Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run

04/26/2026

Attention runners, we have gotten reports of creepy dolls back on the course. We also found a pile of fur with no sign of the animal that used to wear it. Probably no connection, but in the spirit of full disclosure we thought you should know

Note: this is on the 70-mile course. Creepy dolls have not historically been an issue for 30-milers and 1/2 marathoners, as far as we know

04/19/2026

Congratulations to Andy Garrison for being recognized by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference with the Raymond Torrey Lifetime Achievement Award, presented here with a beautiful plaque (created and donated by Kim Levinsky) by former recipient John Magerlein and volunteer manager Katie Kourakos. Andy is a legend in the trail community for the work he's done on the Long Path, which he fell in love with while hiking it with his son around 20 years ago. Since then he's worked as a maintainer and chain sawyer, helped build the Shawangunk Ridge Trail and the Long Path reroute on Romer Mountain, and been instrumental negotiating several land parcel acquisitions and easements which have strengthened and permanently preserved the the trail in many sections, as well as significantly reducing road walk sections. He's also been a huge catalyst for use of the trail, creating the Friends of the Long Path facebook group, and constantly reaching out to thru-hikers, thru-runners, and section-hikers with information and advice., including myself back in 2013 when I thru-ran the trail.

Raymond Torrey was a big deal back in the day, founding the Trail Conference, creating a hiking community through his column "The Long Brown Path" in the New York Post, standing up to Robert Moses to protect sensitive lands in Long Island from overdevelopment, and promoting the idea of the Long Path and documenting the route, which would allow Trail Conference volunteers to begin building it years later.

Today Andy is the senior volunteer in charge of the Long Path and actively working on multiple projects to improve and promote the trail, including a recent 100+acre transaction near the town of Middleburgh. You might encounter him running on the trails or at a race, as he is an avid trail and ultra-runner, having completed iconic races like Manitou's Revenge Ultramarathon (rumor has it he's signed up for the Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run)

Congrats, Andy!

02/08/2026

Hey SRT runners, here's another Run Wild-sponsored training run coming up Saturday February 14 at 9:00 am at the Peekskill area of Minnewaska State Park, which is, incidentally, where the 1/2 marathon SRT division starts. If you have questions, post a comment or send a message to Cat's Tail.

Have fun in the snow -- Spring is surely almost just around the corner

01/25/2026

Hey everyone, we had a great time at the January 24 SRT Training Run, timed with exquisite precision to be the day before the snow storm, instead of during it. A couple of us braved the cold temps and had a blast (I guess everyone else was out buying bread and milk!). Bill McGovern and I did 9 miles in soft snow, making it from the parking lot half way up South Gulley and back, which was actually a lot of work. Beautiful day in the Gunks! Stay warm and enjoy the snow today, we'll get to work on finding a date for a February outing.

More info on the race at www.runwildhv.org/srt

12/21/2025

Fun time at the SRT training run yesterday! We had a nice group, mostly dry trails, got a chance to meet the local junkyard dogs (they were friendly - sort of), and enjoyed clear sunny views of the Catskills and Bashakill and even saw some gliders getting towed into the sky!

How about Saturday January 24 for our next training run?

Seeing as you can never be strong enough on the hills, we were thinking it might be time to hammer out some South Gully repeats -- or do people want to see some other parts of the course? Let us know!

11/29/2025

A small band of us ventured forth for the first SRT Training run of this cycle, on a 13-mile round trip to Verkeerderkill Falls -- which ten years of SRT runners helped preserve! It was chilly and breezy up there on the ridge, but the 100-mile views did not disappoint, including way off in the south the Monument Tower in High Point State Park, no bigger than a needle, where the 70-milers start - Wild! The Shawangunk Ridgeline is truly a weird place (in a good way) with glacially polished conglomerate slabs and stunted pitch pine - unlike any other northeastern landscape/ecosystem or any other place that any of us has ever seen.

Stay tuned for future training runs. And don't forget to take advantage of early bird discounts (think ravens and turkey vultures) before prices go up on 1/1

11/26/2025

Go back in time and imagine passing travelers waiting on the train platform as you complete the final half mile of the Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run.

Join us next September for one of the most exciting "rides" you'll ever take. 70M 30M 13.1M

Register here
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=130108

Rosendale Trestle and Train Station, circa 1875

10/24/2025

Hey runners! We're super excited to announce that OSI has acquired the land surrounding Verkeerderkill Falls, ensuring the permanent protection of this iconic 200-foot waterfall which was until recently owned by private landowners and thus at risk of being closed to the public at any time. In due course, OSI will turn the land over to the State to add to Sam's Point/Minnewaska.

Run Wild made an important contribution to this acquisition -- we contributed $205,000, making up nearly half of the total cost. This money came from registration fees from the SRT, Fabulous Fahnestock, Manitou's, and our other events, plus generous donations from runners including many who've participated in the SRT Run, where the trail crosses the top of the falls, as you 70-milers and 30-milers are well aware.

We are really thrilled about this, since the whole point of the SRT Run was to celebrate and bring awareness to the amazing land conservation in the Shawangunks, and to make a contribution, too.

Thank you to everyone who's participated in the run, supported it, or made a donation.

Here's a link to a Times Union article entitled, "Trail runners help preserve iconic Shawangunk waterfall -- Open Space Institute and Run Wild have secured permanent protection for Verkeerderkill Falls"

https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/outdoors/article/verkeerderkill-falls-shawangunks-osi-run-wild-21110109.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGltZXN1bmlvbi5jb20vaHVkc29udmFsbGV5L291dGRvb3JzL2FydGljbGUvdmVya2VlcmRlcmtpbGwtZmFsbHMtc2hhd2FuZ3Vua3Mtb3NpLXJ1bi13aWxkLTIxMTEwMTA5LnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTc2MTE0MzUzNDUzOA%3D%3D&rid=YmU4YmJmMGQtN2I4NS00YzZhLTg2ZWYtODY3YmY3M2YzMmRm&sharecount=MQ%3D%3D

Also, we are working on other projects. If you like this kind of work, please support us -->https://www.gofundme.com/f/run-wild-mission

Photo credit: Steve Aaron Photography

10/05/2025

What the cool kids are wearing....

Steve, Michelle, and I all showed up to a Catskill 3500 Club hike up Windham coincidentally wearing our favorite shirt

By the way, registration is open for 2026!

www.runwildhv.org/srt

09/17/2025

https://www.irunfar.com/this-week-in-running-september-15-2025/

This Week in Running’s trail and ultra recap for September 15, 2025.