The Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect

A few years back, there was a lot of hype at work about two running events held in Pennsylvania that were huge, huge attractions for out-of-state travelers. Our tourism office liked to help promote both because of that aspect.  Both events would sell out almost as quickly as registration opened.  This winter I decided to do one of them and registered:  The Hyner View Challenge.  It's 16 miles of trail with some breathtaking view.  Rick Fesler won it in 2010 and Chrissy Bohensky finished in one of the top spots for the girls too.   The other is the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect.  Last year it sold out in 48 hours. Two years ago it took three weeks.   This year, it took only 90 minutes.  It's THAT popular.  950 entries is the cap and they were gone in an hour and half.   The race organizer claims "it will make a hiker out of the best runners" in an article in Trail Runner magazine.   It's 26 miles of singletrack, stream crossings, over 5,000 feet of elevation gain, steep mountains, boulder fields, cliffs, and typical central Pennsylvania mountainous scenery and terrain.  I let fate call the shots and sat down at the computer yesterday and said, "self, lets see if we can get in on registration for the Mega.  If I can - awesome!  If I can't, oh well.  Whatever happens was meant to be."   

I got registered.   I'm one of the lucky 950 who will be boulder climbing in Lock Haven on September 29, 2012.  I was so darn excited that I got in that I ran over to the mountain and climbed the gas pipeline trail (S.T.E.E.P.  for those of you who know Wigwam in Michaux, it's similar to that).  It was exhilarating.  There's nothing like the mountains for stress relief.  They truly are magnificent.  Let the training begin!