Our Bonds Run Dirt Deep

Join an incredible community of women for a weekend on the legendary Eastern States course — where rugged trails, big climbs, and muddy smiles meet. Whether you’re a seasoned ultrarunner or new to trail adventures, you’ll find the perfect mix of learning, laughter, and support.

Through guided runs, activities at our amazing lodge, and shared miles, we’ll educate with experience, inspire with stories, and empower each other to go farther than we thought possible. Together we’ll celebrate every step — digging dirt deep in every sense of the word.

A note on pacing - SHEastern isn’t just for racers or front-of-the-pack runners, but it’s also not a hiking weekend. Come ready to run, challenge yourself, and cover 50+ miles of trails and 9,100’ of elevation gain over the weekend. You don’t need to be fast, just prepared. You’ll get a workout, you’ll be tired, and you’ll be supported every step of the way — with aid stops where you can refuel, regroup, or call it a day if needed.

Registration: $100 includes lodging, meals, and transportation for the full weekend. Space is limited to 30 participants — first come, first served!

Weekend Schedule

Thursday, April 30
6:00 PM – The Ponderosa Lodge is open for guests
Optional 5.5 mile night run

Friday, May 1
Breakfast at the lodge
Departure for trailhead and 13.7 mile Run
Dinner, followed by evening activities (clinics and/or fireside chats)

Saturday, May 2
Breakfast at the lodge
Departure for designated trailhead and 20.4 mile run
Dinner, followed by evening activities (clinics and/or fireside chats)

Sunday, May 3
Breakfast at the lodge
Departure for designated trail head (make sure to pack up before departure)
Group run 10 miles
Departure from Finish location at Little Pine State Park

Daily Routes

Our routes this year are new from previous camps and will cover over 50 miles of the Eastern States course passing through Aid Stations 3-5, 7-10, and 14 - Finish!

Thursday night run - ~5.5 miles
This is an optional night run, totaling 5.4 mi and an elevation change of +830' and -869'. Starts at Dry Run (Eastern States Aid Station 8) and finishes at Big Trail (AS 9). Moon will be at 99% illumination. Runners are required to carry a light source. Reflective flagging at turns and intersections.

Friday run - ~14 miles
This route totals 13.7 mi with an elevation change of +3507 and -2327'. Starts at Lower Pine Bottom (AS3) and ends at Browns Run (AS4). There is an aid station at mile 8.

Saturday run - ~20.5 miles
This route totals 20.4 mi with an elevation change of +4643' and -4703'. Starts at Hyner Run (AS 7) and ends at Slate Run (AS 10). There is an aid station planned for this route.

Sunday run - 2 options
The longer route option begins at Barrens (AS14) and totals 10 mi with an elevation change of +1321 and -2387. The shorter route option begins at Hackett (AS15) and totals 3.8 mi with an elevation change of +574 and -1526. Both routes end at the Eastern States Finish line at Little Pine State park!

There will be 3 groups ("Back," "Mid," "Front"), starting in that order. We have one lead and sweep per group to help with navigation. The optional night run groups on Thursday will depend on how many people are running.

Accomodations

Ponderosa Lodge & Golf is one of Pennsylvania's best-kept secrets offering lodging and cabin rentals sprawled across 235-acres. EASTERN STATES 100 will be paying for lodging for the entire weekend. It is on us!

The Ponderosa Lodge can accommodate us all with 9 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. Commercial sized kitchen, fireplace, loft, ping pong & foosball table, outdoor patio, and more! Please bring your own bedding. Our hosts at Ponderosa Lodge ask us not to bring/consume alcoholic beverages to the lodge.

More: https://ponderosalodgeandgolf.com

Required Gear

Running trails in the PA Wilds is no walk in the park! For safety purposes, we ask that each participant carry the following gear while out on the trail during SHEastern weekend. If you have any questions or hardships in securing any of these items, please reach out to us and we will give you advice/recommendations or work with you to help obtain the items needed.

-A pack or belt to carry gear
-Bottles or hydration bladder with capacity of at least 1 (one) liter of liquid
-Fuel (calories/carbs) to get through the entire run, plus an extra hours' worth of fuel - include a source of electrolytes (sugar, salt product)
-An extra source of warmth, beyond what you would normally carry (i.e., a light jacket, gloves, a neck gaiter).
-An emergency blanket/space blanket is also recommended. Consider that you will be moving slower and stopping more than usual.
-If participating in the night run, a light source (a cell phone flashlight does NOT count) and extra batteries for the light source
-Personal medical supplies, if needed (i.e., medications).
-Optional items: Trekking poles, blister prevention supplies, and/or water filtration gear.
-A note on navigation: Runners will stay with a group, which will be "no drop." As an additional precaution, we will provide each runner with a .gpx file for each route to download to their watch. We can also provide runners with a hard copy of a map with the full Eastern States course on it.
Full ES course file can be downloaded here: ES100 full course gpx

Event's current local time: 1:16 AM ET