Once in a while an event we supply will catch our eye and a bit of our hearts.
The Hyner View Trail Challenge (The Hyner) is one such event, and the story of their growth and of the camaraderie and care among their runners and volunteers (known as the PA Trail Dogs), causes us to pause and learn more. In order to do that, we sent Craig Fleming, race director and founder of the race, a few questions. His replies make for a great read and event overview. We love this industry, and here’s just one reason why.
How long have you (Craig Fleming) been a part of the Hyner and the PA Trail Dogs organization? How did your history with them start?
I owned a running store in Lock Haven PA and a DCNR (Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) forester approached me about putting on a trail race in his forest district. I had been trail running for several years but had only run one trail race in my life. So, after looking at some trail options in Sproul State Forest, I decided in 2007 to start a race called the Hyner View Trail Challenge. Since most of the trails were overgrown and hadn’t been used since the Civilian Conservation Corps days in the early 1900’s, we had to open them back up and connect some of the trails with new ones. DCNR gave us the green light and our group called the PA Trail Dogs was born. Since we were all trail runners and had dogs that ran with us, we thought it would be a great name. We started clearing trails in 2007 and have been doing it ever since.
In the time that you’ve been a part of the “Dogs”, have you seen the group grow or change?
We started with just a handful of volunteers in 2007 and worked on just a few trails, mainly the ones for our race. Now, seventeen years later in 2024, we have hundreds of volunteers and average over 1500 volunteer hours each year while clearing hundreds of miles of trails. And the one race in 2007 has turned into ten trail races, including a free kids-only trail race in the summer.
The PA Trail Dogs hard at work clearing the trails.
Did the shutdowns of Covid days cause a decline in membership or event status?
Actually, Covid grew our races and volunteer base. We only had to cancel one race because it was in the early stages of the shutdown here in Pennsylvania and we had no choice. We actually moved it and one other race to the fall but still were able to hold them. We had to get a little creative in putting the races on, but we found out quickly that trail runners here really felt a sense of normalcy racing again and appreciated our efforts. And since most races were canceled in the surrounding states, we were able to attract new runners to our events since we were still moving forward with ours. These runners from other states may have never traveled to our area otherwise, but when they did, they got to see the beauty of our courses and the camaraderie that forms during our events. They’ve been coming back ever since and bringing their friends along with them. As far as our volunteer base is concerned, the same thing happened during Covid. We were still holding our trail clearing days and people were looking to get outside to escape the madness. We picked up a bunch of new volunteers because of it and we actually had some of our largest group workdays during this period. We even started a “trail adoption” program where our group purchased a bunch of tools and people could borrow them for their own use on trails they adopted. We even bought gas, oil, and accessories for the tools. It’s been a big hit in the trail community here. So, all in all, Covid really didn’t affect us here as badly as other areas and running events.
How are you able to keep your trail volunteers (adopters) involved year after year?
PA Trail Dog who adopted a trail, working at clearing, wearing a Racetrackers Hyner Hat.
As stated earlier, we started a trail adoption program to help keep the trails clear throughout the year. Pennsylvania has some great trails but once summer hits, the vegetation starts to encroach on them. Stinging nettle takes over any trail near a stream and mountain laurel, fern, huckleberry, and other vegetation starts to cover the rest of the trails. And we’re in rattlesnake territory here so most people like to see where their feet are landing. We found it necessary to start a program to keep as many of the local trails open as possible. So far, we have over 75 trail sections adopted by individuals and many other sections simply cleared by our group during workdays. Most of the work is digging, weed whacking, mowing, and hedge trimming. We also sent 14 volunteers to a chainsaw safety course through DCNR in the past three years, which enables us to help them clear all the blowdowns.
How many on average sign up each year to help clear those mountain trails?
All in all, we average about 1500 volunteer hours a year while working in three different forest districts. We found our success in holding shorter workdays rather than the standard eight-hour day that other organizations hold. This gives people time to come out and help for a few hours, and still get home to their families and other activities. We’d rather have forty people show up for three hours than eight people show up for eight hours. It’s just simple math with our group. And we also learned that most people are able to work hard for three-four hours on the trails, but after that, it becomes very tedious and tiresome. And we usually end the workday with some beers from New Trail Brewing Co., good local pizza, and some swag giveaways.
Hyner Trail Challenge Runner in yellow and navy Racetrackers Hyner Hat.
When did your organization start ordering the Racetrackers hats? And, has there been a different color combination every time?
We started giving out finisher hats in 2016 and we have done different color combinations each year for both the 25K and the 50K.
Tell me a little about the campaign that has members taking their photos in the Hyner Hats at locations other than the PA trails – is this an ongoing crusade?
Hyner Trail Challenge Finisher picks up new Hyner Hat while wearing his old one.
We used to give out finisher’s medals at our biggest race, the Hyner Trail Challenge. In 2016, it was our 10th year and I wanted to do something different since I really didn’t care for medals. At first, a few people were upset about getting a hat instead of a medal but all of a sudden, runners started a “Where’s Your Hyner Hat?” challenge on Facebook. People were taking selfies of themselves with their hats in all kinds of fun places. You’d see a Hyner hat sighting in Paris, Switzerland, Egypt, Patagonia, etc. Next would be a group at the Pittsburgh Marathon all wearing their hats. It just snowballed from there. This will be our eighth year doing a finisher hat and I think there would be a revolt if we stopped giving them out!
How many of these trail runs have you, yourself completed? And what is your favorite part of the route?
I run all of my own trail races. Well over a hundred I’d guess. I always say, “the chef must eat his own cooking.” I don’t think it’s right to send runners out on a challenging course that you wouldn’t run yourself. And running my own races gives me so much data about the event. I get to see what the runners see out there. Is the course marked well? How were the aid stations? What were runners saying about S.O.B. Hill as they were crawling up it? And many other things. And as a trail runner myself, I want to be out there chewing up some dirt alongside some of the best people I’ve ever met. My favorite route is coming up to the actual Hyner View vista during our spring race. There are always hundreds of people cheering you on as you crest the hill. It gives me goose bumps every time.