Wow! I loved the Muddy Marathon! I ran the quarter marathon (6.55 miles) I've participated in…read moresimilar trailing races, but this is my far one of my favorites. My first time running the race and it was amazing. I must admit, it was quite difficult with all the inclines (over 1600 of elevation gain and loss), rock climbing, and what seems to be an endless trails of mud (knee high) and swamps, but that made me love the race even more....the challenge. As on their website states, "The best time you ever had running so slow." - right on the money. Don't worry you can rinse of all the mud with the hose provided. Here's more to love about the race: * A nice techinical shirt * A sweet commemorative pint glass for post drink refreshment, BEER! supplied by Cricket Hill Brewery.. * Texas Smokehouse BBQ food (pulled pork), salad, peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, watermelon, oranges, pretzels, Hammer Nutrition...basically you'll be happy and full at the end of the race. * A medal that's a bottle opener?! Yup! No..typo there. One thing I wishd they had more of was water stations. They only had one at 3.25 miles so be prepared or you carry your own. Q:Will I be back next year? A:Hell yeah! I can't wait that I might sign up another race run by NJ Trail Series. Thank you Jen & Rick McNulty!

It's a fun no-thrill running event. I did one of the half marathons over hiking trail terrain in…read moreDecember. It was a very technical course.

I'm not a particularly fit guy, but the 6 mile off road biking/running challenge was a fun time and…read morealso really hard. The obstacles this year were: a maze(crouching/crawling, really easy) a wall climb within a bouncy house(also easy) hurdles(lame, easy) a mini rock climbing wall(kind of tough) a 15 foot rope climbing wall on a bouncy house that had a slide on the other side(little tough starting out, but overall easy) another climbing wall, but on metal(like scaffolding) which was really hard because it was at the end. The final obstacle is the 50 foot mud pit. Yeah, you're gonna get muddy. This is a great time, but you should run a bit beforehand if you haven't, same with biking. It's really off-roading, so don't expect easy paths, either. Dress up, because it's fun. I wore a coconut bra. There's a Red Hook Brewery Beer Garden set up for free beers afterwards. They taste so good after crawling through mud.

I did the NY Muddy Buddy this last weekend and fun as always!…read more It is an approx. 6 mile ride/run race that you do with a partner. One person starts out biking, the other running for a mile. You get to an obstacle, complete it and switch. There's a huge mud pit you have to go through with your partner at the end...and a (free) beer garden at the VERY end which clearly makes it all worth it. :) After moving from CA last year I thought I'd give an east coast Muddy Buddy a try. The course in NY was MUCH less hilly than San Jose which was awesome and running through the woods gives you more cover which is helpful when it's 98 degrees. The negative is that it is much rockier and has many more tree roots which make those legs more difficult. With that said, MB is great because it really does cater to all fitness levels. I think you have to be in reasonably good shape, but definitely not excellent shape to complete it. (There's a "Beast" category for god's sake.) The obstacles were fairly easy but some were hard when your legs are shaky from the bike. First obstacle- balance beam second obstacle- climbing over a wall Third obstacle- crawling under nets Fourth obstacle- going up a wall and sliding down Tips: Definitely use a mtn bike, saw some hybrids/road bikes...not pretty, make sure you find the photographer at the end and make him take a picture of you and your buddy. bring a trash bag to throw muddy clothes in after you "shower" and definitely clothes to change into! If you hang around the beer garden long enough, you can always score more than just two. Just sayin. One helluva event!

A great slice of Americana in upstate NY I stumbled upon this track and museum while visiting…read moreGoshen and found it to be a fun filled stop in my afternoon. While it's an active track z there was no activity the day of my visit. I was able to explore every bit of the facility and truly feel the history of the site of America's oldest horse track! Very well maintained facility with a museum on site. The track is much larger than I thought it would be. I look forward to a future visit where I'll be able to catch a day of racing.

Absolutely Awesome Experience!!!…read more Young or old this place is simply a fun experience to enjoy if you're in the immediate area. If you're a hardcore horse racing enthusiast then no travel distance will keep you from this track, however if you're the average (or below) race track goer and you live in the immediate area you just have to stop in and enjoy one of these race events. Even if this type of thing doesn't interest you, it's actually really fun to attend/watch. It was my first experience going to a race track, never really considered it my "cup of tea" and only visited because my young daughter absolutely loves horses; even taking horse riding lessons. We ventured off to one of these local races and we both loved it. My daughter naturally loved it because of her love for horses and I absolutely enjoyed it and have no real interest in horses or racing but it was SOOO much fun to watch. Crowds go crazy as the horses round the corner toward the finish line and you can't help but get fired up by the contagious crowd cheering! Epic feeling and rush as everyone cheers as horses cross finish line. For a small entrance fee you get to enjoy the races taking any seat you'd like and pretty much all the seats are great; no bad seats (i.e. nose bleeds). Local vendors were present as well for family fun entertainment. Various vendors setup to sell or donate items. This year the local ice cream vendor, Trail Side Treats, was in attendance donating FREE ice cream to attendees which was so awesome of that local vendor to do. Food, drinks and even beer are available for sale at the concession stands. Even if you don't care for this type of event or never even thought you'd be remotely interested, I DARE you to try it because it's really cool. For the cost of entrance skip your morning Starbucks and try this place out. Fun people won't regret trying it while those lame boring folks will simply dislike it just like everything else that keeps their lives boring. Haha! I double dog dare you to visit and try it!

I usually have to pump myself up to go over to Abram Hewitt; even for legit North Jersey hikes,…read moreit's super out of the way (at least 20 minutes from Route 23, with minimal post-hike eating options) and there's no way to avoid having to walk on the shoulder of a busy state highway for at least 15 seconds - and often significantly more if you don't get there before literally two other cars. This particular hike I did on Saturday IS one of my favorites though and a strong recommend. You can see in the attached pictures that despite a dreary day, the optics here are pretty fantastic. You have to earn the view, and when the sun actually decides to show up, it's arguably a top two or three optic in NJ. Yesterday I did about a 7-mile hike along the Bearfort RIdge, from the trailhead on the Warwick Turnpike, up the western side of the Bearfort Ridge Trail before making a left onto the Ernest Walter Trail before connecting up with the almighty AT for a few moments, then hopping onto the blue State Line Trail before reconnecting with Ernest Walter to the Greenwood Lake overlook before going south to hook up again with the Bearfort Ridge Trail (this time on its eastern side) back to the trailhead. The whole journey took about 4 1/2 hours for me, which includes moseying along for a while and a snack break at the overlook. The parking situation is rough; it's a huge reason you can't say this is an unequivocally positive hiking experience. There's a very small parking area on the shoulder of the Warwick Turnpike that can fit three cars. That's it. There's no signage to speak of, so unless you see one or two other cars there for context, it's not even clear you're allowed to park there for a few hours. Further down Warwick going toward Greenwood Lake, there's a bigger shoulder on the other side of the road that can probably fit 10 more cars but again, no signage and parking there requires you to walk alongside Warwick for a solid few minutes with not a lot of space to avoid vehicular traffic. Not pleasant, and I think they probably could figure out a way to make this much more hospitable for hikers. There's also no port-a-potty at any point in this hike, so I'd stop at the Dunkin or something in the downtown West Milford area beforehand. This is definitely not an easy hike, but the toughest part to me is the first half hour, where you're scaling up the ridge. I prefer to get the rough stuff over at the beginning as a warmup, but it's a fairly steep climb. Once up on the ridge, you're not really doing much more in the way of significant inclines (though there is more up and down, especially on the yellow trail where you have some legit scrambling), but the terrain is VERY rocky/rough, which is to be expected. It's a lot of outcroppings and hopping from one rock formation to the next. The final 2.5 miles or so on the Bearfort is comparatively easy; it's basically just a woods road, and the most annoying part of it was the bug situation, which was nastier than usual with some recent rain. I had some sweat-resistant Off, but it barely made a dent. By far the best part of this hike is the overlook area on yellow that has viewpoints going up and down the length of Greenwood Lake. The eastern side where Sterling State Forest is has some decent eye candy as well, but this is the gold standard because there's minimal foliage on the rock outcroppings; you can just on the boulders and see everything in front of you. There's no way to get up there without doing the work so it tends not to be as crowded as some of the nearby vistas in the area; an added bonus. The trail maintenance and markings are very solid and easy to find for the most part; they were either freshly painted on rocks/trees or actual physical markers nailed down (there's probably an official term for those). The blue trail has a few issues where it's super easy to lose your way because there's more than one possible option to turn onto; an extra rock cairn or two could go a long way here. Unfortunately due to the weather the canine chum situation was nonexistent, and so were the wildlife sightings. I saw/heard a few squirrels, but nothing to write home about. If this one is on your list, I'd recommend getting there early so you're literally one of the first three cars. Otherwise, your warmup is going to consist of exhaust fumes and sadness. Very cool hike though if you can make the time.

I did the Surprise Lake loop in Abram S. Hewitt State Forest this past weekend. I would say this…read morewas a intermediate level hike, there was a lot of rock scrambling. Nothing too crazy, but a few spots were a little tricky. The hike offered some challenges because of the torrential rains the previous day. The rocks were extremely slippery at some points. We carpooled to the parking lot opposite the marina. The parking lot can accommodate probably 10 cars. There was one porta potty at the parking lot, no other facilities. We started with the blue trail, followed it up to the yellow trail on the left. From yellow, we moved on to a portion of the Appalachian trail then backtracked to reach the blue all the way to the parking lot. The hike offers some great views of the Greenwood lake and the surrounding peaks and valleys from the top of the Bearfort mountain. We traversed the ridge line and arrived at the Surprise Lake where we took a break for lunch. Total distance covered was about 5 miles. We didn't spot any bears or snakes while hiking, but kept an eye out just the same as they are supposed to be common in the area. A good pair of hiking shoes will be useful on this hike, be careful while scrambling over the rocks if you're wearing sneakers. As always, carry sunscreen and map of the trail. Hiking map:http://www.nynjtc.org/files/u1/PettyHJH_chp24-SurpriseLakeLoop.pdf

The 2011 2nd Annual Running for Answers 5K run/walk presented by the Satanoff Agency of Nationwide…read moreInsurance is an event for everyone. Run, walk, jog, sprint or skip a 5K in the beautiful Japanese Gardens of Fairmount Park. If your legs are still too little for a 5K join the Kids Fun Run and get a bag of goodies for going to distance. Join over 350 participants and teams in celebrating a day of inspiration, joy and fun - all in the name of research for Desmoid Tumors. Register today at www.runningforanswers.com The Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation (DTRF), www.dtrf.org, seeks to advance the science related to desmoid tumors, by: * Funding research related to the diagnosis and treatment of desmoid tumors; * Facilitating and enhancing the dialogue among members of the medical and scientific communities about research related to desmoid tumors; * Providing informational support for desmoid tumor patients and their families and friends, and heightening awareness of desmoid tumor diagnosis and treatment. Reviews for "Running for Answers 2010": "Great all around fun, event, staff, participants and cause. Recommend it to everyone and would DEFINITELY do it again!!" ~ Chad S. "It was very well organized, the course was lovely and it was a beautiful day. I hope this will become an annual event. Wonderful folks who put this together! Great cause!" ~ Lynne H. "The Running for answers race and corresponding events provided me with a chance to learn more about, and help raise money for, a tremendous organization that has a great cause behind it, Desmoid Tumor Research. The event also gave me an excuse to catch up with family and friends and put together a team of people that I am closest with to run together. The experience of participating is something that I will never forget and I'd suggest that most participants would say the same. If you're even remotely thinking about getting involved, Just do it! You won't regret your decision." ~ Ryan K.

This was a great short hike. A bit challenging at the beginning, but overall worth the beautiful…read moreviews. We typically come here on Friday nights for sunset hikes. It is fairly quiet at that time. This trail gets packed on weekends.

A fairly quick 1-2hr in-and-out hike that is mostly steeped unending incline for 3/4s of the way up…read moreand eventually levels out a bit more as you get closer to the peak. Mostly rocky terrain with a good amount of shade. Not recommended for inexperienced hikers. Peak view is quite nice with lots of picture taking areas and rocks to have lunch on. Not too crowded on a Saturday morning. Parking is simply on the side of the road when/if available.

This Barn is lovely! My family had a wonderful time from beginning to end. I had been looking for…read moresomewhere to take a trail ride for awhile since I remembered how much fun it was when I was a kid and I wanted my kids to have the same fun I did. My friends told me about this place after I heard their story of the great time they had with their family on the trail. We scheduled our trail ride with ease and then showed up early as recommended. My husband, my two girls, and myself had a private trail ride, just us and the guides! Our guides were so engaging and were truly a delight. They knew about the trails and the area as well as could name every horse that my youngest pointed to in the fields we passed. The ride was so picturesque and peaceful, the trail was very well maintained, as was the entire property. The horses sure seemed happy! My eldest wanted to buy her horse she loved him so much. All the horses we encountered were calm, gentle, and very friendly. I kept hearing all about the horses and which was their favorite the entire car ride home and around the house for the next few days. I would for sure recommend this barn for trail rides. There were no negatives in our experience and we are planning on scheduling another trail ride once the girls are out of school, maybe even sending them to the summer camp that this barn holds. If you want to have a great time out in nature I recommend this place wholeheartedly.

I am a horse boarder. Overall facility is run down. Owner thinks that her farm is the only facility…read morewithin 100 miles. Infested with rats. They travel in packs. After 6 months, Homeymoon was over and we were treated as lowlifes. I don't understand. My wife and I are decent people. I am retired Army. You would think that an owner would have better business sense, knowing how to handle customer service after so many decades. She has NONE. We didn't know that our horse was overdue for vaccinations. OK. No prob. Fix it. Right? We were ordered to remove our horse if it didn't get done. ASAP. That simple. No loyalty, teamwork, or sympathy. Owner's arrogance leads me to believe she is on medication for something. Likely an alcoholic. There are very few clients. Very few. Almost none. It's run like a concentration camp. The only good facet is that there are very large fields, where horses can live their lives naturally. We removed our horse from this facility at 7 am. She had a car lined up so that we could not get out, over a $144 due balance. We can now live in peace.

Crazy hike! This is definitely a difficult level hike. Easy in the beginning but gets tough towards…read morethe middle. A lot of rocks, Rock climbing and sliding down rocks. Took my group about 5 hours to finish the whole trail. I recommend starting this hike early so you can finish before the sun goes down. I got stuck in the pitch black, i was prepared and had flashlights. Would do the hike over again.

Medium level hike with great scenery. Not much elevation but part of the trail is rocky. Wear your…read morehiking shoes instead of sneakers, otherwise you will get a foot massage like I did today =) It's a good 3-4hours hike. Parking lot is 50 meters away from the entrance. Hiking might require hands at some points but overall it's smooth and agreeable. Following white trail, then at the crossing of white trail and yellow trail (2.5hours hike), you will enjoy the great view from the top of the mountain. Then follow the yellow trial for 30mins, surprise lake is right in front of you. It's surrounded by the forests with the branches of the trees touching the water. A soft breeze from the lake is very refreshing after a long hot hike. Follow the orange trail, you will get to the entrance nicely and easily. Def worth a visit if you like hiking.