a team that needed an orienteer runner. The orienteer section was not all that complex as it consisted of a map that was given to you at the start of the leg that had 3 checkpoints and 2 safety checks which had to be located and you had to place a poker chip with your team number in a box at the point. This leg is approximately 11 miles in total.
My training for the race was not even close to being up to par but I knew I could finish. The race started out pretty simply on a township dirt road and turned onto a game lands road. A few miles of scenic double track eventually led to the area where I needed to locate the first checkpoint. I knew exactly where I was but I didn't trust myself. There was a trail that I took that I thought would lead right to the point but I doubted my thought and began to backtrack in order to regroup on my exact position. After wasting some good time trying to convince myself that I knew where I was and losing one of my Nathan bottles from my running belt (lesson learned) another racer was headed to the point that I was initially on track for. We confirmed locations on the map together and after a few minutes of searching the checkpoint was found. As I approached the point, 3 runners were departing from the point and the gentleman that helped me figure out where the box was were already running towards the next point. So 4 miles in and I was just passed by 4 runners and I lost one of my bottles, great.
With 3 bottles left and 4 chips to drop, I chomped on some Gatorade energy chews, gulped some water, and pressed on. The great thing about being passed by a few people is that the trail is rather beat down in parts and you can see where others had been already. I knew going into the race that this wasn't a good plan of attack but these tracks were going where I thought I should be going and was a good mental boost. As I cut across a clearing, not only did the other runners tracks disappear but so did the terrain. I wasn't 100% on my exact location because the topo map wasn't updated for a couple of years and I had to make a decision based on what I could see off in the distance. I could see a valley that was east-to-west orientation and I knew the direction of travel that I just came from, so I took a gamble and headed straight down the rather steep terrain. After twisting/rolling both my ankles I came across another double track game lands road, woohoo!
A few hundred yard jog and I reached one of the two safety checkpoints. Dropped my chip in the box, swigged some water and had another gatorade gummie. Then it was decision time: either cross a creek now (which meant getting wet) and try to shave off a quarter mile or run on an established path this side of creek and try to locate a good creek crossing closer to the point. I decided on the later and ran on the hip-high grass-covered road until I knew I was directly across from the second checkpoint. It was at this time that I assumed that whoever put this checkpoint across the creek was a bit loony because I had to come back across the stream to get to my next point. A cold ford across a rather orange creek led me right to the point and crossing back over at exactly the same spot, I continued running on the "road".
After the water squished out of my shoes I had really started to feel the pains coming on. My feet were starting to really cramp but everything else seemed to be okay. Over half-way through the race I started to feel like I was really getting somewhere and then I realized I was out of water. I had gatorade in one bottle and water in 3 but lost one of the waters so I was desperate for some H2O. A fresh stream from the hillside, that I confirmed with my map had only mountainside origins, was my mid-run sanctuary. I quick refill of my water and I was gone again, sort of. With the foot cramping issue going on, I had really slowed my pace at this point and was running only about 50 percent on good surface. When the terrain changed or mud became prevalent, I was walking. So it took a good while to get to the next safety check.
The safety check was at an intersection of trails and a hard-packed dirt road so I had a 2 minute siesta on the guardrail wondering why I signed up for the race. Yeah I was only on the trail for 8 miles or so but I was getting kinda bored without anyone to talk to. 2 more gatorade gummies, a swig of water, and liquid gatorade chaser was my power for the last bit of the race. A good look at the map and only one more checkpoint to go, I gathered my thoughts and aching feet and started off again. This is that point in the race that you realize that the map is not exactly representative of the surrounding landscape and I had to turn around after a quarter mile jog up a new road.
Finding the appropriate path, I heard some voices coming from the direction of the safety check: sure enough, 2 more runners. I kept ahead of them on a single track trail for over a half mile until the pace of their run/walk caught up to my walk/run. A quick chat on the hoof broke up a mile or so until we came across the area of the last checkpoint. We headed up through a gulch laden with big rocks and small boulders and located the last point together. One of the runners and I headed back down to the trail and the other cut across the woods to try to gain a little distance on us. A few hundred yards down the trail we met up with the other guy again.
The single track worked its way through some beautiful hemlock and hardwood stands and eventually put us out on a dirt road that was our finish. I tagged my teammate that was running the last leg of the race and finally realized I didn't have to run anymore. My feet were hurting and I was quite thirsty. Overall it was a great run and it was an awesome event to be a part of. Next year I have some higher ambitions for myself and this race so let the training begin!
Thanks to my mom and Jody for being our support crew and great job to Hansel for being a hoss and doing 2 legs of the race.
This is the results this year's race.
This is more info on the race.
*Please note that I left out direction of travel and exact data points to maintain some anonymity with the course. You're lucky I told you I crossed the creek and I was on a single track trail. If I like you or you are on my team, we can get more specific, otherwise - good luck!
After a couple days of recovery, Hansel and I are quite excited that we had the opportunity to race in this year's race. Hansel was recruited on a very good relay team that finished in fourth place and he did the 26 mile road bike section, had a small break, and then did the orienteering section for his team. I only learned about the race 2 weeks before the event and was recruited to a team that needed an orienteer runner. The orienteer section was not all that complex as it consisted of a map that was given to you at the start of the leg that had 3 checkpoints and 2 safety checks which had to be located and you had to place a poker chip with your team number in a box at the point. This leg is approximately 11 miles in total.
My training for the race was not even close to being up to par but I knew I could finish. The race started out pretty simply on a township dirt road and turned onto a game lands road. A few miles of scenic double track eventually led to the area where I needed to locate the first checkpoint. I knew exactly where I was but I didn't trust myself. There was a trail that I took that I thought would lead right to the point but I doubted my thought and began to backtrack in order to regroup on my exact position. After wasting some good time trying to convince myself that I knew where I was and losing one of my Nathan bottles from my running belt (lesson learned) another racer was headed to the point that I was initially on track for. We confirmed locations on the map together and after a few minutes of searching the checkpoint was found. As I approached the point, 3 runners were departing from the point and the gentleman that helped me figure out where the box was were already running towards the next point. So 4 miles in and I was just passed by 4 runners and I lost one of my bottles, great.
With 3 bottles left and 4 chips to drop, I chomped on some Gatorade energy chews, gulped some water, and pressed on. The great thing about being passed by a few people is that the trail is rather beat down in parts and you can see where others had been already. I knew going into the race that this wasn't a good plan of attack but these tracks were going where I thought I should be going and was a good mental boost. As I cut across a clearing, not only did the other runners tracks disappear but so did the terrain. I wasn't 100% on my exact location because the topo map wasn't updated for a couple of years and I had to make a decision based on what I could see off in the distance. I could see a valley that was east-to-west orientation and I knew the direction of travel that I just came from, so I took a gamble and headed straight down the rather steep terrain. After twisting/rolling both my ankles I came across another double track game lands road, woohoo!
A few hundred yard jog and I reached one of the two safety checkpoints. Dropped my chip in the box, swigged some water and had another gatorade gummie. Then it was decision time: either cross a creek now (which meant getting wet) and try to shave off a quarter mile or run on an established path this side of creek and try to locate a good creek crossing closer to the point. I decided on the later and ran on the hip-high grass-covered road until I knew I was directly across from the second checkpoint. It was at this time that I assumed that whoever put this checkpoint across the creek was a bit loony because I had to come back across the stream to get to my next point. A cold ford across a rather orange creek led me right to the point and crossing back over at exactly the same spot, I continued running on the "road".
After the water squished out of my shoes I had really started to feel the pains coming on. My feet were starting to really cramp but everything else seemed to be okay. Over half-way through the race I started to feel like I was really getting somewhere and then I realized I was out of water. I had gatorade in one bottle and water in 3 but lost one of the waters so I was desperate for some H2O. A fresh stream from the hillside, that I confirmed with my map had only mountainside origins, was my mid-run sanctuary. I quick refill of my water and I was gone again, sort of. With the foot cramping issue going on, I had really slowed my pace at this point and was running only about 50 percent on good surface. When the terrain changed or mud became prevalent, I was walking. So it took a good while to get to the next safety check.
The safety check was at an intersection of trails and a hard-packed dirt road so I had a 2 minute siesta on the guardrail wondering why I signed up for the race. Yeah I was only on the trail for 8 miles or so but I was getting kinda bored without anyone to talk to. 2 more gatorade gummies, a swig of water, and liquid gatorade chaser was my power for the last bit of the race. A good look at the map and only one more checkpoint to go, I gathered my thoughts and aching feet and started off again. This is that point in the race that you realize that the map is not exactly representative of the surrounding landscape and I had to turn around after a quarter mile jog up a new road.
Finding the appropriate path, I heard some voices coming from the direction of the safety check: sure enough, 2 more runners. I kept ahead of them on a single track trail for over a half mile until the pace of their run/walk caught up to my walk/run. A quick chat on the hoof broke up a mile or so until we came across the area of the last checkpoint. We headed up through a gulch laden with big rocks and small boulders and located the last point together. One of the runners and I headed back down to the trail and the other cut across the woods to try to gain a little distance on us. A few hundred yards down the trail we met up with the other guy again.
The single track worked its way through some beautiful hemlock and hardwood stands and eventually put us out on a dirt road that was our finish. I tagged my teammate that was running the last leg of the race and finally realized I didn't have to run anymore. My feet were hurting and I was quite thirsty. Overall it was a great run and it was an awesome event to be a part of. Next year I have some higher ambitions for myself and this race so let the training begin!
Thanks to my mom and Jody for being our support crew and great job to Hansel for being a hoss and doing 2 legs of the race.
This is the results this year's race.
This is more info on the race.
*Please note that I left out direction of travel and exact data points to maintain some anonymity with the course. You're lucky I told you I crossed the creek and I was on a single track trail. If I like you or you are on my team, we can get more specific, otherwise - good luck!
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