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Eastern States 100 Pre-Race Report 2026

Eastern States 100 Pre-Race Report 2026

Published by Patrick Durante on August 4, 2026

Well, here I am again, back another year at Eastern States. PA’s best, and biggest 100 mile race. A year has past since the dreaded “DFL”. So what did I learn? What changed in my process and training to avoid it this year? Here’s a few things that are different than last years training build up.

What I did different?

World’s End, Hyner, and Breakneck got me ready for ES100
  1. Higher race volume of terrain specific training.
  2. (Breakneck, Hyner, and Worlds End). If you are training for other races your overall fitness and readiness to take on ES will be at a higher level. Last year I didn’t race as much except for a Last Person Standing and pacing my friend at Western States. Races are a great way to build fitness if you can work them into your schedule. The 2 other races in the triple crown series have the same type of vertical gain/terrain as ES100.
  3. Racing is its own microcosm, the way it feels, the stress, and how to handle different situations that arise. You can’t get that in training and why its best to have a test event before your A race.
  4. Higher volume of running in the heat (mid day running) with back-to-back training days. ES100 is basically two very long days of running. Running back-to-back days teaches the legs how to run fatigued and tired. I made sure to have a lot of double days of climbing.
  5. Gear specific training with vest/poles – I brought my gear I would be wearing and using on a bunch of runs, I didn’t do that too much last year.
  6. Large amount of uninterrupted training blocks. Last year we went on two short vacations and I traveled to Western States before the race. Total training volume and climbing was decreased before Es100 in 2025, not this time.
Highlight of this year – Trail Classic with my son!

What I would like to happen this year?

  1. Foot care is paramount.
    • This year, I have made huge efforts to make sure my feet stay happy and healthy. I had a massive amount of damage to my feet in last years ES100, I even say in the video as I come into this one aid station that I need to get my feet fixed. This is what slowed me to a CRAWL last year. Shoes that I should have broke in more, poor timing with a shoe change, and a whole host of issues like that caused the foot problems. I plan to wear double socks to cut down on the friction from the rocky terrain.
  2. Custom Gels and Aid Stations
    • Last year, I spent TOO much time at the amazing aid stations, mostly taking in the amazing buffet of food. I need to be mindful of getting in and out by just loading my pockets and keep moving. I won’t waste so much time this year. It’s hard to make up that time running when its easier to be more efficient at aid stations.
  3. I plan to put my poles away when I can and RUN. The power line trail, and many sections are very runnable.
I practiced putting my poles away to focus on running more.

Goal of the race?

Enjoying the course, and the event. I want to be less stressed than last year. I was a nervous wreck at the end, racing cut offs, and barely making it. I DO NOT want to be in that position this year. I would like to actually RUN the last 20 miles. I said in Worlds End I wanted to run the last 5 miles,and made that happen. I am looking for the same outcome this year at ES100. No time goal, just able to move well on the final sections and RUN vs hike. Enjoy the course, the aid stations, and the people I share the race with as much as I can before the pain and fatigue set in.

This race will grind you down to a nub with the 21,000K vert. Leading to tired legs, destroyed quads, and a level of discomfort you won’t find in other 100s. I’ve shared a lot of training runs with friends Buddy, Alex, and the EYB runners at the Wiss. I would like an enjoyable experience, but I am OK with whatever happens, either way I’ll learn something from it. This is only the 2nd time ever for a 100 I will have a pacer! The one and only Rich Sharkey, and experienced ultra runner who has agreed to join me for the last 20 miles. I am excited for that as well.

Murphs with friends made up most of my strength training

I am grateful to get to line up again for a 3rd time! Such a well run and amazing experience is always had, and if I can pull off another race finish, I will have achieved this year’s goal of a triple crown. After that, just one final race of the Black Forest Ultra to round out this years racing. What an amazing experience its been so far. PA trail racing doesn’t get any better than this!

Ultra War

Ultra War

Published by Patrick Durante on July 3, 2026

I have no great war, no big enemy. My war is with the self. I only go to my version of “war” a few times a year. It’s the extremes of a day, that’s drawn out with no sleep, where I am tested against the elements. The battlefield are mountains, but I don’t fight other men, I run with them against a common enemy, the clock and the course. This war is man made, I wasn’t drafted, I signed up under my own will in my Ultra War, I had a choice. Ultras are a war with self, between the person you are, and who you want to become. A testament to better the self through a process of pushing limits.

“”I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent, no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.”

From the History.com Tom Hanks documentary on WW2

Many take up arms against what seems like a noble cause of completing an ultra, and don’t make it. Wounded, they are casualties of blisters, GI issues, a host of things that could take you out. Some need this test they need these extremes to see if the idea that’s in their mind matches what their body can achieve. Races are senseless violence against the self. Just a few months ago, the previous version of me was browsing Ultrasignup and decided to enlist. Sent off to war with a foe of varying degrees. I curse this person as I make my way through the mud, rain, and dirt of this foreign land. I have to make sense of it. I have to find my why with my fellow ultra comrades as we battle the course. Why do we do this to ourselves? What are we hoping to find in an ultra war?

“The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution.”

Those athletes made a wager: do I think this version of me is strong enough? Without training, one won’t have the strength to take on the enemy on foreign soil. It’s a gamble every single time, and every race we answer the ultimate question: “Am I enough?” Even when we succeed, that glory is never long. After every finish line they bestow upon you a medal of honor around your neck or belt. Like an admiral who’s seen many battlefields, we want the glory and honor that goes with calling ourselves ultra, but we keep coming back to prove our worth. Why?

Highly decorated ultra runner

While I write this in jest, I still can’t get my mind around what actual soldiers and military personnel do, and had to do, back when the war was active. It’s hard to get into their mindset, and maybe a lot of that is they didn’t have a full picture of what it would be like. I think most don’t know how bad things can get before they sign up for these events. It’s both scary and exciting, much like war could be, but this is a joke compared to the horrors of war. I’ve worked with athletes who have a lot of fear about what it’s going to feel like. It’s the limits that people want to touch, the edge of how far they have gone. It’s a calling to be tested.

You are enlightened by suffering not successes.

Like those of the past who were called up to fight for their country many didn’t have a choice, as they were drafted I am one that seeks that excitement. That’s what sends me off to war with a course, and self. They are not drastically different, in that men and women want to make something of their lives, and in whatever way they choose to do it, for those who volunteer. The soldiers of WWI and WWII often did not have a choice, as many were drafted, but some enlisted. I have no great war, and no clearly defined enemy. I sit here celebrating the fruit of their labor and sacrifice. I get to choose my enemy, but I still have to put in the training. It’s the idea that my enemy is always out there, getting strong, and if I don’t rise to the level needed to face them, I will DNF on the battlefield but I will always come home. That is where this comparison ends. They never knew if they would. 

With an ultra, you WILL make it back, but you are FOREVER changed. It will expose you to extremes we do not face in our day-to-day lives. This was a reality for people fighting on the front. Our ultra war is a joke compared to what they experienced, and I am not trying to compare it to actual combat. This is just the closest analogy I have for the extremes of sleep deprivation, hunger, and pain. It’s something they had to deal with day in and day out, for years. Those are true heroes and hardcore individuals who could stand that and serve, every day, for days on end.

I am not trying to romanticize war, just the act of bringing yourself to your limit. There is honor in that. Not all of us can fight for our country. That doesn’t make me or you any less of a man or woman. The importance of an ultra is finding your limit, finding what you are afraid of most, and facing it head on. It opens your eyes to what you can do in times of despair, and gives you strength you never knew you had. Some break, some do not, but all come back different. I encourage you to go to war with the self, to find your limit, and to never stop fighting. Don’t give up an inch of the ground you’ve gained in progress toward strengthening what you THINK you are capable of. If you don’t, how will you ever know what you are capable of? It’s better to pass through life with an opponent.

Smile, you get to grow old, you get to choose your hard, when many men and women caught up in war did not. I am grateful I get to choose my hard, not because I was drafted into it. Happy 4th of July, I celebrate our freedom, our independence. 250 years! Forever grateful to all the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can all live in this amazing country.

Thanks for reading! Happy 4th of July!

My current mindset has been inspired from listening to Dan Carlin, and watching the WW2 documentary on history.com featuring Tom Hanks.