This year I decided I wanted to shift my focus a little bit when it came to my running. I still set myself big goals to accomplish in my running, but instead of focusing on max effort I wanted to focus on enjoying the time I spend running more. For me this means taking the time to appreciate nature and more specifically taking the time to create more photography and media around my experiences in nature. This change of focus really benefited me as I struggled through some of my training and through Worlds End 50k. I found myself able to focus on the creative side of what I do and the real reason I love running, which is to put myself more in touch with the physical world and more in touch with nature.

After last year’s race it was abundantly clear that Worlds End State Park is just a supremely beautiful place to spend a day. There is just an abundance of gorgeous natural beauty here. Last year I felt that I failed to capture enough of it and this year I really wanted to capture more of it on camera. The best way to experience and see as much of this park as possible at one time is clearly to run the race. It would take days or weeks to appropriately explore this park slowly on foot, and maybe that is a project for another day. There are very few parts of the Worlds end 50K race course that is not exquisite in one way or another. Even with all of the mud it gave the park a gritty prehistoric feel.

The blessing in disguise of being unable to move at the pace that I wanted to is that I was able to/ forced to spend more time creating photography. I was able to create more photography and I was probably able to create more good photography because I was moving at a slower pace. Trying to get good quality scenic photographs in the dimly lit canopy of the forest can be tricky especially if one is on the move.

If you are someone who truly appreciates nature in all of its forms then this park has everything you could imagine. Just the simple trails leading into the forest is beautiful in its own right. You are quickly immersed in the wildness of the park. There are rocks and boulders that feature prominently in the landscape of different areas of the park. There are scenic overlooks where you can look out across the valley, typically to get to those you are traversing a steep climb that is featuring many of these afore mentioned rocks and boulders. Some of those sections are so strewn with boulders that there really is no trail and you are simply scrambling over rocks the best you can. As you descend from the high points and overlooks you delve deep into the valley that are carved out by streams that course through the forest like veins caring its life blood. There are many sections of trails where you are crossing streams or running alongside streams. These scenic areas where the water and rocks and forest combine are really what I live for as a photographer and a nature lover. These streams move through the woods following the landscape, charting its own course and creating waterfalls of various sizes. I could stand and photograph these streams through the forest and these waterfalls for hours without end, and someday I may come back and do just that. They are simply captivating.

One of the most prominent features of Worlds End State Park is the Loyalsock Creek running right down the heart of the park and carving out the valley over millennia. It is called a creek but in my estimation it is more like a small river to me. It was one of the features I wanted to make sure I took some time to soak in and photograph while I had time. We went down to the day use area the day before the race and relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. I went down by the Loyalsock Creek walked around and took some photographs. Then after the race I went down and literally soaked in the creak.

Different regions of the park have their own distinct feel that is created by that nature of the landscape that surrounds you. Being able to participate in this race the past two years has really made a lasting impression on me. I didn’t even know that this gem of a location existed only one and a half hours from where I live. I did not know what I was missing out on. Now I feel compelled to plan for a time when I can come down and visit this area and give it the proper attention it deserves and capture its beauty in full. It would be great to take my time and explore each area of the park that has its own unique feel and capture that in photographs.

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