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Keystone Trails Association's sixth annual Susquehanna Super Hike and Ultra Trail Run will be held on Saturday, September 6, 2014. Registration for KTA's sixth annual Susquehanna Super Hike and Ultra Trail Run will open on February 1, 2014.
This year, we are shaking things up! We have received a lot of feedback and suggestions from our past participants, and have consequently decided to make some dramatic changes to this year's event. Keep reading to learn about some major ways the 2014 experience will be different from past years:
1. We are reversing the hike! Parking, registration, and the Starting Line will all be at Pequea Creek Campground in Pequea, Lancaster County. The event will follow the 2014 course, backwards, with the finish line at Otter Creek Campground.
- This will enable us to start registration a bit later, giving our participants (and volunteers) an extra hour of shut-eye! Instead of a 45-minute-long shuttle ride to the starting line, participants can register at Pequea, and hit the trail just minutes later! A shuttle will be provided from the finish line (Otter Creek Campground) to the parking area at Pequea Creek Campground all afternoon.
- It will also provide an entirely new trail experience for those individuals that have previously completed the Super Hike. If you've ever done an out-and-back hike, you'll know that every rock, tree, hill, root and outlook looks very different on the return leg of your trip! For hikers that have done the Super Hike many times and were not planning to attend in 2014, simply because they would prefer to hike a new course, this is for you! Note: For those of you that enjoy hiking in the same direction each year, and like to be able to beat last year's time, don't worry! We will give you another chance to hike the course in its original direction at some point in the future! In the meantime, you can challenge yourself to set new times (and goals) on the reversed course.
- Finally, the route reversal will ensure that the most difficult and strenuous section of trail is completed early in the morning (when participants are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and the temps are lower) instead of later in the day (when participants are experiencing rubber-legs and unable to avoid the glaring, late-summer sun).
2. Participants will choose one of two options when registering for the Susquehanna Super Hike and Ultra Trail Run:
- Super Hike option: Are you an experienced and fit hiker or trail runner who is not yet ready for an "ultra" event, but who wants a challenge that will test your abilities and push you to go farther, and faster, than you have gone before? Have you considered signing up for KTA's Susquehanna Super Hike and Ultra Trail Run in the past, but were concerned that you hadn't trained to complete a course of that length within the allowed time limits? Would you like to accompany your spouse, child, or friend while they attempt to complete the "Ultra Trail Run" option, but know you are not ready for an almost-30-mile event? Choose the "Super Hike" option, and challenge yourself to complete a 23.4-mile portion of the full course. You will start and end with those choosing the "Ultra Trail Run" options (they will have an additional 6-mile loop around Otter Creek Campground at the end, which you will not do), and you will have the same twelve hours in which to complete the course. This is also a great option for those training to participate in a future ultra trail run, or are considering weekend thru-hiking one or more of our state's long-distance hiking trails.
- Ultra Trail Run option: Are you an experienced trail-runner that has completed previous Super Hikes or other ultra-trail runs, or have completed shorter trail runs and feel that you are ready to go the distance? Is a friend, spouse or child of yours completing the shorter, 23.6-mile, event and you would like to join them, but feel that distance won't be enough to challenge you? Choose the “Ultra Trail Run” option, and push your mind and body to the limits while you attempt to complete 29.6 miles of challenging terrain in twelve hours. This option will follow the same route from Pequea Creek Campground to Otter Creek Campground as the shorter option, starting and ending at the same time and in the same locations, but will also include a 6-mile loop around Otter Creek Campground at the end. Participants that choose this option, then find themselves unable to complete the full 29.6-miles of the Ultra Trail Run, will be able to exit the course when they reach Otter Creek Campground, at the 23.6-mile mark.
3. We are returning to our previous 12-hour time limit. The event will start promptly at 7 AM (at Pequea Creek Campground) and end promptly at 7 PM (at Otter Creek Campground). Maintaining the pace required to complete 29.6 miles in 11.5 hours is extraordinarily difficult, so we are returning to a 12-hour time limit. To ensure the safety of our participants, there will be strictly-enforced cut-off times at each of the event's three official checkpoints, as well as at an additional water station at Otter Creek (prior to Ultra Trail Run participants beginning their final, 6-mile loop), to ensure that no participant remains on the course after nightfall. |