Friday, November 7, 2014

Friends with Benefits: Trail Whippass?!

Trail Whippass logo, ultramarathon, run, running, marathon
 Run Careless, Run Free!


So I started running ultramarathons about two years ago, around the same time I went vegan; vegan/ultrarunner, a very small subsection of the community to say the least.  So it was really exciting when I was invited by Kat Bermudez (a fellow vegan/ultrarunner) to be a part of a new trail running ultramarathon team she was starting, along with Dylan Armanjani, called the Trail Whippass.  A crazy group of runners from the Greater New York City area interested in running ultramarathons and finding trails in and around New York City. 

Now we are not your typical running team, no fees, no hierarchies, really it's very similar to the ethos of the ultra community, all are equal and everybody is celebrated for even showing up and trying to do the crazy things we are aspiring to do.  There are of course many bassass ultrarunners who serve to inspire the newbies like myself, but it's all done with a modicum of humility and folks are always willing to help out and share what they know.

Since group members are scatter throughout the five boroughs of New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and even Germany, most of our interaction happens on Facebook, but often we meet up at local races to run together and support each other in whatever way necessary.  I met up with folks for the first time in person at the New Jersey Trail Series Ultra Festival in March of this year where I was given my official Trail Whippass jersey.

New Jersey Trail Series Ultra Festival, ultramarathon, marathon, run
NJ Ultra Fest


 Since then I have met more of the group members at the North Face Endurance Challenge at Bear Mountain, and a handful of us even traveled up to the Berkshires and ran the inaugural Vegan Power 50K this summer.


Vegan Power 50K, ultramarathon, marathon, race, run
Vegan Power 50K

Vegan Power 50K, ultramarathon, marathon, race, run
Vegan Power 50K

This group has taken what can be a very isolated experience, training for and running long distance races, and added a level of community.  I'm making new friends and learning a lot, but also being reminded not to take this thing too seriously.



Trail Whippass family dinner, Spice, vegan, ultramarathon, marathon, run
Trail Whippass Family Dinner

Cheers! 


Also, here's an article written about us in Trail Runner magazine.







1 comment:

  1. What a great group to share your passion with one another. Sounds like fun! I would love to get more into distance running but finding people to run with is always the challenge. -L

    ReplyDelete