10/15/2026
Last night I had the great pleasure and honor to present Ru Shodai with the Run Wild "Dagger of Determination" for her successful completion of the 70-mile SRT Run. This was at the Orange Runners Club (Orange County, NY) monthly meeting.
For those not familiar with it, the SRT Run is a difficult race, with typically only a 50% completion rate. It follows the Shawangunk Ridge Trail, created by the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, high in the Gunks, and we neither mark the course nor provide any food or aid. The runners have to be truly self sufficient. If they run out of food or water, that's their problem. If they get lost, we'll send search and rescue teams out and probably find them. It's a race where "they don't hold the runners' hands," as one participant put it, and we don't, because they don't need it.
It took Ru 3 tries to finish the race. She showed up in 2024 and made it 50 miles, and in 2025 she got to 55. What impressed me, as Race Director, was that each time she was totally in control of herself and understood what her body could and could not do in terms of speed and distance and was able to make rational decisions. This year, she was steady throughout, made it through all the checkpoints with time to spare, and showed up at the finish line in good spirits.
Very impressive. 70 miles on the Shawangunk Ridge Trail is no joke. Thanks for the inspiration, Ru!
