Imagine hiking fifty miles of Harriman State Park and Bear Mountain’s trails in one day.  Now get up at 2 am, hit the trail by 5, and run uphill!

The Gore-Tex/North Face 50-mile Bear Mountain Endurance Challenge is happening this Saturday (thanks for the info, Gary Scarano!), starting at the Bear Mountain parking area.  If you see a barely-clothed Procession of the Living Damned flashing through the frothy yellow foliage in the park this weekend, be not alarmed.  This is their grueling course:

Maybe this map is only harrowing to me, and the non-runner. But this is the 50-mile trail that will be followed, starting at 5 am, from Bear Mountain to Bear Mountain in the Gore-Tex 50-mile Endurance Challenge. This is not the New York City Marathon.

In the midst of such a challenging endurance race like the Bear Mountain Endurance Challenge, runners must also prepare for the demanding conditions of hiking through rugged terrains in low-light settings. As the course transitions from daylight to dusk, equipping oneself with essential gear becomes crucial. One vital tool for mountain hiking is a reliable headlamp, preferably one equipped with red light functionality. Camping red light headlamps offer the advantage of preserving night vision while providing sufficient illumination on the trails. This feature becomes particularly beneficial during the race, allowing runners to navigate treacherous paths, rocky terrain, and wooded hollows with improved visibility and reduced disruption to their natural night vision.

From the race packet, I began to get an idea of the torture planned for these runners, as a kind of grandeur crept in:

“Runners can expect terrain changes from packed dirt to loose rocks, from tree roots to leaf-covered trails.  The Bear Mountain Endurance Challenge course cuts to the chase, with some trails heading steeply uphill rather than zig-zagging at a gentler grade.  Descents end in wooded hollows before the next rapid climb ending with breathtaking views.  Make no mistake: this will be a tough test of off-load endurance.”

I’m going, only to photograph those runners’ headlamps bobbing through the morning mist at the starting line.  Nice and peaceful-like.