Night and Day
Courageous endurance athletes throughout region ready to take on the ultramarathon challenge of next week’s Eastern States 100
Did you watch the U.S. Track and Field Championships last month? Or the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer?
If so, you’re familiar with elite runners giving their all over 100, 400, even 1,600 meters for a chance at national or international gold. Of course, we don’t see the weeks, the months, or years of work that all comes down to that short race.
Now take away Tokyo and replace it with the mountains and trails of north central Pennsylvania.
Take away the potential for endorsements, riches, and international fame, and replace it with an axe (more on this later.)
Finally, take away those race times ranging from about ten seconds to several minutes, and replace it with a full 36 hours.
Would you still put in the work? Could you compete for that length of time?
No need to answer that question yet. First, let’s learn about the Eastern States 100.
The Race
The Eastern States 100 is an ultramarathon that’s taken place since 2014, save for a COVID-related interruption in 2020. Rated as the world’s ninth-most challenging ultramarathon, the race takes competitors on a journey through the scenic Pine Creek watershed that starts and finishes in Little Pine State Park in Waterville, about 25 miles northwest of Williamsport.
This year’s edition begins at 5 a.m. this Saturday, and runners have until 5 p.m. Sunday to complete the 103.1-mile (also not a misprint) course. That’s the equivalent of running nearly four marathons (26.2 miles) back-to-back-toback-to-back.
Along the way, they’ll navigate over 20,000 feet of cumulative climbing and negotiate the natural challenges posed by a course consisting of parks, trails, and mountains – mud, water, and any other elements.
They’ll run before sunrise Saturday morning, through the heat and humidity of a ‘day’ over 14 hours in duration from sunrise to sunset. They’ll continue through the night, with the winning competitor figuring to finish sometime between 1 and 2 a.m. Sunday morning, before the majority of the field wraps up the race any time from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Depending upon the weather and other conditions, an optimistic prediction is that about 60-70 percent of starters (about 250 people in total) will finish the event, which is the rough equivalent of four full marathons.
And how are you planning to spend your weekend?
Even if you’re intrigued, don’t just show up in Waterville late Friday night or early Saturday morning ready to go. Qualifying for the Eastern States 100 requires the completion of a 50-mile trail race in 16 hours or less, or the completion of a race longer than 50 miles within that race’s cutoff time – and it has to have occurred within the past two years.
Naturally, the inclination is to picture top athletes the world over lining up on Saturday, ready to give it all for a chance to validate their hard work with a victory in this prestigious event. And that wouldn’t be inaccurate – the race has attracted signups from 26 states and six different countries.
Instead, it’s the identities of those runners that might surprise you. They aren’t people you’ve seen on SportsCenter or in Nike commercials. Odds are you’ve never heard of a single runner.
They’re the guy planning the construction of your new local shopping center.
The woman who interviewed you for that marketing position last fall.
The former high school football player looking for his next challenge.
These are their stories, their experiences, and their answers to the questions everyone’s asking – how? And why?
Always Moving Forward
When Niko Teller was in middle school, a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD explained his academic struggles but did little to cure or even lessen those hardships.
Niko figured out that part himself.
“I did struggle in school,” the now-26-year-old Pottstown native allowed, “but it taught me all I needed to do was outwork the average person. Don’t give up, study harder.”
While running a distance like 103.1 miles is certainly a physical feat, conquering the mental hurdles is arguably the greater battle. Niko has plenty of experience in that area.
“I fell in love with ultrarunning because it’s such a pure, simple sport,” said Teller, who works for UPS in Norristown. “All you have to do is run as far and as fast as possible through any and all conditions.”
Easy, right? Of course not, but that’s what allowed Niko Teller to be successful. His past experiences of overcoming mental hurdles and outworking the next guy allows him to break the sport down to its barest level.
You’re tired? Doesn’t matter, keep going.
My opponent is ½ mile ahead of me? No problem, run faster.
As the old saying holds, if you can believe it, you can achieve it.
“It’s a fight against yourself,” Teller explained. “Your body wants to stop, so you keep reminding yourself to move forward. It’s how you control the lows that determines the highs.”
Ultramarathon running may not seem like a natural fit for Niko, an Okinawan karate black belt and fouryear high school linebacker who was a self-described “lover of the weight room.”
He got his start almost by accident when the pandemic shut down his MMA gym and left him with few options to stay in shape but running outside. But Teller doesn’t do anything halfway, and after only three months of running, he was signing up for his first-ever race.
A 5K? Maybe a half-marathon? No way.
“I finished my first race, a 100-miler called LongHaul 100, in 28 hours and 42 minutes,” he recalled of the race in Land O’Lakes, Fla., in Jan. 2021. “Turns out I fractured my foot and couldn’t really walk for about a week afterwards. It probably sounds crazy, but I knew I was hooked when I put myself through that kind of physical pain. I was built for this sport.”
Two years later, he’s completed another 100-miler (the Pine Creek Challenge in Wellsboro, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2021), plus a couple 50mile races. While he admits he hasn’t tackled anything as challenging as the Eastern States 100, he’s set a goal of a Top-5 finish this week.
“But with a race this difficult, anything can happen,” Teller said. “So my ultimate goal is just to finish.”
“Life is just too short. I might as well spend it doing something I love and enjoy. Hopefully I can inspire someone else to chase their dreams and their goals.”
And if you hit a roadblock, call Niko Teller. He knows something about overcoming obstacles.
“I Can Go Longer”
If you’re of a certain age, how did you celebrate your 40th birthday?
A vacation? Drinks with friends?
Erica Gaffney of Malvern celebrated by running her first marathon – even though she’d never run more than a 5K to that point.
“My friend, Bridget LaButta, convinced me to do it because the race was the same weekend as my birthday,” said Gaffney.
Erica reached the finish line after 26.2 miles and had an immediate thought.
“I can go longer,” she told her friend.
By the time they reached the car to return home, Gaffney was searching for longer-distance races. She found a 40-miler in her local area (“why not run 40 miles, now that I’m 40?” she reasoned.)
That race, however, served as a wake-up call. “I was under-trained,” she admits now. “My shoes didn’t fit properly; I had no idea how to eat and hydrate on the run – it was pretty much a disaster.
“But I finished and met some incredible people. I was hooked – I wanted to try more events.”
A common element between Erica Gaffney, Niko Teller, and others involved in the Eastern States 100 is the notion of being ‘hooked.’
The word suggests a certain need, a physical or mental requirement to continue pushing yourself, a desire to determine just how much physical stress and discomfort the body can handle and then push yourself just a little further.
“I disagree,” said Gaffney of the notion that ultramarathoners aren’t running for fun. “I enjoy running ultras. I love the long training blocks, feeling myself get stronger and stronger.
“But I also think each person’s reason [for running] is personal. If you ask 50 different ultrarunners, you’ll probably get 50 different answers. For me, the passion stems from the challenge, the connection I feel with the remote trails, climbing hills and hopping over trees. It’s like being a kid and playing in the woods again. It’s humbling because it’s the easiest and yet the hardest thing to do.”
Nick Ciarrocchi, who lives in Newtown Square and played football and lacrosse at Marple Newtown in high school, says he’s not even sure the act of running is a passion of his. But after completing the Broad Street Run during his time at Temple University and doing better than he expected, he kept pushing forward to a full marathon, followed by the Pine Creek Challenge (a 50-mile race in the same area as the Eastern States 100) and finally a 100K in Utah in April.
The Eastern States 100 will be Ciarrocchi’s longest race to date.
“I think I’m drawn to the dedication and discipline required to complete an ultramarathon,” he said.
“I find the biggest thing I get is a sense of purpose and fulfillment from the entire process, from training to crossing the finish line.”
Most impressive is despite the amount of preparation needed for such an event, Gaffney, Teller, Ciarrocchi, and others haven’t stopped living their lives. There are professional ultramarathoners – Teller admits a desire to become one – but in Gaffney’s case, it’s what she does when she’s not raising her three kids (ages 15, 13, and 10), spending time with husband Kevin, and working as a Vice President of Human Resources. Training for her first 100-miler has shown Gaffney that while she may be physically out on the course herself, it takes a village to reach that point.
“This isn’t an individual sport,” she stressed. “Without a strong network of support, and especially the support of my husband, none of this would be possible. There are lots of early mornings and late evenings getting in the training. It’s a dance – work, family, training – and it goes on for several months at a time.”
Of the 238 participants, more than 30 hail from this corner of Pennsylvania. Along with Teller (26), Gaffney (43) and Ciarrocchi (28) the race participants include: Rachel Bambrick (30) of Philadelphia; Nick Brown (33) of Philadelphia; Ken Campbell (57) of Philadelphia; Tim Emig (59) of Warminster; Patrick Durante (41) of Dresher; Ted Harlan (46) of West Chester; Andres Hernandez (53) of Downingtown; Joseph Higgins (57) of Harleysville; Cody Jeff (34) of Horsham; Jason Karpinski (32) of Douglasville; Kristyann Kiry (48) of Norristown; Kevin Kuchinsky (42) of Perkasie; Michael Kulakowski (47) of Kennett Square; Cain Leathers (28) of Philadelphia; Steve Malliard (47) of Phoenixville; Valerio Massara (48) of Devon; Dan Mullin (49) of Exton; Jonathan Nicholson (49) of Pottstown; Philip Perkins (50) of West Chester; Tom Phayre (62) of Newtown; Bart Pitrus (38) of King of Prussia; Alex Roberts (45) of Phoenixville; Kevin Scott (38) of Huntingdon Valley; Tod Slabik (51) of Reading; Andrew Styer (49) of Oley; Bill Tryon (49) of Kennett Square; Matthew Vahey (50) of Glenside; Justin Villere (38) of Wynnewood; Peter Wenger (41) of Newtown; Nicole Werner (44) of North Wales; Justyna Wilson (46) of Fairless Hills; Bundy Wist (54) of West Chester; Mike Zimmerman (41) of Sinking Spring. Diane Grim of Boyertown at 63 was vying to be the eldest finisher but a training injury will keep her from competing in her first Eastern States 100.
The Payoff
Teller, Gaffney, and 248 other competitors will see their months and years of hard work culminate at 5:00 a.m. Saturday morning when they reach the start line at Little Pine State Park. Each individual’s goal in terms of a finishing time may differ, but after 103plus miles, two hot days and a long night, the first male and first female athlete to return to that line will each receive the singular symbol of Eastern States 100 excellence – an engraved axe. Come again?
“It says ‘Eastern States 100’ winner on it,” explained Jeff Calvert, president of the Eastern States Trail-Endurance Alliance (ESTEA) and assistant race director for the Eastern States 100. “But there’s no prize money. At the very top level of this sport, a few runners make a living doing ultramarathons. But this isn’t a mainstream sport with big prize purses. There are some small sponsorships out there, but the reward is kind of intrinsic in the event itself.”
In an age of $500 million contracts for professional athletes and billion-dollar TV deals for major college sports, you get the feeling that even small fractions of those amounts would dull the love, the drive, and the determination of these ultramarathoners. While no one in the race would likely turn down a lucrative deal, this weekend’s winner will cherish that modest axe as much as any gold medal, Stanley Cup, or other token of athletic achievement.
“In the end, I’m just grateful to toe the line with so many amazing people and athletes,” said Erica Gaffney. “My greatest goal is to finish the race uninjured, so I can run it again next year.”