Moreau Half Marathon – A New Trail Race :: Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club

Moreau Half Marathon – A New Trail Race

by Bill Hoffman

Last December I wrote an article about one of my favorite places to run, the trails at Moreau Lake State Park. I first found out about Moreau from the 15K race course, and I have since discovered many more miles of trails there. One of the reasons I write articles about trail running is to encourage others to give it a try. Other places in the country like Colorado are full of trail runners, although there are some trail runners in the Capital District, there could be more.
In addition to writing about trail running, I have decided to host new trail races in the area. Tim Ela, my wife Naomi and I recently formed Mountain Dog Running. Our mission is to build the trail running community in the capital region of New York and beyond. What better place to have our first race than Moreau.
We are super excited to be hosting the first ever Moreau Half. This is a 14 mile race (think baker’s dozen) that will take runners from the beach of Moreau Lake up the “staircase of death” and all the way out to Lake Bonita looping back on the Western Ridge trail with amazing views of the Hudson and ending back at the beach in a loop that will not cross any roads. Along the way runners will gain and lose 2700’ of elevation on beautiful single-track trails with plenty of rocks, roots and fun.
I am looking forward to meeting some incredible people and helping to grow the trail running community in the area. Hope to see you there. I have to say I have never been so excited to not run a race, although if I could host it and run somehow, I certainly would!