Triple Dam.
Nice course through rolling hills with water views.
Good weather.
Best snacks of all the races. The honey energy gels. -Emily C
The Sprouty 5k. My favorite moment was watching my son race for the first time ever and finish 6th overall. He is much faster than me! Also I loved that it took place in Sharon, VT because my name is Sharon. -Sharon M
Moosalamoo Ultra: It was a super laid-back scene on a beautiful course. The trails were a nice mix of rugged terrain, some dreamy singletrack, and a thigh-high swamp crossing to keep it spicy! Highly recommended! -Kristina S
My favorite race of 2025 was XTerra New Jersey Trail Marathon. I know what you’re thinking: “New Jersey??? Your favorite race of the entirety of 2025 was in New Jersey? And you live in a really cool state and next door to another really cool state, both with really awesome trails? Dude, you’re whacked!” Those are all fair statements.
This race was at Wawayanda State Park, which is the “hilly” part of New Jersey. And this state park is pretty rad! It’s big, has a nice lake in it (perfect for post-race soaking and clean-up), and its trail network is quite incredible (not AT, or Greens, or White incredible, but much more so than one would think for NJ incredible).
Regardless of whether or not I’ve actually sold you on New Jersey, what really made XTerra New Jersey Trail Marathon my favorite 2025 race was Kristina, my wife (and one of our co-presidents). I got to run the entire race, all 26 miles and 385 yards, with her! It was the first time in our dozen years together that we had ever run a race together. And it was AWESOME!! I asked her about 15 minutes before the start if she’d mind if I ran with her, assuring her that I’d let her set the pace the entire way…and she agreed! We’d run much longer adventure runs together, but those are pretty relaxed, and things change once people pin a number on their shirt. But we had fun, made some friends, chatted, ran in silence, and just genuinely enjoyed each other’s company for 5 hours, 23 minutes, and 43 seconds. And it was wonderful.
Thank you, Kristina, for the super fun race date! – Sean M (p.s. — my second favorite was The Eastern States 20 miler, a super fun DDT – Dudes Day Trip – with Ryan Scelza, trip organizer and chauffeur, William Ren, young buck who’s always up for a good race, and Jim Westrich, the old wise one and beer connoisseur. It’s always a fun day when I get to join these 3 dudes, and Eastern States was no exception. We got to run 20 in-your-face windy miles along the coast from ME to NH, then played along the way home with a solid stop at Rockingham Brewing for beers and burgers. I’m looking forward to more DDTs in 2026! – Sean M
Mt. Ascutney Vertical Backyard was my favorite race this year! It was my first backyard ultra, and I fully fully loved the experience. Particularly, I enjoyed the camaraderie found in a community of like-minded people who were all out with me on every yard. I think this is even heightened for this course specifically, where walking is a necessity and thus you get to spend a significant portion of each lap with the people around you. Highly recommend to anyone who’s looking for a cool event to do next year. The term “Backyard Ultra” can maybe sound intimidating, but really I find it just means you get to choose a lot of your own adventure in terms of all the planning, setting your own limits, and how you’re going to approach yard strategy, etc. – William R