12/16 update: We are sending out woodallions to all who completed the challenge – some participants purchased shirts which will also be going out.
12/15 update: We received the woodallions from our custom woodallion maker “Raven Tree Works” who we have worked with for the last six Raven 100k challenges. They do great work. No relation to the Raven Rocks Run other than sharing a love of all things raven!
53 of these 59 participants have entered enough distance to qualify for a challenge woodallion to date.
SIX (6) participants have reported SOME distances BUT THEY DID NOT report enough to qualify to receive a 100k challenge woodallion.
over 1,300 distance entries have been made by our 59 challenge participants to date.
over 9,600 kilometers have been walked/hiked/run AND REPORTED by our challengers!
IMPORTANT:
If you end the month of November LOWER than the 100k cutoff (aka under the 100k mark) unfortunately you DID NOT qualify to receive a 100k challenge finisher woodallion 🙁
If you report a whole lot of distance maybe two or three weeks into the challenge this makes you ineligible to compete head to head with others in the challenge for the top 3 recognition. We will still recognize your distances — but you were essentially running a solo race. The others who reported in a timely way were competing in the challenge together.
The CUTOFF FOR BADGE and DISTANCE SUBMISSIONS was THURSDAY 12/4. The table below shows what will be sent to the custom laser engraving company on 12/5 (including distances and badges earned!).
We need to get our custom woodallion engraver (Raven Tree Works) 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 (and who reports their distances!) gets a custom Raven Challenge Woodallion suitable for display — and even suitable to hang on holiday decorations!
FINAL TALLY was cut off and made after the stroke of midnight 12:00am on 12/5/25 with the badge claims and distances you and other challenge participants have reported.We let the engraving company know on 12/5 so you have until 11:59pm on 12/4/25 to update and add.
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 “super score” your badge claims (i.e. once you claim a badge you don’t need to claim it again on a subsequent form submission — but it doesn’t hurt to claim it again if you can’t remember!). 12/5 update – Badge claims are COMPLETE! thank you for entering!
2025 Raven November 100k Challenge Distance and Badge Claims
Source for the distances is here (last imported on date shown at the top of this post). The source will have more up to date distances. Badge claimscan be made here if you have new claims to make. Scroll right --> to see search bar for table
If you haven’t yet signed up for the Raven100k Virtual Challenge, the link to do it is here: https://runsignup.com/ravenrocks. You can add your mileage from earlier in the month no problem.
Next year’s race will be Sunday November 8th, 2026 – as always we plan the race for the weekend after the NYC Marathon!
2025 start line panorama (stitched together 5 photos)
Hello Raven Runners!
Last Sunday was perfect weather for running – the air was cool but not chilly at the start. It warmed up during the race — and everyone was able to hang out after the race comfortably and talk running, chow down on post race food, and make s’mores over the fire pit.
Raven Rocks 2025 Results – these results also have some photos linked if your race bib was visible.
Congratulations to the 264 runners who finished the race on Sunday! The race day was backed by a team of around 40 race volunteers including registration and t-shirt table help,kitchen/food setup, pie picker-upers, course checkers, pre-race course setters, timing volunteers, photographers, parking crew, the utility team, and more.
We also could not have put on the race without the help of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation staff — led by Taro and helped by Mike and Mario (who also ran in the race!), Alex, Jake, Bobby, plus others at the Rez. We also want to thank the County of Westchester Department of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation for hosting us at the park.
The Lewisboro Volunteer Ambulance Corps (below) came to the race to be on standby to help in case of injury.
LVAC Standby Crew at the Raven Rocks Run for the 10th year!
Friends of Trailside Membership is at any dollar level. Give what you can. 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 $4,500 for the friends group through the membership program on the registration website this year. Thank you Raven Runners, Hikers, and Walkers!
Fire Tower Returning!
The Raven Rocks Run was originally called The Fire Tower 10k and was aimed at building awareness and raising money towards the restoration of the Cross River Mountain Fire Tower(check website for photos & videos & history — and to get on the email list!).
It has been amazing watching the progress of the rebuilding efforts accelerate this year. There is a construction site atop the mountain with foundation work well underway. Fire tower pieces are being assembled at the park. We are hopeful for a 2026 return and opening of the tower — rest assured that Raven Rocks Runners will be among the first to hear about it!
Even before the race we had a dedicated group of volunteers and advocates who met with county officials. We talked fire tower topics, logistics, and possibilities.
Tom Cohn — the longest tenured and Chief fire tower volunteer — connected the county with a fire tower restoration specialist. He also found the exact model of fire tower that had been at the park starting in 1926 — which is the one the county ultimately purchased and been has readied for restoration (see photos above and at https://crmfiretower.org).
Musical Guests
We welcomed back “Block D” — the band made up of Casey Stanford (Guitar), Layne Krulik (Drums), and Ellie Tsiropanas (vocals & guitar) who were rocking mile 5.5 at Pell Hill for the third year.
Runners heard Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and many other rockin’ tunes as they headed across Reservation Road towards the finish around 3/4 mile away. The band members currently attend John Jay High School & Middle School. Our thanks to them for coming out to brighten our morning.
“Block D” aka The Pell Hill Band: Casey Stanford (Guitar), Layne Krulik (Drums), Ellie Tsiropanas (Vocals & Guitar).
Cobweb Crew
A small selection of race Volunteers in these two photos
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 unplanned new paths. We rely on the cobweb crew for this vital service — which helps to keep all raven runners and hikers on course.
The Cobweb Crew is comprised of some of the SundayRuns.org crew — trail runners who come out for group runs every Sunday morning at 8am (and other days and times!) to run local (and occasionally more distant) trails.
You can see some of them here early in the morning checking the trail:
We have a group of volunteer photographers(thank you Carol, Mark, John, Griffin, and Rob) who came out to the race to help document the event. Their 2025 photos are available on our permanent gallery website here: https://leathermansloop.smugmug.com/Raven-Rocks-Run/2025
52 of our participants have entered enough distance to qualify for a challenge woodallion!
If you ended the month of November lower than the cutoff (under the 100k mark) unfortunately you did not qualify for a 100k challenge finisher woodallion this year 🙁 … There’s always next year!
The cutoff for submissions was 12/4. The table below shows what was sent to the custom laser engraving company on 12/5 (including distances and badges earned!).
We need to get our custom woodallion engraver (Raven Tree Works) 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 reached 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 was made 12/4/24 with the badge claims and distances you and other challenge participants have reported.
These are the final tallies:
Raven November 100k Challenge 2024 Distance and Badge Claims
Some highlights from the 2024 Raven 100k Challenge include:
Paul Woolley – 1st overall male – 449.2k ••• Jillian Swope – 1st overall female – 327.2k
Kevin Ascher– 2nd overall male – 323.7k ••• Mea Sgaglio – 2nd overall female – 325.7k
Gregory Boland– 3rd overall male – 268.1k ••• Jennifer Kehl – 3rd overall female – 318.0k
Mark Shaner– 4th overall male – 249.2k ••• Katherine Blanque – 4th overall female – 254.6k
William Fraoli – 5th overall male – 243.0k ••• Liz Osterhus – 5th overall female – 253.7k
•••••••
Kevin Ascher– 1st male to 100k ••• Mea Sgaglio – 1st female to 100k
Mark Shaner – 2nd male to 100k ••• Liz Osterhus– 2nd female to 100k
Todd Jonasz – 3rd male to 100k ••• Jennifer Kehl – 3rd female to 100k
•••••
Number of 2024 participants: 52 total – 27 women, 25 men
Total badge types: 17 unique badges
Most total badge types possible for one person to earn this year: 15*
Number of participants who earned the maximum number of 15 badges: 0
Number of badges earned total: 292
Most common badge earned: Bald Eagle badge (44 of 52)
Second most common: Turkey badge and Veteran’s Day badge (43 of 52 for both)
Least common badge earned: Peeter Badge, Raven Rockstar Badge, Full Flock (all three 1 of 52)
Second least common badges: Ultra Raven, Raven Meteor (both 3 of 52)
Number of GPS challenge items hidden at the Rez: 28
Number of GPS challenge badges earned: 26
Number of GPS challenge items still hidden at the park: 2, we will be searching for them during an upcoming SundayRun!
2024 Participant who completed the most Raven Rocks Run 10k courses: Paul Wooley (36 times! Including 5x Raven 10k loops on November 30th to earn the Raven Rockstar Badge).
Number of participants who reached at least 32 Raven Rocks 10k Loop courses completed in November 2024 to earn the most difficult badge of all: The Peeter Badge: 1 of 52
Note: if a participant exceeds 62 Raven Rocks courses in an upcoming year, the Peeter badge gets renamed for them… I don’t know if anyone will ever exceed the record on this.
The Raven Meteor badge is for participants who witness a meteor while running during November. Three of our participants achieved this: Ivan, Chris, and Jillian. Congrats! You get a special meteor flair for your woodallion this year. Note for next year’s participants: The annual Leonid Meteor Shower is in Mid-Nov each year and it is a perfect time for a night run/walk/hike and meteor gazing!
Other new badge ideas that challenge participants have suggested include the Volunteer Badge, the Fowl Weather Badge (run/walk/hike in foul weather to a Raven feature), 1st day flair and last day flair (for run/walk/hike day 1 and day 30 of the month), Coven Badge (run/walk/hike with 13 or more friends). We are open to other badge suggestions as well – ravenrocksrun.org/contact-us
Next year we plan to have the 10th annual Raven Rocks Run 10k Trail Race at 9 a.m. on Sunday, November 9, 2025. We also plan to bring back the Raven 100k Challenge as well for a 6th year. Anyone who signs up for both events at the same time will get a break on the dual registration. In addition to bundle discount, there also will be a super early raven discount when registration opens in January 2025. We appreciate the early support of the race and challenge! And it is one more chance to Join the Friends of Trailside Museum and Ward Pound Ridge Reservation for 2025!
Thanks again for being a part of this event! (This page including any late updates can be found at ravenrocksrun.org)
*the Full Flock badge (10x on the course) supersedes the Ultra Raven badge (5x on the course) which supersedes the Raven Badge (1x on the course).
Check ravenrocksrun.org/photos for links to pictures (from this year and past years) of the Raven 100k Challenge and the Raven Rocks Run.
FINAL:52 of these participants have entered enough distance to qualify for a challenge woodallion to date.
over 1,360 distance entries have been made by our 62 challenge participants to date. Over 9,600 kilometers have been walked/hiked/run AND REPORTED by our challengers!
If you end the month of November LOWER than the 100k cutoff (aka 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! We know you’ve done them!
The CUTOFF FOR SUBMISSIONS is Wednesday 12/4. The table below shows what will be sent to the custom laser engraving company on 12/5 (including distances and badges earned!).
We need to get our custom woodallion engraver (Raven Tree Works) 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 12/4/24 at midnight 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 “super score” your badge claims (i.e. once you claim a badge you don’t need to claim it again on a subsequent form submission — but it doesn’t hurt to claim it again if you can’t remember!).
Raven November 100k Challenge 2024 Distance and Badge Claims
Last Sunday was a bit chilly – there was frost on the ground at 6am as your volunteers arrived for the race day setup. It quickly warmed up as the sun got higher in the sky.
The drought conditions and red flag fire warning prevented us from having a fire pit this year unfortunately. But the s’mores fixings were available raw for anyone who wanted to grab a chocolate bar, graham cracker, or marshmallow post race!
Congratulations to the 286 runners who finished the race on Sunday! The race day was backed by a team of around 40 race volunteers including registration and t-shirt table help, kitchen/food setup, course checkers, timing volunteers, photographers, parking crew, the utility team, and more.
We also could not have put on the race without the help of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation staff — led by Taro Ietaka and helped by Mike Vogt and Mario Rodriguez (who also ran in the race!) plus others at the Rez. We also 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.
LVAC Standby Crew at the Raven Rocks Run for the 9th year!
Friends of Trailside Membership is at any dollar level. Give what you can. 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 $6,000 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 featured the return of the Pell Hill band of Casey Stanford (Guitar) and Layne Krulik (Drums) rocking mile 5.5 at Pell Hill in the meadow next to the “Town Line Tree” for the second year. They were joined this year by vocalist Ellie Tsiropanas.
Runners heard Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and many other rockin’ tunes as they headed (mostly) downhill towards the finish around 3/4 mile away. The band members currently attend John Jay Middle School. Our thanks to them for braving the cold morning — and thanks to their roadies for getting them there! We hope they will come back for another return engagement!
The Pell Hill Band: Casey Stanford (Guitar), Layne Krulik (Drums), Ellie Tsiropanas (Vocals).(Photo by Dean Leggiero)The Pell Hill Band in action – video by Dean Leggiero
Cobweb Crew
The Cobweb Crew pre-ran the 10k course – and some of these folks also were sweeps (photo by Lee Willett).
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 unplanned new paths. We rely on the cobweb crew for this vital service — which helps to keep all raven runners and hikers on course.
The Cobweb Crew is comprised of some of the SundayRuns.org crew — trail runners who come out for group runs every Sunday morning at 8am (and other days and times!) to run local (and occasionally more distant) trails.
Race Highlights
The race had one repeat winner this year and one new winner.
Katie Claiborne (57:17) won for the first time and Eamonn Sullivan (43:24) won for the third time. Both runners set new Raven Rocks course records due to the new slightly longer course due to starting in the grass field rather than the meadow triangle. Though Eamonn’s time was a record even for the standard shorter course.
Katie Claiborne at Michigan Rd 1 mile mark (photo by Rob Cummings)Eamonn Sullivan at Finish line (photo by Rob Cummings)
The youngest finishers were a pair of 9-year olds running the race for the SECOND time: Christian Piddington and Wyatt Nable.
Pell Hill – Mile 5.5. Alexander Grano helped by friends Kimberly and Kevin Condon. This was Alexander’s first trail race (photo by Dean Leggiero).
All in all a very fun and energetic Sunday. Thank you to all who came, ran, helped, and watched. A great day all around!
We have a group of volunteer photographers(thank you Carol, Orion, Mark, Dean, Bill, and Rob) who came out to the race to help document the event. Their 2024 photos are available on our permanent gallery website here: https://leathermansloop.smugmug.com/Raven-Rocks-Run/2024
FINAL UPDATE:61 of our participants have entered enough distance to qualify for a challenge woodallion!
If you ended the month of November lower than the cutoff (aka under the 100k mark) unfortunately you did not qualify for a 100k challenge finisher woodallion 🙁
The cutoff for submissions was Monday 12/4. The table below shows what was sent to the custom laser engraving company on 12/5 (including distances and badges earned!).
We need to get our custom woodallion engraver (Raven Tree Works) 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 was made 12/4/23 with the badge claims and distances you and other challenge participants have reported.
If you have new badges to claim, you can submit the form as many times as needed and we will “super score” your badge claims (i.e. once you claim a badge you don’t need to claim it again on a subsequent form submission — but it doesn’t hurt to claim it again if you can’t remember!).
These are the final tallies:
Some highlights from the 2023 Raven 100k Challenge include:
Paul Woolley – 1st overall male – 532.4k ••• Mea Sgaglio – 1st overall female – 318.0k
Mark Shaner – 2nd overall male – 317.9k ••• Alexandra Heller – 2nd overall female – 306.8k
Kevin Ascher – 3rd overall male – 314.9k ••• Andrea Mindell – 3rd overall female – 301.3k
Jamie Howard – 5th overall male – 300.7k ••• Jill Vincent – 5th overall female – 253.4k
•••••••
Paul Woolley – 1st male to 100k ••• Mea Sgaglio – 1st female to 100k
Mark Shaner – 2nd male to 100k ••• Alexandra Heller – 2nd female to 100k
Jorge Leiriao – 3rd male to 100k ••• Andrea Mindell – 3rd female to 100k
•••••
Number of 2023 participants: 61 total – 33 men, 28 women
Total badge types: 17 unique badges
Most total badge types possible for one person to earn this year: 15*
Number of participants who earned the maximum number of 15 badges: 0
Number of badges earned total: 296
Most common badge earned: Bald Eagle badge (53 of 61)
Second most common: Turkey badge and Veteran’s Day badge (47 of 61 for both)
Least common badge earned: Peeter Badge, Raven Rockstar Badge (both 0 of 61)
Second least common badges: Full Flock, Raven Meteor (both 1 of 61)
Number of GPS challenge items hidden at the Rez: 28
Number of GPS challenge badges earned: 25
Number of GPS challenge items still hidden at the park: 3, we will be searching for them during an upcoming SundayRun!
2023 Participant who completed the most Raven Rocks Run 10k courses: Peeter Muursepp (over 10 times).
Number of participants who reached 32 Raven Rocks 10k Loop courses completed in November 2023 required to earn the most difficult badge of all: The Peeter Badge: 0 of 73
Note: if a participant exceeds 62 Raven Rocks courses in an upcoming year, the Peeter badge gets renamed for them… I don’t know if anyone will ever exceed the record on this.
The Raven Meteor badge is for participants who witness a meteor while running during November. Only one of our runners achieved this: Jamie Howard. Congrats! You get a meteor flair for your woodallion this year. Note for next year’s runners: The annual Leonid Meteor Shower is in Mid-Nov each year and it is a perfect time for a night run and meteor gazing!
Other new badge ideas that challenge participants have suggested include the Volunteer Badge and Raven2Raven badge (run the Raven Rocks courses at the Rez and Rockefeller Park in the same day). Also, the Coyote badge, Naked Raven badge, and Jose Cuervo badge. I still don’t know what the last three proposed badges entail, but I eagerly await the explanations. We are open to other badge suggestions as well – ravenrocksrun.org/contact-us
Next year we plan to have the 9th annual Raven Rocks Run 10k Trail Race at 9 a.m. on Sunday, November 10, 2024. We will also bring back the Raven 100k Challenge as well for a 5th year. Anyone who signs up for both events at the same time will get a break on the dual registration. There also will be a super early raven discount when registration opens in early 2024. We appreciate the early support of the race and challenge!
Thanks again for being a part of this event! (This page including any late updates can be found at ravenrocksrun.org)
*the Full Flock badge (10x on the course) supersedes the Ultra Raven badge (5x on the course) which supersedes the Raven Badge (1x on the course).
Check ravenrocksrun.org/photos for links to pictures (from this year and past years) of the Raven 100k Challenge and the Raven Rocks Run.
Submit your badge achievements/photos/other claims here: https://ravenrocksrun.org/raven-100k-challenge-badge-submission-form/ — you should use this form more than once to update us. If you submit more than once we will “superscore” to keep track of ALL of your badge achievements.
Thank you for signing up and participating in the third annual Raven 100k Challenge this past November 2022.
Your distance, along with the badges you earned, is engraved in your custom woodallion which just entered production December 7 and will be mailed out to you after they are completed. If you want to see the badge descriptions, click here.
The second annual event was a success with 73 runners, hikers, and walkers ranging in age from 14 through 72 completing the challenge. Click here for links to photos contributed by participants during the month.
The Friends group supports the mission of education, conservation, and environmental action through the Trailside Museum and Ward Pound Ridge programs. If you haven’t yet joined as a member for 2023 you can still do it at https://runsignup.com/ravenrocks/donate through December 31, 2022. Membership makes a great gift too!
We are already looking forward to November 2023 for the 4th Raven 100k Challenge – and the 8th Annual Raven Rocks 10k Trail Run. Mark your calendars for November 12, 2023!
Thanks again for your support. If you have any questions or need to get in touch, our email address in ravenrocksrun@gmail.com.
Rob Cummings
Race Director, Raven 100k Challenge and Raven Rocks Run Trail Race
PS: Be sure to check the 2022 Raven 100k Challenge highlights below.
Some highlights from the 2022 Raven 100k Challenge include:
Longest distance covered and reported in November 2022
Most total badge types possible for one person to earn in 2022: 15*
Number of participants who earned the maximum number of 15 badges: 0
Most badges earned in 2022: 13 (Jacob Benesch, remote raven) and Gregory Boland (11)
Number of badges earned total: 347
Most common badge earned: Bald Eagle badge (63 of 73)
Second most common: Turkey badge (60 of 73)
Least common badge earned: Peeter Badge, (0 of 73),
Second least common badges: Raven Rockstar Badge, Full Flock, Raven Meteor (all 1 of 73)
Number of GPS challenge items hidden at the Rez: 30
Number of GPS challenge badges earned: 23
Number of GPS challenge items still hidden at the park: at least 7, we will be searching for them during an upcoming Sunday Run!
2022 Participant who completed the most Raven Rocks Run 10k courses: Jacob Benesch (15 times in a 24 hour period (set September 2022 and recognized because he moved to Seattle the next week)! Jacob is one with the Raven.
Number of participants who reached 32 Raven Rocks 10k Loop courses completed in November 2022 required to earn the most difficult badge of all: The Peeter Badge: 0 of 73
Note: if a participant gets 63 Raven Rocks courses or more in an upcoming year, the Peeter badge gets renamed for them… I don’t know if anyone will ever exceed the record on this.
New Raven Meteor badge this year for participants who witness a meteor while running during November. Only one of our runners achieved this: Gregory Boland. Congrats Greg — You get a unique flair for your woodallion this year. Note for next year’s runners: The annual Leonid Meteor Shower is in Mid-Nov. each year and it is a perfect time for a night run and meteor gazing, sky cover permitting!
The Veteran’s Day “bonus star” badge (run, walk, or hike on 11/11) had 56 of 73 participants gaining this woodallion flair badge!
Other new badge ideas that challenge participants suggested include the Volunteer Badge and Raven2Raven badge (run the Raven Rocks courses at the Rez and Rockefeller Park in the same day). Also, the Coyote badge, Naked Raven badge, and Jose Cuervo badge. I still don’t know what the last three proposed badges entail, but I eagerly await the explanations. We are open to other badge suggestions as well – ravenrocksrun.org/contact-us
We also note achievements and appreciations on the woodallions each year.
Next year we plan to hold the 8th annual Raven Rocks Run 10k Trail Race at 9 a.m. on Sunday, November 12, 2023. We will also bring back the Raven 100k Challenge as well for a 4th year. Anyone who signs up for both events at the same time will get a break on the dual registration. There also will be a super early (bird) raven discount when registration opens in early 2023.
Thanks again for being a part of this event!
*the Full Flock badge (10x on the course) supersedes the Ultra Raven badge (5x on the course) which supersedes the Raven Badge (1x on the course).
Check ravenrocksrun.org/photos for links to pictures (from this year and past years)of the Raven 100k Challenge and the Raven Rocks Run.
