In August 2025, I embarked on an ultrarunning adventure from Buffalo, NY to Albany, NY along the Erie Canalway Trail segment of the NYS Empire Trail. In the coming week’s I’ll be working to add more detail and stories about the adventure too!

This page and ensuing documentation is shared to help serve as a reference point for anyone planning a similar adventure, whether now or in the future. If you have run or are planning to run this trail, drop me a line.

Make These Miles Count!

As part of this run, I’m fundraising for Hudson Taconic Lands (HTL), a 501c3 organization dedicated to land conservation & management, as well as providing nature oriented youth programming in Rensselaer County. Learn more about their mission below and please join us in celebrating the outdoors this summer with a donation.

About Hudson Taconic Lands

Hudson Taconic Lands (HTL) works with the community to conserve the lands and waters of Rensselaer County, nurturing connections with nature for the people who live, work, and play here. Their work extends from the shores of the Hudson River in Rensselaer County, across the Rensselaer Plateau, and to the Taconic Crest that borders New York and Massachusetts.

HTL has conserved more than 17,000 acres in Rensselaer County and manages thousands of acres of land. This includes special places that are open to the public as community forests and other public conservation areas. They also hold Conservation Easements (Voluntary Conservation Agreements) and work with landowners to support them in conserving and stewarding their land. Donations to HTL support its conservation work, community programs, and youth programs including:

Learning Landscapes: A new initiative of HTL’s Youth Programming will conserve nature areas close to schools throughout Rensselaer County. Learning Landscapes will reduce barriers to access, ensuring that each student in the public school system has the chance to develop a connection to a Hudson Taconic Lands property, creating learning impacts for youth in our county that will be as enduring as our land conservation work.

Forest Conservation Corps: In its 6th year, HTL’s largest youth program is the Forest Conservation Corps. Each summer, Hudson Taconic Lands, Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center, and Grafton Lakes State Park invite young people aged 14-16 to get outside at nature areas throughout Rensselaer County during this popular summer program. Inspired by the work of the U.S. Forest Service’s Youth Conservation Corps, this FREE program offers young people a chance to contribute to conservation and stewardship work at a Rensselaer County preserve, practice outdoor skills, explore and play, learn from environmental professionals, and even earn a stipend.

Hudson Taconic Lands is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 94-3444825).