2019 Wrap Up
What an epic year 2019 turned out be for the TWBK community. We’ve run, we’ve grown, we’ve raced, and we’ve spent a heck of a lot of time on trails. Looking back on all of the adventures of 2019, we are super grateful for all of our people and can’t wait to see what a new decade has in store for us.
We started the year with many trips to New Jersey’s South Mountain in preparation for Febapple Frozen Fifty. We showed up in full force to kick off the new year, with numerous runners tackling each of the distance options. We continue the streak of TWBK winning the 50 mile race, with Elise taking the W in her 50 mile debut.
After the worst of winter weather passed, we ventured to Bear Mountain for a series of three training runs on the North Face Bear Mountain race course. At the North Face race series, some of our runners completed their first ultras, while others used the races as training runs for longer distances later in the year.
In the spring, we also traveled to Long Island, where Trisha and Olivia completed Paumanok 70K. Olivia placed second, and Trisha completed this following a 30 mile long run the day prior in preparation for a 48 hour race. Elise served as the chip sandwich chef.
In May, we went back to NJ for 3 Days at the Fair at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, where Trisha competed in the 48 hour race and Olivia took on the 24 hour one. It was both of these ladies first time competing in timed events. Trisha completed a staggering 144 miles. Olivia ran 103 miles, setting a new PR at the 100 mile distance, and also won the 24 hour race.
June turned out to be very busy month for us. Elise and Olivia fell in love with the trails and waterfalls of Ithaca at Cayuga 50. Sara drove all the way from Virginia to make chip sandwiches and mix Tailwind for these ladies. The following weekend, TWBK partnered with Discover Outdoors Foundation, which provides leadership oriented outdoor education programs for under-resourced NYC youth. We raised over $1,500 and met some of the wonderful kids who participate in this program on a day trip to Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks.
Just six days later, Elise, Trisha, Olivia, Brooke and Anna traveled to New Hampshire, where they completed the very rugged 18-mile Presidential Traverse. Tired yet? Well the week after this, they were on the move again. This time, we traveled north to Troy for a day of running and recovery with Crows Massage and then a day of exploring the trails of Catskills.
July kicked off the 100 mile racing season for TWBK. Elise didn’t let the record breaking heat wave take her down, completing her first 100 miler at Vermont 100 on her 28th birthday. Trisha, Olivia, Jes and Ed served as her essential crew team, traveling all over Vermont to prepare cold oatmeal and deliver ice pops. Chip sandwiches did not make the menu this time around unfortunately. That is something to work on for her next 100 miler.
The following month, Trisha and John completed Twisted Branch 100K. Trisha finished in 4th place, and John finished his longest distance race to date. Cayla and Trish’s family played the pivotal roles as the crew. That same day, Rhonda and Tiffany were trekking through the high mountains of Colorado at Leadville 100 and crossed the finish line just minutes apart. These ladies were supported by Olivia, Nicole, Stephen and other members of our TWBK community.
In September, Olivia took on her hardest challenge yet. On Friday the 13th, Olivia started her 33 hour trek through the Colorado Rockies at Run Rabbit Run 100. Elise, Sara and Alli were all in attendance to pace and crew the trail mom of moms. Coming off the crew and pace life, Sara then tackled her first ultra of the year and second 50 miler at Sangre de Cristo Ultras in Colorado. Tiffany also took on a challenge of her own just a month after Leadville, winning TOR 30K. Stephen also finished TOR 330K (about 205 miles), which is one of the hardest ultras on earth.
TWBK’s final fall 100 miler outing occurred at Javelina Jundred at the end of October, where Jes completed her fifth 100 miler. Elise, Trisha and Stef served as her crew team.
The following weekend, Trisha, John, Elise, Cayla, Drew and several others were on the move again, traveling to Black Rock Forest for the 25k trail and 10k carriage road races. TWBK proved to be strong competitors at this race, with John, Elise and Drew placing in the top 10 (Elise placed 2nd in the females race) and Trisha winning the 12k carriage road race. More importantly, Cayla finished her first trail race there!
A few weeks after this, Trisha and Brooke ventured to Madeira, Portugal, where they completed over 90 miles split between two days traversing the island.
In between all of this racing and adventuring, TWBK hosted numerous group runs on the trails of South Mountain, Prospect Park and Central Park and ate an endless amount of croissants at Liv Breads.
In 2019, we expanded our leadership roles in response to an increase in the size our group runs. Just a couple of years ago, it was a one woman show with Olivia directing everything. Now we have several ladies serving as group leaders at each run and helping plan our events.
Turning to the new year, while we all have our own big running goals, we also have collective ones. TWBK has become a home for so many of us, and we want to continue to foster this. The creation of this website is one step in that direction. We hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start, and we are excited for all that we have in store for the trail running community.
Cheers to more trails in 2020!
TWBK
