10k Trail Run at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Cross River, New York.
The Leatherman’s Loop has survived in spite of many challenges. Over the years the course has been devastated by a couple of microbursts, the Sandy storm, a small tornado, late Spring floods, Beaver activity and a rare plant called Rattlebox. In every case the organizers were able to work with the County of Westchester … Read more
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it (for now) Plans for splitting the field with a two wave start have been scrapped for this year. This was not an easy decision for your organizers. Rob Cummings and I felt the weight of our burden of responsibility to the Loop which has seen very few changes … Read more
Mixed bag of Loop stuff from Tony Greetings and Happy New Year to the Leatherman’s Loop family. With the lottery closed for the 31st Loop it seems like a good time for me to share some history as well as other stuff related to the event. As always, my hope is that some of you will find … Read more
Every time I started to compose a note to send to you the words “The World is too much with us” (from the Wordsworth poem) came to mind. So I revisited the poem to try and figure out what it had to do with the Loop. Here are my thoughts. Rather than merely a challenging … Read more
Leatherman’s Loop Founders Newsletter, Volume 5 When Caballo Blanco gave me the name “El Co-Padre” I knew that it came with expectations and responsibilities in terms of my role as a trail race facilitator. He brilliantly matched his love of trail running with the social needs of the Tarahumara People who live in and run … Read more
Leatherman’s Loop founders note Twenty seven years ago Dave Cope and I put on the first Leatherman’s Loop race. We greeted the ninety runners who trusted that we knew what we were doing and showed up to race our course. Trail running races in those days were few and far between and necessitated long drives … Read more
Leatherman’s Loop Founder’s Newsletter, Volume 3 The Future Looks bright I feel a need to thank each of you for your contribution to the amazing spirit that was once again present at the Loop. For a brief time, we were all Tarahumara runners enjoying the “beauty all around us.” We “ran free” and Caballo Blanco … Read more
Lost and found While cutting back buckthorn at about the three mile mark of the course I found this matched pair of Nike trail shoes. They had been pushed to the surface of the mud flats by the spring thaw. I stopped to consider all of the possibilities. None of them good. Those of you … Read more
In his Canticle to the Cosmos series, quantum physicist Brian Swimme stresses the need for each of us to know our “story.” He takes us back twenty billion years to the “original fireball” in an effort to help us “regain our reverence for the earth and all life.” To help us “activate our human sensitivities … Read more
[I had some remarks prepared and printed. But since they were not laminated, the rain made them unreadable on Loop morning. So I shortened them due to the karmic message in their disintegration. But for your post-race enjoyment my original remarks are below should you be interested:] Welcome, Thank you to all of the volunteers. … Read more