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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!

Breakneck Trail Runs Race Report – A Nobel Quest

Breakneck Trail Runs Race Report – A Nobel Quest

Published by Patrick Durante on May 16, 2025

I was listening to a podcast that talked about the need to determine your “noble quest” in life. At the end of my life, I don’t want to have just accumulated a bunch of stuff. I want to gather experiences and enjoy moments of completing hard things. When I look back, I want to be shocked by the risks I took in pursuit of my “noble quest.” I want my mind to be filled with these things before I go, because I like to think that when we die, the experiences in our minds might be the only things we take with us. If that doesn’t happen, maybe your life flashes before your eyes. If it does, and my life flashes before my eyes as I lay on my deathbed, I want to know I went hard, had fun, and laughed a lot.

This race checks all of those boxes. Ultras are my “noble quest” in life, and I think everybody should have one. Your “noble quest” becomes your guiding light for how to structure your days, and it becomes the “why” that gets you out of bed. How can you complete your quest if you don’t put in the training? It’s the driving story you center your life around—what’s most important. For me, it’s my family and my noble quest. I want to spend more on experiences rather than things.

That said, I did just get a new 360 camera to film with 😊. I consider the camera more of a tool than a toy. It helps me document my quest and gives me the ability to reflect on the hard things I’ve done on those days when insecurity fills my head and negative thoughts tell me I can’t do hard things. I have proof that I can.

So below is my race report and a list of what went right, what went wrong, and what I would have done differently.

Shared a lot of miles with Colson Zucker

What went right:

Training:

What I did half worked. My peak total training time was about 40–50 hours per week, which was fine, but the main issue was that I couldn’t get anywhere near the amount of climbing this race required. My primary target had been the 3,500 ft trail marathon in Philadelphia, not this 9,000 ft race. So, I knew I was going into the race undertrained for the vertical gain, which was NOT a good strategy. But if you’re racing constantly, you can’t focus equally on multiple races. I decided to set this as a B race, not my A, so it was more of a side quest to see if I liked the event and the course. I had no expectations on finish time or place.

Gear:

My new racing shorts that I’ve been using this year worked GREAT! I was even at the start line with some other people using the same shorts and sponsored T8 athlete:

Those are not love handles, its SIS gels I swear

These shorts allowed me to hold 9 Oreos, 15 SIS gels, and a phone. You can NEVER have enough pockets, especially for food. I downed SO many SIS gels and never felt any GI distress. Because of this, I didn’t need to be weighed down by a vest—which I’m not a huge fan of, as they tend to hold in heat and bounce around. I also carried a waist Ultimate Direction Unisex Ultra Belt that held my filming equipment: a hat camera, a self centered stick, and a 360 camera.

Miscellaneous:

For the first half of the race, I wore a pair of gloves. While they were helpful for the rock climbing section, I would have ditched them if it had been any hotter—they mostly just made my hands sweat. I think the change in the course this year meant there were slightly fewer scrambles, so it was less vertical gain than the advertised 9,000 ft.

What went wrong

Camping:

I was still hesitant to camp out, fearing I wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep. In hindsight, I should have camped, because I ended up making a poor hotel choice with a host of issues (which I won’t get into, since they had nothing to do with the race itself). It was a cheap motel about 15 minutes away, and it just wasn’t a great place to stay. If you plan to check out this race, I recommend bringing a tent. Check out my video for a look at the camping situation. There’s also a large parking lot for campers right at the start, spots for trailers on the side, and tents are right at the starting line.

Shoe Choice:

Carbon fiber shoes can roll your ankles. After speaking with another runner, I learned how using carbon in a shoe can be a bad idea for a technical trail run. I rolled my ankle badly during my first half marathon trail race this season—it was extremely painful, and the injury happened two more times with the new shoes. This isn’t an issue on flat gravel, but if you’re running off-camber, rocky terrain, you’re much more likely to roll an ankle. That led to injury and caused me to miss a few training runs as I recovered.

Poles in Wet Conditions ONLY:

The race recommended no poles for the scrambles, but I disagree if it’s a wet day. Poles would have been helpful for the first half, and I could have ditched them for the second half.

Cramping:

My training wasn’t at the level it needed to be for this much climbing per mile (300–350 ft/mile). I knew I was undertrained when I took the risk—and I paid for it with horrible cramping during the race. It wasn’t a nutrition issue; my muscles simply weren’t adapted for the demands of race day. Pushing on more difficult terrain than your body is ready for just causes muscle damage, so my body was trying to protect itself.

Hydration:

My hydration was borderline (medium to low). I wish there had been a few more aid stations, or that I had carried slightly more water. On a hot day, this could be a major issue. If you’re able to filter water on course, though, there are enough stream crossings to make up for it. I might just carry one bottle that can filter for next year.

Bugs:

Bugs! The gnats were relentless in some sections—I had them in my eyes more than twice. A bug net definitely would have helped, and bug spray might have made a difference too. There are small, packable bug nets you can carry. The bugs were not an issue the entire race, it seemed like only the first half.

AMAZING views in this race

What I Would Do Differently:

Next time, I would make this my A race, train with a lot more climbing, and definitely camp onsite. That’s my plan for next year. The views and climbs in this race are hard to match, especially if you’re used to the PA trail running scene. I’d also bring a bit more hydration, given the distance between aid stations, and I’d make sure to go to the top of that fire tower I saw to enjoy the view. I regret not doing that—adventures like this don’t come around very often for me.

I would also bring poles. When I started cramping, I really wished I’d had them. I saw one guy absolutely fly down a rocky section with poles—it was incredible. No one without poles could have done that. Poles are great, as long as you have a way to store them during the rockier sections.

Final Thoughts:

I loved the race, the views, the food, and the overall vibe from start to finish. This was such a well-run event—credit goes to the race director, and his crew that have run this race for 11 years. You can tell it’s a mature event that’s worked out most, if not all issues.

In life, you have to make space for something new to come in. After 21 years of running a flat, road race down Broad Street, I think I’ve found a great event to make a new yearly tradition. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt are baked into running ultras; they’re uncomfortable by design. Most will choose a life of comfort and avoid obstacles, but what happens if you always take the easy path? If you choose hard things, life becomes easier. I decided not to choose Broad Street this year because I didn’t want comfort—at least, not the kind I was used to. Comfortable is relative: ten miles on Broad Street used to be uncomfortable for me, but life keeps changing, and so should your challenges. When life gets hard beyond your control, it just doesn’t stress you out as much when you know how to push yourself. It’s still tough, don’t get me wrong, just not as bad.

Shavasana

One final thought I had was about trail running itself. The nature of your happiness lies in your relationships: to people, to places, to your community, and to your family—and in a race, in your relationship to your own body and to nature. So take care of your body, control your thoughts, and talk to the people next to you in a race because they’re going through the same thing you are. We’re all interconnected, especially with nature. So when you think you’re “alone” out there, you’re really not. You’re always connected to the world around you—and that’s a big part of why I love trail running so much.

I shot this race in a new style with my 360 camera. Let me know how you thought it came out in the comments. Thanks for reading! If you found this interesting or helpful please let me know.