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NOVEMBER 25, 2023

The Thanksgiving feast is over, Black Friday is done; now it's time for you to get off the couch, leave the stores and head over to the trails! Join us on Saturday November 25, 2023 at the South Mountain Reservation in West Orange, NJ for The Squatchy Leftovers trail race! You can register to run/hike a 5K, 10K, 25K or 50K! We will be supporting our charity partner, "Operation Chillout" with this event. 

THUNDER CHICKEN SQUATCH: About

TRAIL PARTY DETAILS

SQUATCHY LEFTOVERS

This is a Sassquad OG event. In fact, it was the first unofficial Sassquad event before Sassquad was even created, back in November of 2017. That first event had about 30 people. Most recently, the 2021 event sold-out with 260 runners and hikers! We always have a lot of families come out to this Trail Party (which just warms our squatchy hearts)! Remember, we always offer 15% off to families registering 3 or more squatches!

CHARITY PARTNER

Our charity partner Operation Chillout delivers warm clothing to homeless Veterans around NJ and PA. In the past, we have collected warm clothing donations at this race, but recently - Operation Chillout is transitioning to only accepting monetary donations. They have established a great working relationship with a clothing vendor that can sell them warm clothing in large quantities at a reduced rate, so they will be able to use our funds to make a big impact! Click here to learn more about Operation Chillout.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

50K - 10 loops. Check-in between 7:15am-7:45am. 8am start
25K - 5 loops. Check-in between 7:15am-7:45am. 8am start
10K - 2 loops. Check-in between 8:15am-8:45am. 9am start
5K - 1 loop. Check-in between 8:15am-8:45am. 9am start

Cut-off for all events is 4:30pm sharp! Course Sweepers will leave the start/finish area at 3:45pm to begin sweeping the course.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

We use the same 5K loop from our Frosty Fat Sass race in January. There are portapottys at the start/finish area. There's 289 ft of gain. The first 1.25 miles are mellow, double wide trails. Shortly after you pass the Girl Scout Camp on your left, you'll turn right to begin a 200'+ descent that is rocky due to erosion the last couple of years. Take your time on this downhill as there are loose rocks and roots. At the bottom of the hill, you'll turn right and will be back on mellow doublewide trails. At mile 2.5, you'll hop on a singletrack that has some rocks and roots. There's a 1/2 mile of this singletrack before you return to the start/finish.  If you're going to be out there for more than a few hours hours, we recommend a grippy shoe that can give ya some comfort over rocks and roots. We will always provide a detailed trail conditions report leading up to the race and will include recommendations for any winter traction devices! You can download the gpx file and map below.

AID STATIONS

Our Volunteer Dream Team will bring all of the Trail Magic to the Aid Station! We will have hot food, plenty of snacks as well as water and Skratch Hydration. As always, we will have a large assortment of gluten-free and vegan options. Aid Station may include the following: fruit, ice pops, GF fruit snacks, granola bars, GF oreos, GF pretzels, GF tortilla chips, GF corn tortillas, quesadillas, bacon, pierogies, ramen, veggie broth etc. The Aid Station is located at the start/finish area, so you will pass it on every loop (every 3.1M).

COURSE MARKINGS

The course will be well-marked with neon pink/reflective ribbon. We have large red directional arrows at each of the turns. 

VOLUNTEER DREAM TEAM

Our Volunteer Dream Team is what makes all of the Trail Magic happen! Join us as a Volunteer at this trail party as we support our squatchtastic running community. We have many Volunteer opportunities available such as Check-In, Aid Station Crew, Course Sweepers etc. Click here to Volunteer!

THUNDER CHICKEN SQUATCH: List
GETTING TO THE RACE

The race starts and finishes at the Turtleback Rock Picnic Area off of Walker Road in West Orange at the South Mountain Reservation. We'll be able to fit about 110 cars in the Turtleback Rock Picnic Area Lot. After the main parking lot is full, our Volunteers will direct overflow parking to thet side streets off of Walker Road. Please do not park illegally or block anyone's driveways on those side streets.

COURSE MAP

All of our race courses are available to view online. We have also made .gpx files available for download so you can add it to your watch or device. You can use Gaia to download the gpx and PlotARoute to view/download the course map.

FAQS

CAN I HAVE A PACER?

 No pacers are allowed.

CAN I BRING MY DOG?

NO. Our insurance policy does not cover dogs at our races. Thanks for understanding.

WILL THERE BE AN AID STATION?

YES! Our main aid station will have a wide variety of traditional ultra running food, as well as many vegan and gluten-free items. You are more than welcome to bring your own food/water and setup your own aid station in the parking lot and access it each time you come to the start/finish area (see above Course Description for Aid Station #1 locations)

WHAT IS THE WEATHER LIKE?

WILL I SEE SASQUATCH?

We sure hope you do! Make sure you take a selfie with him if you see Squatchy out there!

374 Walker Road, West Orange, NJ 07052

Cold. Snow. Maybe Hail. Balmy? Dress warm. Bring layers. Be smart. Check the forecast for West Orange, NJ

WILL THE COURSE BE MARKED?

ME AND MY FRIEND AREN'T REGISTERED FOR THE RACE, BUT WE'RE STILL PLANNING ON COMING TO RUN. WE WON'T EAT FROM THE AID STATION OR TAKE A MEDAL OR SWAG. THIS IS OKAY, RIGHT?

We will have pink/red reflective colored ribbons along the course and plenty at all of the turns, along with large red directional arrows that have reflective tape on them.

CAN I GET A REFUND?

Unfortunately we do not offer refunds on the nonrefundable registration fee.

WHAT ADDRESS SHOULD I USE TO GET TO THE PARK?

CAN I REGISTER MY KIDS FOR THIS RACE?

YES! We love having families join us. If you are registering 3 or more squatches, please email us for a discount code! trailpartydirector@sassquadtrailrunning.com

ARE THERE ANY RESTROOMS?

NO THIS IS NOT OKAY. This is called being a "race bandit" and it is stealing. Not paying for a race and running the race is stealing from the race organization (even if you're not taking food or swag). Don't do this at a Sassquad trail party or ANY other race. It's not okay. And if you hear about someone else doing this, call them out. If you bandit a race, you will be banned from registering for any of our Sassquad events.

We will have portajohn's at the start/finish area

THUNDER CHICKEN SQUATCH: FAQ
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