4 May

Riverlands 100 Mile and Relay – iRunFar

[Author’s Note: This article is the fifth in an 11-part series in AJW’s Taproom celebrating under-the-radar races.]

Occurring yearly on the second weekend in May, the Riverlands 100 Mile and Relay runs completely on the rugged and pleasant trails of Androscoggin Riverlands State Park in Turner, Maine.

The state’s first 100 miler, Riverlands consists of 4 25-mile loops and has a 32-hour cutoff. The accompanying relay event does 5 laps on a barely shorter 20-mile loop that teams of 5 have 32 hours to cowl. The event is intentionally small and capped at 80 solo runners and 12 relay teams.

Co-race director Valerie Abradi says, “Our race is small, and over the course of race weekend, every runner turns into our of us. We get to know them by the use of the laps and share of their journeys. Our race is deceptively laborious. The elevation obtain is nothing daunting, nonetheless there’s nothing flat. Our singletrack is definitely New England technical, nonetheless the runners don’t even get loads of a break on the ATV [all-terrain vehicle] sections. It isn’t like a golf cart path, nonetheless rugged, rocky, and crammed with foot-grabbing, toe-stubbing rocks.”

Riverlands 100 Mile and Relay - aid station at night

The low-key vibe on the Riverlands 100 Mile and Relay makes it a community-oriented and distinctive event. All pictures courtesy of Valerie Abradi.

Abradi notes the surroundings on the assistance stations makes the race explicit. “Our assist stations are staffed by path runners who know the terrain and understand what the runners do. Even runners who ought to drop ensure that to go looking out us to say how implausible our assist stations are. Maybe our race is outdated fashion and small, nonetheless we choose it like that!”

Furthermore, Abradi takes pleasure inside the relay event, saying, “We initially added the relay contemplating we’d not get that many solo runners for only a few years. As quickly as we did attain our max, we couldn’t carry ourselves to eliminate the relay. It’s similar to the gateway drug to ultras for lots of, however moreover the longest run or first time working by the use of the night for others. We love the ability and camaraderie the relay runners carry to the event.”

As with all extraordinarily, massive or small, Riverlands has confronted its honest proportion of obstacles. For example, this earlier yr, as typically happens to New England events, a landowner claimed a little bit of the course was on his land and closed it to public use. At the moment, Abradi and the co-race director Mindy Slovinski sprang into movement.

“Through loads of effort on our half and good cooperation from the state, we bought permission to assemble a model new path. It’s truly laborious to make a model new path by the use of the woods the place years of fallen bushes have made a mess of the forest. Fortuitously, Path Monster Working is a loyal group who put the entire sweat and power in to cut, clear, and rake the trail, ending merely in time for the race this yr.”

Furthermore, the spring local weather in northern New England is famously unpredictable. Organizers have confronted snow one yr and 90-plus-degree Fahrenheit temperatures the following.

Riverlands 100 Mile and Relay runner briefing

Runners receive a pre-race briefing from the co-race directors.

Abradi and her group protect their low-key, community-oriented vibe by conserving the race small and involving members of their Path Monster Working membership inside the event. In addition to, they rely intently on their partnership with the native ATV membership.

Abradi says, “We possibly couldn’t stage the race with out the help of the Turner Timberland ATV Membership. Mindy and I went to one among their conferences sooner than we’d even found our race. They’d been so curious and into it! Aside from bringing all our gear to our assist station in the midst of the course, they ferry offers, volunteers, and runners by the use of the entire event. As well as they do the entire path work on the ATV path. Ultimate yr, after we had 5 inches of rain just a few days sooner than the race, they’d been out doing drainage work for us.”

In a day and age the place path shopper groups usually uncover themselves at odds with one another, Abradi and her group have cultivated a sturdy relationship with your complete shopper groups inside the park, and, in consequence, are ready to run a simple, worthwhile event.

The 2024 Riverlands 100 Mile and Relay takes place on May 10 and 11 and is in the meanwhile stuffed to functionality. If a small, grassroots, community-oriented event seems greatest for you in 2025, get “off the radar” and head as a lot as Maine. You obtained’t be disenchanted.

Bottoms up!

AJW’s Beer of the Week

This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Maine Beer Agency in Freeport, Maine.

Mo is a simple and delicious American pale ale brewed inside the conventional customized of early American craft beers. Crisp and barely tart, Mo combines a fruity mouthfeel with a rich, piney finish to hit the entire extreme notes of a well-balanced pale ale.