THUNDER CHICKEN SQUATCH TRAIL RACE
It's time to GET STOKED AT STOKES! This Sassquad Trail Party is at the beautiful Stokes State Forest in Branchville, NJ. Join us on Sunday August 11, 2024 for the Thunder Chicken Squatch! Runners and hikers of all ages and paces can sign up for the 10K or the 17 miler. We will be honoring the individuals who have sacrificed so much to serve our country by offering 50% off entries to all Active-Duty Military, National Guard, Reserves and Veterans! If you are in the Military or are a Veteran, please use the code THUNDERCHICKEN to save 50%! We will recognize all of our military runners/hikers before the race. Please visit our website for the complete details on this race, course maps, gpx files etc!
WHAT IS THE THUNDER CHICKEN?
So what exactly is... "Thunder Chicken"? We are so glad you asked! Long-story-short, one of our runners serves in the US Army and when we invited her on our podcast in 2021, we found out that her "call-sign" in the Army is THUNDER CHICKEN! And as we mentioned before, we are honoring our military runners/hikers with this trail party, so "Thunder Chicken" was the obvious choice for this race's name! You can check out that podcast episode HERE The Thunder Chicken Story is at the 54 minute mark! Remember, if you are serving in the Armed Forces right now or you are a Veteran, please use the code THUNDER CHICKEN to save 50% as a small way for us to say thank-you! We will be supporting our charity partner "Operation Chillout" who we have proudly partnered with since we started our race series in 2018. Operation Chillout provides warm clothing to homeless Veterans in New Jersey! You can learn more about Operation Chillout by visiting their website: https://operationchillout.org/
COURSE DESCRIPTION
17M COURSE: From the Kittle Picnic Area, follow the brown-blazed Stony Brook Trail south until it meets the blue-blazed Blue Mountain Trail. Turn left on the Blue Mountain Trail. You will complete one full counter-clockwise loop returning to this trail junction before retracing your steps back to the start/finish area. The start/finish area will have water and snacks. There will be an aid station with water and snacks at the Stern Mill Camping Area, mile 7.65 and a water-only aid station at Shotwell Road, mile 13.5. There is about 2,000 ft of gain in the 17 mile loop.
10K Course: From the Kittle Picnic Area, follow the brown-blazed Stony Brook Trail north until it meets the blue-blazed Blue Mountain Trail. Turn left on the Blue Mountain Trail. Follow the Blue Mountain Trail around until you reach Stony Lake. Cross over Kittle Road and turn left on the brown-blazed Stony Brook Trail (you are now on the opposite end of the first trail you were on) and follow it back to the start/finish area. The start/finish area will have water and snacks. There will be a water-only aid station at Shotwell Road, mile 3. There is about 800 ft gain in the 10K loop. ***The coure is a little long - it's closer to 6.6 miles.
TRAIL PARTY DETAILS
Please use the following address: 1 Coursen Road, Branchville, NJ and this gps link to get to the park: https://goo.gl/maps/snw7nAQCfAjUvksa8 When you enter the park, the park office is on your right. Continue straight on Coursen Road ALL the way to the end, without making any turns. When you reach the end of Coursen Road at the "T", turn left and park in the parking lot that is next to Kittle Field. If that parking lot is full, you can turn right at the "T" to park at the Stony Lake Parking Lot. Please allow a few extra minutes to walk from this parking lot to the Kittle Picnic Area, where the race start/finish is located.
The start/finish is at the Kittle Picnic Area where there is a large covered pavilion, restrooms and plenty of picnic tables.
Both races start at 9am; check-in 8:15am-8:45am
We have a 6 hour cut-off for the 17 milers which comes out to about 21 minutes/mile. 17 miler must reach the mile 7.65 aid station by 11:20am. Our Sweepers will leave the start/finish area at behind the last runners/hikers to start making their way around the course to take down the course markers. Final course cutoff is 3pm. As with all of our events, Squatchers over the age of 60 and AWD (athletes with disabilities) can have a pacer/guide at any time. Please use this form to pre-register your pacers. Pacers are not allowed for other runners and hikers without prior approval from the Trail Party Director.
SQUATCHTASTIC SWAG
Everyone loves SWAG, right?! YES! All runners and hikers who register for the Blue Mountain Ultra Squatch will receive a handcrafted wood medal and can choose a swag item during check-in (hat, buff, bag, cup etc)! We will also have additional Sassquad gear available for purchase before/after the race. The top three male/female for each race will take home a handcrafted award.
COURSE MARKINGS
Both events use the very well marked Blue Mountain Trail. We will only be adding large red directional arrows at each of the turns. Runners/hikers will use the existing blue blazes that are maintained by our friends at the New York New Jersey Trail Conference. The 10K course will be marked with pink ribbons.
FAMILIES, SENIORS, MILITARY, FRONTLINE & CLUB MEMBERS
We want the WHOLE family to come out to our events! We have a special discount code for families registering 3 or more Squatches in the same household. Please email trailpartydirector@sassquadtrailrunning.com before you register so we can give you the code! Sassquad Trail Running is proud to offer 20% off all events to all active duty military and Veterans. Must provide proof of service. Please email trailpartydirector@sassquadtrailrunning.com before you register for an event so we can provide you with a discount code. We extend a 10% discount to our Wise Elder Squatch Squad (folks who are over the age of 60); email us for the the code! New York-New Jersey Trail Conference Members and South Mountain Conservancy members can receive 10% off of registration; please email us for the discount code!
FAQs
Q: Can I have a pacer?
A:As with all of our events, Squatchers over the age of 60 and AWD (athletes with disabilities) can have a pacer/guide at any time. Please use this form to pre-register your pacers. Pacers are not allowed for other runners and hikers without prior approval from the Trail Party Director.
Q: I'm military. What code can I use to save 50%?
A: Please use the code THUNDERCHICKEN
Q: What's the story behind "Thunder Chicken"?
A: It's the call-sign for one of our runners who is active-duty Army!
Q: Will I see Sasquatch?
A: We sure hope you do! Make sure you take a selfie with him if you see Squatchy out there!
Q: What's so great about Stokes State Forest?
A: Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!
Q: Uhh are you singing that song from Hamilton?
A: History is happening ... at Stokes... and we just happen to be in the greatest city in the world! In the greatest city in the world!
Q: Will there be an aid station at the park for me to get food or water?
A: WERK! WERK! Yup! We'll have a full station and a water-only aid station on the 17M course. There is no on-course aid station for the 7 milers, but there will be water and snacks at the start/finish area.
Q: Tell me about the SWAG!
A: Were you paying attention when we told you the first time? Go ahead, sing Thomas Jefferson's song... "So what did I miss? What did I miss?!" All runners/hikers will get a handcrafted wood medal that's made locally in the Squatch Shop! Runners/hikers will also choose a swag item from our Squatch Shop.
Q: What address should I use to get to the park?
A: 1 Coursen Road, Branchville, NJ.
Q: I don't feel like reading the course description. Will the course be marked?
A: Why do you assume you're the smartest in the room? Soon that attitude may be your doom. It's always a good idea to be over-prepared. So read the course description and know that the course will be well-marked.
Q: Can I bring my dog?
A: NO. Our insurance policy does not cover dogs at our races. Thanks for understanding.
Q: Can I register my kids for this race?
A: YES! We love having families join us. If you are registering 3 or more squatches, please email us for a discount code! trailpartydirector@sassquadtrailrunning.com
Q: Thanks for answering my questions... Do you have any other advice?
A: Da da da dat da dat da da da da ya da da da dat dat da ya da! Da da da dat da dat da da da da ya da da da dat dat da ya da!
Q: Me and my friend aren't registered for the race, but we're still planning on coming to run. We won't eat from the aid station or take a medal or swag. This is okay, right?
A: NO THIS IS NOT OKAY. This is called being a "race bandit" and it is stealing. Not paying for a race and running the race is stealing from the race organization (even if you're not taking food or swag). Don't do this at a Sassquad trail party or ANY other race. It's not okay. And if you hear about someone else doing this, call them out. If you bandit a race, you will be banned from registering for any of our Sassquad events.
SKRATCH
We are excited to share that our friends over at Skratch Labs are official Sassquad sponsors! We will be proudly serving Skratch Hydration at the on-course aid stations for the 17 miler. Sassquaders can save 20% by using the code SASSQUAD24 at skratchlabs.com
SASSQUAD TRAIL RUNNERS
We are a community of SASQUATCH-lovin' trail runners and hikers. Our goal is to provide FUN and challenging events for runners of all ages and paces. We like to think that we have a good sense of humor, a full arsenal of sarcastic wit, useless trivia facts and a deep appreciation for cinematic masterpieces (as evidenced multiple times already). Follow us on Instagram , and like us on Facebook to get all of our Squatchy updates. You can also join our Facebook group, "Sassquad Trail Runners" to connect with other runners and hikers!
REFUNDS/DEFERRALS
Like many other race organizations, we do not offer refunds for our events. Please take the time to double check your calendar before registering for a Trail Party. Please understand that we do not offer refunds under any circumstances. If you notify us via email (not through social media, text or phone call) more than 45 days from the date of the Trail Party, we will extend a deferral to any of our events that fall within one calendar year of the Trail Party that you were registered for. If you sustain an injury less than 45 days from the race date, we will extend a deferral if you come to that race to volunteer for at least 4 hours. If the race that you want to drop from is sold-out with an active wait-list and if you notify us via email (not through social media, text or phone call) at least 3 days before the race, we will extend a deferral to any of our events that fall within one calendar year of the Trail Party that you were registered for. The race credit is the amount that you paid for the race (not including UltraSignUp fees) so you will need to cover any difference in fees; refunds will not be issued if the deferred event costs less than your race credit. You can only defer one time so please doublecheck that you can make the race you're deferring to.
Event's current local time: 3:18 PM ET
