Young nabs another top 10 finish at his 10th Escarpment Trail Race

Most people are happy if they can finish the very challenging Escarpment 30K Trail Run in upstate New York once. Some finish one and never come back. According to the race web site, "This single track trail crosses no roads, has total elevation changes of nearly 10,000 feet, and requires all aid to be backpacked in by volunteers. This is not for your average runner but for the runner who trains 12 months a year, and has spent years building a base and gaining long distance experience. Therefore, qualifying standards are required to insure that all participants have experience with endurance events and have a reasonable chance of completing the course within 6 hours."

But not one to be deterred by a rugged course, Mr. Young this year finished his 10th Escarpment, amassing one of the most impressive lists of finishes in the race’s storied history.

Unlike most years when the challenge is the extreme heat, this year, the challenge was water—lots of it. According to the race director’s report, “This year's event was highlighted by incredible electrical storms that for all of the runners aside from some of the early leaders, got dumped upon with rain, hail, and near lightning strikes.”

But true to form, Mr. Young pushed through it and finished 8th overall and third master. “It’s hard to believe I've finished 10 of these now,” he says. “It’s my longest streak at any one race. This year there were extremely wet conditions. I feel bad for people finishing after me as it thundered, lightning and hailed on them. I'll get my 200 mile shirt next year.”