Run for Women Training Challenge

Registration is open for the 16th annual Run for Women Training Challenge to prepare you for the Delightful Run for Women 5K on Saturday, May 30. There are four levels: speed walking, run/walk, beginner walk to run, and the intermediate to advanced run program. 

The speed walking program will focus on walking the 5K. You will learn to vary your pace, walk efficiently, and build cardio vascular fitness. The run/walk program is built off of Jeff Galloway’s successful run/walk concept. Participants will follow a progressive run/walk program that works for their pace and goals. A beginner run program for those who are new to running or are coming back after a break. This program starts with run/walk and progresses to a 5K run as we head to race day. The intermediate program is for those who have completed a 5K or want more challenging workouts. The advanced program is for those athletes ready for focused speed and distance workouts. Athletes should already be able to run five or more miles at a time. The advanced program is open to all paces.

For 10 weeks starting Monday, March 23, give your motivation a boost, improve your performance and make some new friends by choosing to participate in the 2026 Training Challenge. The group runs are led by mentor coaches.

There are 10 training challenge workouts throughout the Capital-Saratoga Region on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the large group workout on Saturdays at Halfmoon Town Park. Workouts are located in Albany, Clifton Park, Colonie, Delmar, Glenville, Halfmoon, Latham, Saratoga Springs, and Troy: runsignup.com.

Paddle the Canals: Mohawk River Adventure

Registration is open for the Saturday, June 27 tour from Niskayuna to Latham. Participants can paddle the scenic Mohawk River and Erie Canal on this half-day guided excursion. On the way, paddlers can travel through a historic lock, along the edge of Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve, and beneath the iconic Twin Bridges. A free shuttle brings you to the launch, so you can focus on the paddle. 

The seven-mile trip starts at Lock E7 Park in Niskayuna and finishes at Colonie Town Park in Latham, where a post-paddle lunch will be served in the Riverview Pavilion. Kayak rentals are available through Upstate Kayak Rentals and must be reserved in advance. Registration is limited to 250 people so register early for guaranteed entry. The event is a fundraiser for the NYS Canalway Water Trail and Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor: eriecanalway.org.

Henry Loher Wins the Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition

On Feb. 14-15, 55 ski jumpers took part in the 104th Harris Hill Ski Jump Competition in Brattleboro. They came from as far away as Norway and Slovenia to compete on the only Olympic-sized ski jump in New England. Nearly 6,000 people came out to watch the jumpers fly down the ramp and glide through the air.

The athletes are judged not only on distance but on style, with judges looking at three parts of their jump: their formation while they are in flight; their landing in the telemark position with one ski in front of the other, knees bent; and how well they maintain their form after they’ve touched down on the outrun at the end of their jump.

This year’s competition, which coincided with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, saw 17-year-old Henry Loher from Lake Placid, NY (NYSEF), edge out Slovenia’s Urh Rosar. Urh had been on track to permanently retire the trophy after winning the open class championships for the past two years in a row. But Henry’s second jump of 325 feet (99 meters) gave him a total score of 252.5 to best Orh’s 250, becoming the first US jumper since 2013 to win the tournament.

The first ever women’s class trophy was awarded to Slovenia’s Nejka Repinc with a 300 feet (91.5 meter) jump putting her ahead of her other competitors.

In 1922, a college kid named Fred Harris built a wooden ski jump in his hometown of Brattleboro, and the Harris Hill Ski Jump was born: harrishillskijump.com.

NFCT Announces 2025 Thru-Paddlers

The Northern Forest Canoe Trail has announced the latest additions to its roster of official thru-paddlers. Five paddlers completed the entire 740-mile inland water trail in 2025: Austin Garber of Hermon, ME; Jonah Vitale-Wolff of Petersburgh, NY; Cassandra Smith and Henry Kohler of Martinsburg, PA; and Justin Reich of Arlington, MA. 

The NFCT is a mapped inland water trail tracing 740 miles of Indigenous and historic travel routes across New York, Vermont, Québec, New Hampshire, and Maine. The canoe trail starts in Old Forge, and ends in Fort Kent, ME, traversing 23 rivers and streams, 59 lakes and ponds, 45 communities and towns, and more than 65 portages.

Thru-paddling involves traversing the NFCT by paddlecraft, downstream and upstream via flatwater, whitewater and overland, through deep wilderness and trail town communities. To be recognized as an official NFCT thru-paddler, individuals must complete the entire route as one expedition during a single season. They are also required to formally register their trip for thru-paddler status. Thru-paddlers are classified in two categories: those who complete the trail from west to east self-propelled, and those who complete the trail west to east supported by shuttles. All five paddlers in 2025 were recognized as self-propelled.

While thru-paddlers take on the whole canoe trail at once, the vast majority of NFCT paddlers pick specific sections for day trips, overnights, and week-long trips. Learn more about shorter suggested trips: northernforestcanoetrail.org.