November 16, 2023 – Raven Rocks Run

Hello Raven Runners!

Last Sunday was a chilly day to start, with frost on the ground at 6am as your volunteers arrived for the race day setup. Luckily it was sunny and that took the edge off as the sun got higher in the sky. Plus the roaring fire pit helped keep the chill at bay until race start.

Raven Rocks 2023 Results

We had 246 runners finish on Sunday – backed by a team of around 40 race volunteers including registration and t-shirt table help, kitchen/food setup, course checkers, timing volunteers, photographers, the utility team, and more. We also could not have put on the race without the help of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation staff — and their fearless leader, Jeff Main. We want to thank the County of Westchester Department of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation for hosting us at the park. The Lewisboro Volunteer Ambulance Corps came to the race to be on standby to help in case of injury.

The race supports the Friends of Trailside Museum and Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. Participants are given the opportunity to join the friends group during registration, and nearly 90 of you took advantage. [You can STILL JOIN the friends group via this link: https://runsignup.com/Race/Donate/NY/CrossRiver/RavenRocksRun] Membership is at any dollar level. The most popular level is the $100 “Wood Turtle” level which gets the member a year long parking pass for the Rez. We raised over $5,600 for the friends group through the membership program on the registration website this year. Thank you Raven Runners, Hikers, and Walkers!

Musical Guests

We also had the two-man band of Casey Stanford (Guitar) and Layne Krulik (Drums) rocking mile 5.5 at Pell Hill in the meadow. Runners heard Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and many other rockin’ tunes as they headed downhill towards the finish around 3/4 mile away. Casey and Layne are 6th graders at John Jay Middle School. Thanks for braving the cold morning – and thanks to their roadies for getting them there! We hope they will come back for a return engagement in the spring and fall!

*The Pell Hill Band: **Casey Stanford** (Guitar) and **Layne Krulik** (Drums)*

Cobweb Crew

The Cobweb Crew is a group of runners that go out well before the race and run the course to check that the markings are still there and everything is set for the race. We are confident in our trail course setting ability, but the whims of four legged (and two legged) creatures can lead to unexpected new paths. So we rely on the cobweb crew for this vital service which helps to keep all raven runners and hikers on course.

Race Highlights

The race had two repeat winners this year: Lindsay Felling (50:36) and Eamonn Sullivan (45:01). Both runners set new Raven Rocks course records! It was Lindsay’s 4th overall win at Raven Rocks and Eamonn’s second win.

Lindsay Felling at Raven Rocks (photo by Carl van der Zandt)

The youngest finishers were a pair of 8-year olds running the race for the first time: Christian Piddington and Wyatt Nable.

The two youngest runners (8 years old each) running along the Raven Rocks trail overlooking the Stone River Ravine in Pound Ridge (Runners are Christian Piddington (8), Julie Piddington, Wyatt Nable (8), and David Nable. (photo by Carl van der Zandt)

All in all a very fun and energetic Sunday. Thank you to all who came, ran, helped, and watched. A great day all around!

….Rob

Photo Gallery for 2023 (and prior years!)

We have a group of volunteer photographers (thank you Carol, Griffin, Carl, and Justin!) who came out to the race to help document the event. Their 2023 photos are available on our permanent gallery website here: https://leathermansloop.smugmug.com/Raven-Rocks-Run/2023

Links to prior years photos (2015-2023) is at this link: https://ravenrocksrun.org/photos/

Lastly – if you have photos YOU’D like to share (and be able to find years later!) post them to the 2023 runner’s upload album gallery using this link: https://leathermansloop.smugmug.com/upload/hQzcqM/2023

Some selected photos from 2023:

There are 63 raven 100k challenge participants reporting their distance results to date.

UPDATE: 19 of these participants have entered enough distance to qualify for a challenge woodallion to date.
If you end the month of November lower than the cutoff (under the 100k mark) unfortunately you will not qualify for a 100k challenge finisher woodallion 🙁 So…. get moving and get those K’s reported ASAP!
The cutoff for submissions is 12/4. The table below shows what will be sent to the custom laser engraving company on 12/5 (distances and badges earned!).
We need to get them the data to print the name and distance customized woodallions — plus the custom badges — so we can get the woodallions to the 100k challenge finishers in a timely manner.

Anyone registered who reaches 100k or higher walking, hiking, or running in November gets a custom Raven Challenge Woodallion suitable for display — and even suitable to hang on holiday decorations!

FINAL TALLY will be made 12/4/23 with the badge claims and distances you and other challenge participants have reported.

If you need the link to claim your badges, click here. If you have new badges to claim, you can submit the form as many times as needed and we will “superscore” your badge claims (i.e. once you claim a badge you don’t need to claim it again on a subsequent form submission).