WILD GOOSE
Generous cut-offs, unending trail beauty, rockin' aid station and sweet swag....Join us at Wawayanda State Park in Hewitt, NJ on Friday September 18, Saturday September 19 and Sunday September 20, 2026 for the Wild Goose! The 36 hour cutoff for our 100 miler make this a squatchtastic event for those chasing after their first buckle. We have panels and a film screening on Friday followed by events on Saturday and Sunday that range from 1 mile all the way up to 100+ to make this a true Trail Festival! Free camping is available to all participants, pacers and crew on Friday and Saturday evening. We are supporting our non-profit partner, Bigger Than The Trail with this Trail Party!
BIGGER THAN THE TRAIL
We are proud to partner with Bigger Than the Trail . BTTT is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that is using trail running as a platform to advocate for mental health. BTTT's mission is to enrich the lives of individuals struggling with mental health. Through their fundraising efforts, BTTT provides free therapy to those in need! Please consider making a donation to BTTT: Bigger Than the Trail to provide cost-free therapy for folks in need.
100 MILER
Okay, so what’s with the name, Wild Goose? We’re so glad you asked... One of the possible meanings of the park name Wawayanda is… WAWA= “wild goose” and YANDA= “the way of”.... “The way of the wild goose.” We couldn’t think of a better name for this hundo. You’ll no doubt see plenty of wild geese hanging out at Wawayanda Lake! This is a GREAT first hundo for newbies chasing after their first buckle. With a generous overall cutoff of 36 hours you’re not going to be chasing cutoffs – we only have one cutoff for mile 92.5! We don’t care how long the first 92.5 miles takes you and we don’t want you to be stressed about your pace. A lot can happen over the course of 36 hours; only having 1 cutoff at mile 92.5 gives you every opportunity to finish this race and recover if any setbacks come your way. You’ll be well-supported at this hundo with a rockin’ aid station that will be open all 36 hours. Our Volunteer Dream Team will help you get that FINISH, so don’t feel like you have to have a Crew with you. There is 11,275 ft gain and 11,239 ft loss over the 100.25 miles giving you an average of 112 ft gain per mile.... If you want to do 100M and it’s your first attempt at the distance, we encourage you to opt for the 36H event rather than the 100M race. The same goes for folks who are on the fence on whether or not they can definitely complete 100M. Take the pressure out of the equation and sign up for 36H (no DNFs in the 36H! event!)
TRAIL PARTY DETAILS
You can find all of the information for this event on our website sassquadtrailrunning.com as well as the detailed
Trail Party Schedule:
Friday September 18:
2:00pm - participants, crew, volunteers can start setting up camp
3:30pm - 4:30pm "Crewing 101" panel led by Chaos Crewing
4:15pm - 4:45pm ”Voices from the Flock” - Sassquaders sharing their stories, lessons, and advice to help you feel confident, prepared, and supported as you take on your own race.
5:00pm - 6:00pm Check-In, Bib/Swag Pick-up
6:00pm - 7:00pm - Pre-Race Meeting
7:15pm - 8:15pm - Trail Running Film Screening
Saturday September 19, 7am start time with a 36 hour cutoff:
36H
100 Miles
100K
50 Miles
Sunday September 20, 7am start with a 12 hour cutoff
50K
9am start with a 10 hour cutoff:
30K
Half Marathon
10K
Kids 1M
100M/36H/100K/50M participants who are on the course after sunset can have a pacer with them until the end of the race. All other distances cannot have a pacer. And as with all of our events, ANY Squatchers over the age of 60 and AWD (athletes with disabilities) can have a pacer/guide at ANY time.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Maps and GPX files and elevation profiles are available on our website. The Wild Goose course has a little bit of everything - doublewide trails, rolling singletracks, technical sections with rocks and roots, wood plank boardwalks and a bit of road. There are rocks and roots. The entire course is not technical, but there are definitely stretches that are tech-y. Here is the feedback we hear from runners who have gone on the course and live in the northeast–if you live in Northern NJ or the Hudson Valley area, these trails are not super duper technical. For folks coming from NYC, Long Island, Brooklyn etc these trails are much more technical than city-trails and rail trails. For anyone not used to running in the Jersey Highlands or Hudson Valley, unless your home turf is on very mountainous terrain, you will likely find these trails to be challenging in spots with the rocks and roots while runnable in many others with gravel-y trails. There is an average of around 112 ft elevation gain per mile.
HARDSHIP ENTRIES
If you are experiencing a financial hardship and would not be able to participate otherwise, please choose the "Hardship Entry" option. When we receive your registration, we will contact you with a code to register; at that time, you can let us know if you need a full or partial scholarship. If you are a community member who wants to contribute to our Squatch Community Fund, you can make a donation on our website.
DIRECTIONS TO WAWAYANDA
The address to the main entrance is 885 Warwick Turnpike, Hewitt, NJ. This is the main entrance on Warwick Turnpike, where the park office is located. Some GPS devices want to drop you in the middle of nowhere on Warwick Turnpike, so we recommend using these GPS coordinates for the Park Office: 41.198038, -74.397315. When you enter the park through the main entrance on Warwick Turnpike, follow signs to Wawayanda Lake/The Beach. It will take about 5 minutes to get there from the entrance on Warwick Turnpike. The Auxiliary Gate is located at 120 Wawayanda Road, Highland Lakes, NJ. If you enter the park through the Auxiliary Entrance, continue straight through the gate and then make your first right, following the signs to Wawayanda Lake/The Beach. The GPS Coordinates for the Auxiliary Gate are: 41.192166, -74.434160 For some folks, entering through the Auxiliary Gate may be more efficient. Regardless of which way is quickest for you, please be sure to take the time to open up the map on your GPS app and zoom in to make sure you are going to either the Auxiliary Gate or the Main Entrance. Please read through our Trail Party Handbook to see detailed driving instructions and maps!
SQUATCH KIDS CLUB
We are excited to offer a one mile kids race! This family-friendly event will kick off at 9am on Sunday morning. All kids will receive a squatchy medal and a sticker. Ages 3-12; parents/guardians are welcome to and encouraged to join (at no additional cost).
.... Kids under the age of 19 can score 15% off their registration for any of the other events with the code SQUATCHKIDSCLUB. We also have some free entries available for youth athletes; email us to learn more! 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! We have a range of fun games that your family can enjoy: corn hole, connect four, a giant rainbow parachute and the Squatch Hunt. Don't be shy, head on over to the Finish Line and join in on the fun! Learn more about our Squatch Kids Club!
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENT
All 100 miler and 36 hour participants are required to complete 8 hours of trail work or trail race volunteering. Volunteering must be completed between September 22, 2025 - September 18, 2026. If you are unable to complete the volunteer hours, you can make a donation to our Charity Partner Bigger Than The Trail for $100. Please use this form to fill out your volunteer hours. You can use this link to make the $100 donation to Bigger Than The Trail if you choose to not complete the volunteer hours.
SQUATCH DISCOUNTS
Sassquad Trail Running is proud to offer 20% off all events to all active duty military and Veterans, teachers and hospital workers. 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!
VOLUNTEER FOR SWAG
If you're running or hiking with us and bring along a friend or family member who volunteers with us (for any of the Volunteer Slots) during the festival, you’ll score your choice of an apparel item from the Squatch Shop. When your volunteer signs up through UltraSignup, they’ll be able to tell us who their runner is, so you can score that swag item at the race. This is a great way to get your crew involved and give back to the trail community! (And don't worry, all Volunteers go home with special swag!!)
TRAIL MIX FUND
Do you want to race but can’t afford the entry fee? Are you a part of the BIPOC or LGBTQ+ community?
"Apply to the Trail Mix Fund to have your registration fee waived!" Sassquad Trail Running is proud to partner with the non-profit the Trail Mix Fund for the Squatchy Leftovers, Squatchapple, Big Bear North & South, and the Wild Goose. Founded in 2020 by our friends in Oregon at Go Beyond Racing, the Trail Mix Fund uses donations to help people who are under-served, under-resourced, and under-represented. This includes people of color and LGBTQ+, but is not restricted to those communities.
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 our aid stations. Sassquaders can save 20% by using the code SASSQUAD2025 at skratchlabs.com
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 21 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, minus 15% of the registration fee that you originally paid. If you sustain an injury less than 21 days from the race date, we will extend a 100% deferral if you come to that race to volunteer. For distances less than 50K, you'll need to volunteer for at least 4 hours and for 50M+ distances, you'll need to volunteer for at least 8 hours to get a 100% deferral. If the race that you want to drop from is sold-out with an active wait-list and are able to fill your spot: 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, minus 15% of the registration fee that you originally paid. The race credit is the amount that you paid for the race, minus 15% (total credit does 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 double-check that you can make the race you're deferring to.
PREGNANCY, ADOPTION, & POSTPARTUM POLICY
Whether planned or unplanned, the beginning or end of a pregnancy requires healing and recovery time. We are committed to supporting you in this regard. If you are experiencing a pregnancy or postpartum healing and recovery, or have adopted a child, we are pleased to offer a deferral of up to three years from the current event. Simply send us an email and we will arrange the deferral for you. This deferral policy includes partners and spouses and is also extended to folks who are going through the IVF process.
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!
Event's current local time: 11:35 AM ET
