Running ridges and stages

David Tosch, coordinator for the Southeastern Trail Series, was burnt out on road races. Retired and his children off to college, Tosch had lost the motivation to train for the road races he ran in college. Although he was still cycling and participating in triathlons, he noticed that the people he once outran were beginning to pass him by.

But then he participated in the Imogene Pass Run in Colorado, a 17-mile run at 13,000 feet over the San Juan Mountains.

“It was absolutely spectacular because you’re going over this mountain pass at 13,000 feet and at the top, you can see across the San Juan Mountains for probably 150 miles,” Tosch said.

He came back to Alabama hooked on trail running and helped found Southeastern Trail Runs, which holds the Southeastern Trail Series that brought trail running to the Birmingham area.

The runners of the Trail Series are looking to run farther than the average 5K. Each race is harder and longer than the previous to train runners for the ultramarathon at the end of the series, the Tranquility Lake 50K at Oak Mountain State Park.

In fact, many of the races of the Southeastern Trail Series are featured at Oak Mountain. Tosch said people who practice trail running in Alabama are at an advantage compared to people who run in flatter areas, such as Texas, Florida and Louisiana. 

“Our trails, though, are really good training because they’re really rugged and rough and rocky,” Tosch said. “Running here, running the Series, gets people ready to then go run pretty much any race in the country.”

There are two races at Oak Mountain this month as part of the series. The first is the Ridge 2 Ridge Trail Race on Sept. 5. By setting the race trail to go back and forth between two ridges, Tosch recreates the climbs runners will face on larger mountains.

“I try to find trails that are hard to make it difficult and demanding, because most people who go run races go to Chattanooga or places like that with bigger mountains,” Tosch said. 

Kyle Stichtenoth has participated in the trail series for several years. He said the intense heat and repeatedly running up the ridges make the run difficult at Ridge 2 Ridge.

“[Tosch] spends a lot of time running on the hills anywhere you can find them at Oak Mountain or other trails,” Stichtenoth said. “So he runs it for himself, sees how challenging or fun it is and then says, ‘Hey, let me torture other people the same way.’”

The second race is the third leg of the Birmingham Stage Race, which is held at Red Mountain, Ruffner Mountain and Oak Mountain. The three stages total 53 miles and are held over a weekend. Tosch said the Oak Mountain leg, on Sept. 27, is one of the hardest.

Now in its fourth year, the race continues to attract highly competitive runners and trail running enthusiasts. The difficulty of the race has kept the numbers of runners each year relatively small. Last year, 60 runners participated over three days. This year, Tosch expects 70 to 80 runners. Despite its difficulty, Tosch said that trail running enthusiasts of all kinds are welcome. 

“Most runners walk up difficult hills. Many walk up all hills,” he said. “We even have some that walk the entire course.”

With his own love of trail running in mind, Tosch encourages interested first-time trail runners to sign up for at least one of the days to gain experience.

“The point of trail running is to have fun and enjoy good company,” he said.

For more information or to sign up for a race, visit southeasterntrailruns.com/ or ultrasignup.com.