Trails Club Calendar:
2026
February 27 – March 1 – Yeti Dark Horse Ultra (event not be hosted by Aiken Trails Club) Registration HERE
March 7 @ 8am – Aiken Trails Club Monthly Group Run/Walk
April 11 @ 8am – Aiken Trails Club Monthly Group Run/Walk
April 18: Aiken Trailblazer at Stable View Spring Race
May 9 @ 8am – Aiken Trails Club Monthly Group Run/Walk
June 6 @8am - Aiken Trails Club Monthly Group Run/Walk
June 25 - 28 - Camp-Run-A-Muck Running Retreat - For more information or sign up HERE
July 11 - Aiken Trails Club Monthly Group Run/Walk
Barry’s Trail Club Monthly Letter
Can everyone who reads this Introduction think about Sponsorship?
Think about it from three angles.
First, what a Sponsor could get out of Sponsoring the Trails Club @ Stable View - Profile / Naming Rights / Use of Stable View’s Social Media Outreach.
Second, how could the Sponsor help in the development of the Trails Club @ Stable View - Improved Facilities / Subsidized Entries / Additional Membership benefits / Donated Prizes.
Third, who might these Sponsors be? Nutritional Supplement Providers / Trails Equipment Distributors / Sports Stores / Clothing or Apparel Manufacturers.
We’ve all got to think about Competitive Advantages, right?!
If you have any contacts or ideas, please let us know.
Battle of the Run Clubs 2025
By Sarah Hansel
After being delayed 2 weeks due to a potential ice storm, the first annual Battle of the Run Clubs finally took place on February 7th, on a beautiful sunny morning at Stable View.
We were excited to have so many local runners take a chance on a new format and think it has a lot of potential to develop into something bigger in the future.
After combining some of the smaller teams and free agents, we ended up with 6 large teams going head to head, with Augusta Run Club dominating the numbers with 16 entries.
In the end it was the Augusta Trail Runners who ruled the day, bringing home the win with just 5 points and having their names engraved on the perpetual trophy. They were closely followed by Fleet Feet with 8 points and then a combined team of the Aiken Run Club/SRS Runners with 9 points.
Women's 5k:
1. Lina Mowat
2. Ruth Brosnahan
3. Lindsay Brown
Men's 5k
1. James Lovuolo
2. Malachite Dinkins
3. Nathan Maxwell
Women's 10k
1. Sarah Hansel
2. Emily Hudechek
3. Carys Thompson
Men's 10k
1. James Stoltzfus
2. Jacob Hailstone
3. Sloan McLaughlin
Women's 10mi *
1. Shelby Goff
2. Seren Jacobs
3. Jocelyn Cascio
Men's 10mi
1. Louis Stevenson
2. Andrew Duncan
3. Jason Patillo
Thank you to Stable View for hosting this even at their wonderful facility, to Chef Chris for his amazing post race meal, to Wallace for building the majority of our single track trails, to Upstate Timing for providing our start and finish line, to Fleet Feet for donating prizes, and to Kena for taking my silly idea and turning it into a reality.
We look forward to seeing all of you back out here in 2027!
* we did have some confusion with a few runners possibly going off course in the 10 miler. This was especially confusing because not all runners recorded their gps data. Next year we will most likely have the aid stations record bib numbers as they come through to ensure all runners are completing the entire course. We did our best to sort through these to come up with fair results. Fortunately the winning team, Augusta Trail Runners, would have won regardless of these results.
Coach’s Corner with Victoria:
Victoria Seahorn, founding Race Director of the ING Georgia Marathon is a veteran of 30 marathons and numerous half marathons. In addition to her personal experience completing races, Seahorn has created training programs to guide more than 10,000 people to achieve their goal of completing marathons to 5K’s.
During her career, Seahorn has been in demand as a speaker, coach, marathon pace group program organizer and leader. She is the race director of The Aiken Trailblazer at Stable View trail races.
Run-Walk-Believe: A Tribute to Jeff Galloway
As I sit here, trying to focus on March/perhaps springtime running, my thoughts keep drifting… A great running legend, Jeff Galloway,passed away on February 25, 2026. Therefore, I think it is best to have this month’s article as a tribute to Jeff. He inspired so many people to take that first step, whether it be into the marathoning world or a 5K, whether you had never run a day in your life or you were coming back from an injury or hit a turning point in your life deciding to get back into running.
Jeff Galloway is the reason I became an avid runner and marathoner. I joined his program in 1993 running my first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon. I was smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day and decided I needed to change my lifestyle. Of course, I couldn’t choose a 5K program to start with, oh no, I had to join the Galloway Marathon Training Program! I remember my first 3 mile training run around Chastain Park. I thought if I looked down I would surely see my lungs laying on the pavement…
But, through the power of the group, those strangers running beside me who became dear friends helped me get through that first 3 miler. I did make it through the program and completed the first of 30 marathons. I embraced the program completely and soon became a Group Leader and before I knew it, I had the privilege of actually working with Jeff for several years as his national program director.
He was an incredible athlete. I remember one day he came into the office and needed to take an afternoon run realizing he didn’t have his running shoe inserts, which didn’t bother him at all. He just laced up and hit the pavement. I was also lucky to spend time with him traveling as he was an amazing motivational speaker. He had a knack of making everyone feel as though he knew them and understood where they were coming from and listened to their every word. He was always genuinely concerned and answered every question. I remember in the very beginning of my running career, I was struggling with my morning runs. I started out on a long gradual hill from my apartment. One day I asked Jeff what I could do to make it not so totally miserable. He looked me straight in the eye and said “I give you permission to walk up that hill”. I laughed and thanked him. But I did start walking up that hill and I did start inserting run breaks and before long, I did conquer that darn hill! I was also lucky to attend several of his running camps in Lake Tahoe. Which were definitely a runner's high experience! Running along the Pacific Rim and along the trails around the lake at sunrise, meeting people with the same passion from all around the country. Memories I will forever cherish.
Jeff’s teachings, training programs, and books have helped thousands of athletes. He will be forever missed. I could go on and on, but Runners World put together a great article I would like to share, as I know some of you may not know Jeff’s history.
Olympian and Influential Running Author Jeff Galloway Dies at 80
Thank you for listening to me ramble. Thoughts and prayers to the Galloway family.
Happy Running, Coach Victoria Seahorn
The OG Trailblazer - Yellow Jessamine
If you’ve ever wandered out to Stable View in the springtime, you know there’s a particular kind of wild, viny magic that settles in low and slow… Come March and April — the yellow jessamine arrives. Now, if you’re not from around here, let me educate you. Yellow jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens, if you’re feeling botanical) is South Carolina’s state flower. It doesn’t ask permission. It just climbs wherever it pleases — fences, shrubs, low-hanging branches, and occasionally straight across the very trail you are running. It explodes into cascades of golden trumpets that look like sunshine decided to take root. You’ll catch the Dr. Pepper scent before you spot it — sweet, soft, and just strong enough to stop you mid-stride.
Because while yellow jessamine is beautiful, it is also sneaky. It drapes itself low and lazy across paths like it owns the deed. One minute you’re admiring its glow in the morning light, the next minute your toe catches a vine and you’re performing what I like to call an “unscheduled gravity check.”
I have personally witnessed proud, seasoned trail runners get humbled by a flowering vine that looks like it ought to be minding its manners. But it’s not malicious. It’s just enthusiastic. That’s the thing about these trails. They’ll make a philosopher out of a runner and a poet out of somebody who swore they “don’t do nature.”
But they will also remind you that nature does not move aside just because you signed up for a race. That’s part of the charm of Stable View in the spring. It’s generous with its beauty, but it keeps you honest. The land gives you fragrance, color, and soft footing — and just enough mischief to make sure you’re paying attention.
The OG Trailblazer March Trails Report:
First up: a slick new green cut-through created, with the help of Rylan that skirts you right around the big sand hill. Now, for those of you who’ve huffed and puffed your way straight up that sandy beast before, you know it can feel like climbing a beach with your shoes on backwards.
This single-track winds you around the base with a smooth, runnable line that keeps things flowing while still giving you a good trail feel. It’s narrow, it’s nimble, and it lets you keep your rhythm instead of digging for traction like a confused armadillo. Whether you’re logging easy miles or trying to negative split your long run, this stretch is going to earn its keep.
Kalmia Canyon Connector
The second addition can be found across the sand road from the Kalmia Canyon exit. Rather than turn up the road and turn right, head across and you bypass all the beachy sand when it starts to get hot and dry! You’ll connect back into the Blue Loop without sand in your socks.
Event currently in progress...look forward to a recap in our April issue!.
Aiken Trails Cl b L Map:
