Hello Trail Runners!

Thank you for coming out to run the Fire Tower Trail Races this past Sunday in support of the restoration of the Cross River Mountain Fire Tower to its historic place in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. 

We had over 200 runners finish between the two races (100+ in the half, 100+ in the 10k). Results can be found at https://runsignup.com/firetowerraces/Results.

Fifty-five runners have donated to date to the Friends of the Fire Tower – with over $2,500 raised so far. If you haven’t yet donated – or you would like to donate an additional amount – the current fundraising effort will remain open until the fire tower opens. THANK YOU!!! 

The races got started well and the weather was sunny and mid-60s temperature at the 8am Half Marathon start. The 10k started up at 9am and it was a bit warmer. There were a few twists of ankles and other bruises — but the increasing heat played a bigger role in some runners getting dehydrated.

Runners in distress were seen to by the fantastic Lewisboro Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Pound Ridge Fire Department members who were on hand. They were able to help most people on site at the park. But … If you had an injury or evacuation please let us know how you are doing if you are willing to share your experience (we won’t post anything here – just for our own knowledge). 

TOP FINISHERS

For the Fire Tower Trail Half Marathon, top mens finishers were Eamonn Sullivan of  Wappingers Falls (1:51:34), Riley Courtney of Ridgefield CT (1:52:30), and Eddy Jimenez of Sleepy Hollow NY (1:53:08)
 
Top women’s finishers for the Fire Tower Trail Half Marathon were Morgan Busko of Bronxville NY (2:06:46), Kristin Sheely of Armonk NY (2:12:49), and Jennifer Mikolay of Hopewell Junction NY (2:19:28).

For the Fire Tower Trail 10k the top three mens finishers were Griffin Cino of Mt Kisco (57:40), Maxim Stobetskiy of Ridgefield CT (57:47), and Andrew Powell of Darien CT (57:59).

For the Fire Tower Trail 10k the top three womens finishers were Delaney Bracken of Stratford CT (57:59), Kate Cino of Mt Kisco (1:08:15), and Carrie Euring of Fairfield CT (1:09:29).

If you look at the results through the Runsignup.com results link and you click on your entry, you can see photos linked to your finish time if those photos have your bib number showing in them. It’s a pretty cool way to see yourself on race day. 

Note: Most runners did the 10k or the half marathon. But we heard from 1-2 runners that they did a “hybrid course” – some by mistake and some by choice. We’d love to see your Strava tracks for those distances if you have them handy. I don’t think we will be adding a “Fire Tower 9-ish Mile” option — but it would be good to know for future instructional and potential rescue purposes (send to firetowerraces@gmail.com).

PHOTOS

There are Photo Albums in our big race photo (& video) archive that can be found here: https://leathermansloop.smugmug.com/Fire-Tower-Races/2026 ← that is the main album folder and all race albums can be found inside it.

There is also a SPECIAL ALBUM that YOU CAN UPLOAD YOUR RACE DAY PHOTOS & VIDEOS TO – right from your phone! Please share and we will save & share them for posterity! 

The photos so far include albums of the Half Marathon & the 10k at various spots. These include Kimberly Bridge, the Fire Tower location (10k runners), a trail camera, at the finish line, plus pre- and post-race photos. Thank you to our photographers Sawyer Cummings, Carol Gordon, Roozbeh Daneshvar, Madie Dittrich, Rob Cummings, and others!

VOLUNTEERS

I wanted to acknowledge and thank our many volunteers, without whom the race simply wouldn’t happen. Apologies in advance if I forget anyone below. I will update this Race Recap online so let me know and I will add others.

For the course surveying and prep in the weeks before the race, Eric has been out there with me helping get the trails in shape. Runner Joe M is always keeping an eye on trail conditions and frequently takes care of issues on the Rez trails before anyone even knows about them. Many of our Sunday Runners also report Rez trail issues using the park’s GIS based reporting system.

In addition, the folks at the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference (NYNJTC) are the volunteer workers who coordinate with the parks department and clear the big blowdowns and re-route trails when conditions require it. Geoff Conner has led the local Ward Pound Ridge Reservation crew for over a decade. Rose, who was on-hand on Sunday as a race volunteer, is the NYNJTC Westchester County coordinator volunteers across all parks. If you want to know how to get hands-on with local park trail maintenance, connect with the NY-NJ Trail Conference volunteer page.

We have race volunteers who also helped with course setting – a crew of ten set out on Saturday 6/6 to set both the half marathon and the 10k courses. We divided into four teams to tackle areas of varying terrain and distance. Thank you to Jimmy, Paul, Eric, Ciorsdan, Orion, Annalise, Jack, Sawyer, Gerry, and Sam. It would have been a VERY long and tiring day for fewer people to set the full 20 miles of flags! (even with the course overlaps) 

On race morning the Cobweb Crew of Lee, Carrie, Greg, and Joe went out to run and check the markings for the half-marathon course starting at 5am. After the 10k race started they went out and did it again – making them the record holders for the Fire Tower Trail Marathon! ;) These runners are key members of the Leatherman Harrier SundayRuns.org Crew that meets up every Sunday for runs and hikes. Visit SundayRuns.org for more information and to get on their email list. 

Alan, Liane, Jimmy, and Peeter came in for the early shift to set up the tables and registration area and get ready for the bagel/coffee/etc food delivery. Gerry, Christy, Dean, Beth, Karen, & Heather came early and set up the Peace Love Trails aid station at Kimberly Bridge. Stephen and Sky made their way up to the top of the park to the currently-being-restored Fire Tower for the Fire Tower aid station. The other two aid stations (Intersection 39 and Michigan Road) were initially unmanned but had some check-ins. 

At the bib/registration tables, Tanya, Erica, Chris, Brian, Katie, Alexian, Gail, Peeter, Alan, Liane, Eric, and Ciorsdan got everyone set with their bibs and sorted out the shirts. 

In a category by himself, Jacob was the official “Split” Course Marshal at the key Intersection #62 just after Raven Rocks. He was in charge of making sure runners of the half and the 10k stayed on the correct course. He was also available to answer any philosophical questions that arose during the race day deep in the park. (does anyone have a photo of Jacob at his post??? send it in! or upload it here: https://leathermansloop.smugmug.com/upload/54RWkn/2026)

Our race sweeps were Lee, Greg, Carrie, and Joe for the Half Marathon along with Peeter who was the Half Marathon Flag Sweeper (aka the final course clearing of people and race markings). Derek and Clay were the 10k sweepers and were followed by Sy and Raphael who were the 10k Flag Sweepers. Scott was a hybrid sweep who ran the half marathon course and some of the 10k course – patrolling the park for any runners in distress. 

Tony and Judy Godino were on hand as the races got underway to wish runners a good run as they passed through Kimberly Bridge. Tony is the person who got me involved not only with trail racing through my first trail race ever – the Leatherman’s Loop. He also got me started as a trail race organizer way back in 2007. 

I wanted to thank everyone at Westchester County Parks, Recreation, and Conservation – and specifically park employees Mike, Josh, Mario, Jasper (who also ran the ½ marathon!), Jake, Bobby, Minaxi, Lily, plus Taro who is in charge at the Rez. Many folks at the permits office and Parks Dept HQ are also critical in support of the races and also the Fire Tower Restoration. A BIG thank you to everyone there! 

FINAL THANK YOUS

The two people I want to thank below are the like the “Odin’s Ravens” of the Fire Tower Restoration effort. The mythical ravens Huginn and Muninn represent “Thought” and “Memory” and according to Norse Mythology they circled the world every day and related what they saw back to Odin – I will leave you to figure out who is who in my fairly stretched analogy. 

Tom Cohn aka “Mr. Fire Tower” has been THE instigating and constant force behind the “bring back the fire tower” effort. Tom is the reason the fire tower restoration idea existed in the first place – he remembers the original fire tower fondly from his earlier days. He is a BIG supporter of this race and the runners. You saw on your way past the tower it is well under construction. Tom was the OFFICIAL 10k STARTER for the inaugural races. Tom was introduced to me by Tony GODINo way back in 2012.

Erika Pierce has been the County Legislator for District 2 (the one the race takes place in) since 2021. She was the OFFICIAL STARTER for the Half Marathon. Erika is a tireless advocate for the parks system — and especially this park. She’s one of the main reasons we are seeing a fire tower here in the park in 2026 because of her ability to get many projects done in the county capital budget and parks budget. In addition to the fire tower restoration, other projects here include the covered bridges, the entry pond and dam work, and the mill pond restoration. In addition to the Rez she has spearheaded major upgrades and improvements Muscoot Farm, Mountain Lakes Park, Merestead Park, Hilltop Hanover Farm, and many other parks in the county.

Last but not least — I want to thank my family members Griffin, Kathryn, Orion, Annalise, Sawyer and of course my lovely wife Ciorsdan – I couldn’t do this all without you. Love you!

-Rob 

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PS: We had some race day heroes as well – Nick and Terry helped a runner in distress at Michigan Road. Others stopped and offered help as well. I heard Ace was very helpful to another dehydrated runner but don’t know details (thank you!). I was setting up water at the Michigan Road aid station when I had to go to the aid of a runner — and a very nice woman walking with her dog (not even running the race or spectating) offered to take over at the aid station when she saw I had to divert my attention. There were many other helpers along the way – We thank you all!! 

PPS: We will return in the fall with Run the Farm and Raven Rocks Run – but there are local trail races in the area over the summer that you’re going to want to check out – and tell your friends about!

In TWO weekends (June 28th) the second annual Fork in the Trail 5k — put on by Peace Love Trails — heads into the windy trails of Westmoreland Sanctuary in Mt Kisco via the Fox Lane Middle School trailhead. The race course is a “lollipop” shape – and when runners get to the junction (about 1k in) they can take either a right or a left turn (runners choice!) creating two way racing fun on the middle 3k trail loop. A few weeks after that is their MID-WEEK evening run at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls – the Bowdoin Bushwhack 5 mile Trail Run.

Meanwhile a few weeks after that – on Saturday August 1st – Steep Endurance is bringing the Ridge Reaper Ultramarathons to Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. Featuring a 25k, 50k, and 50 mile course, these races will be intense!

Hope to see you out on the trails this summer!

Cross River Mountain Fire Tower website – History, Photos, Restoration Progress, etc. https://crmfiretower.org

You can sign up for Run the Farm (Oct) or Raven Rocks Run (Nov) — or both races at the same time and get a bundle discount.

Selection above of some of the amazing race day (and setup!) photos at the photo archives here: https://leathermansloop.smugmug.com/Fire-Tower-Races/2026