Dick Vincent

Residence: Palenville
Hometown: Catskill
Primary Sports: Running, Trail Running, Cycling, Hiking.
Occupation: Race Director, Coach for Albany Running Exchange, and Personal Running Coach
Family: Partner, Eve Alvarez; Son, Cody Vincent; Brothers, Tom, Jack, and Harry Vincent
Age: 73

By Erin Quinn

In 1977, Dick Vincent created one of the first endurance trail-races of its kind – the enchanting and perilous 18.6-mile Escarpment Trail Run in the Catskills. The trail traverses remote regions of the Catskill Mountains that include large vertical ascents and dangerous rock-and root-riddled descents. There are places where runners must get on all fours to navigate through a rock scramble or hurl themselves over a boulder, while being careful not to get too close to the cliff edges and other exposed sections of the trail that could have them careening into the void if they make a misstep. 

It was the danger and intrigue of the Escarpment Trail that compelled Dick to first organize a race. He had begun running in 1972 as a way to stay in shape and having grown up in the Village of Catskill, had many adventures exploring the mountain range, and being lured by running buddies to training on the trails. In the 1970s, trail running was not a formal sport. It was something that was a tiny niche activity that was typically hyper-local and something that only grizzled, nature-lovers and hardcore mountain runners enjoyed. 

Dick was compelled to organize and put on the first-ever Escarpment Trail Race because he had been told by fellow trail runners, thru-hikers and locals that running the 30K trail, from point-to-point, simply could not be done. 

That only made Dick want to do it more. So, in 1977 he organized the race, which was done mostly by word-of-mouth, handing out fliers at local running clubs and talking friends and fellow running buddies into doing it. To his great shock and surprise, 22 people showed up the morning of the race and hopped into the back of Dick’s brother’s rack truck to get a ride to the start of the race, in East Windham.

This July 27 will mark the 48th year that he has organized and directed the Escarpment Trail Races making him the longest serving trail race director in North America. “It pays to start young and not die,” joked Dick, a beloved coach and pillar in the Hudson Valley and Capital Region running community. 

While trail running is all the rage now, in the 1970s, the Escarpment Run was the first of its kind. There were only a handful of organized trail races at that time in the US and none of them had anywhere near the technical challenges that the Escarpment presented – it was the Wild West of trail running. Dick and the other 21 runners made their way over downed trees and passed old plane crashes, through briars and up and over rock ledges for almost 19 miles – without any aid stations, support, water sources, fancy trail shoes or sweat-wicking shirts. They carried old-fashioned canteens for water or used old wineskins. By the end of the inaugural race, they were bloodied, blistered, bug bitten, dehydrated, and looking for shade and a beer. Afterwards they traded war stories from their day in the mountains and a trail race was born. The next year 55 people signed up and each year it continued to grow.

UltraRunning magazine covered the race, which also lent it prestige. “At that time, it was considered an ultramarathon because people could not come close to running their marathon time on the Escarpment course.” The challenge of the race, coupled with Dick’s infectious spirit and the family feel of the event drew in both amateur and elite runners including members of the U.S. Mountain Running Team, numerous Olympic Trials qualifiers, and an Olympian.

Eventually the race reached its natural cap at 250, which includes both the runners and the nearly 100-volunteers that it takes to put on a race of this kind. “There are no crossroads so all of the volunteers have to hike in, carrying gallons of water and food and medical supplies and all of the things that those runners are going to need,” Dick explained.

Would-be participants don’t get to just show up at the race start. They must qualify to get into the event by having run a 4:15 marathon that year or having done a trail race or ultramarathon in a time and a level of equivalent difficulty to that of the Escarpment Run. In fact, it’s advertised as being for “mountain goats” only, and not for people who aren’t training 12 months out of the year. “This is not a carriage road,” the description of the race points out. “No one is coming to get you.” There are no age-group winners, no frills or fancy medals. It’s just a bunch of people who love to run on trails and in the mountains enjoying some rugged miles and a beer and barbecue at the finish line.

“Basically, I want people to be able to finish it within six hours,” said Dick. “We can’t begin the race until 9am and we have wave starts, which means that we could have runners going off at 11am. We want to make sure that our volunteers are out before dark and if there is a runner that has not made it to the finish line for any number of reasons, that we have enough daylight to go out and find them.”

For those that may want to take their time and choose their weather, Dick said that there is “One caveat, I do offer a ‘virtual run,’” whereby people can do the course, provide him with a Strava or GPS file and show that they’ve completed the full course. “That way they can start when they want, pick the day that they want to do it,” he said. 

Asked what he believes has made the Escarpment Trail Run so successful over almost half a century, Dick said, “probably my persistence of directing it.” Two things haven’t changed in 48 years – the director of the race and the course itself, both of which are extremely rare to find. “I think that people love a point-to-point challenge. It’s a trail that is going to take you somewhere,” he mused. “There are some ferocious climbs and descents on the trail but it also takes you to Windham, the top of Blackhead Mountain, past an airplane crash on the top of Stopple Point mountain.”

While Dick said the race has had participants from every state in the U.S. and all over the world, there are also repeat competitors who do the race year after year. “We do a thing where we present a runner who has done the race six times with a 100-mile shirt,” said Dick. “It’s called the ‘100-mile club,’ but there are many people who have 300-miles! One fellow, Pete Gstralder from Montoursville, Pa., who has an 800-mile shirt. He will be running again this year. Rich Fargo of Chatham, N.H., an eight-time Escarpment champion, has his 500-mile shirt. He has run the event 44 times. I, myself have run it 39 times.”

Four-time female Escarpment champion and U.S. National Trail Running team member, as well as the FKT (Fastest Known Time) holder of the Devil’s Path – a 24-mile trail across five peaks, the Catskills’ most notorious hike – and several other routes in the Catskills, Michelle Merlis of Monterey, Mass. (Athlete Profile, December 2022), talked about what makes the course so compelling. “It’s quite unique – it’s technical enough that it helps to level the playing field between runners of all types of skills and strengths, but it’s also short enough that it’s accessible to a variety of runners. It’s also super low-key. No medals, no awards, just running hard in the mountains. It has featured former Olympians and a past Western States Endurance Run winner, Nikki Kimball (Athlete Profile, June 2001).” 

What keeps Michelle coming back is the inherent challenge of the route, “the ability to push yourself year after year to try and run faster or work on different elements of your running. Escarpment features so many types of running – fast, technical, steep ups, steep downs – that it seems you can always work on something new.” 

The Escarpment Run holds so much meaning for this elite trail runner that she has the course profile tattooed on her forearm. She also said that the history of the event, the community and all of the familiar faces year after year has a certain magic to it, a particular flavor, but one of the essential ingredients is Dick, himself.

“Dick genuinely does so much for the running/trail running community in the Catskills and beyond – beyond directing this iconic race. He regularly lets folks stay at his house when they come to train. He’s always helping people with drop-offs and pick-ups in the Catskills for training, FKTs, and more. He regularly travels to support his athletes and crew them in races; he and his partner came to Spain with me last year for the World Championships! He’s a go-to resource for people with questions about trail, road, and track running – he probably receives more emails about running/training than anyone I know. I believe he’s a trail maintainer. Every single week for 14 years he has put together a track workout for the Albany Running Exchange. He is also there – driving the hour to and back – 90% of the time.”

Michelle added that “He has also been coaching for a long time and is deeply knowledgeable about the sport/training – he will openly share, collaborate with others, and talk training.” 

Dick is also an incredible athlete himself. On April of 1975, eager to do well in the following year’s Boston Marathon, he decided to try running every day. His run streak is probably one of the oldest, longest, and most formidable, having run every day for 35 years until late in 2009. He has run in more than 250 marathons and ultramarathons throughout the world but found the atmosphere of trail running to be where he felt most at home. For the majority of his athletic career, he was a top finisher and to this day he continues to run, hike and bike with family and friends nearly every day.

Dick’s had his hand in so many of the grassroots organizations that have helped to get thousands of people into running including the Onteora Runners Club, ARE, and was heavily involved in the Kingston Classic for 25 years. Go to any trail race in the Hudson Valley and you’ll likely find Dick helping out with the timing, talking with athletes, volunteering and just lending his smile and support to all of those nervous and excited runners around him. 

Asked what she finds unique about Dick Vincent, Michele said, that he’s “one of the originals – one of the people who was out there running trails before it was as big as it is now. And he was doing it before all of the fancy shoes, nutrition products, hydration systems, and gear. He has many of the most interesting and wild running stories,” which she said almost always involves exploring places, his own physical limits, having fun, creating adventures and doing it with friends. “He’s also extremely welcoming of others into the community – never envious or harsh, just genuinely kind, caring, and young at heart always. He’s committed.”

As the Escarpment Run inches closer, Dick said that he’s “looking forward to it. Honestly, this race has given me much more than I’ve given to it,” he said. “I’ve met so many incredible people, many of whom have become dear friends over the years, through this event, from the runners to the volunteers that come every year. It’s a celebration.”

Dick is also a professional. He’s a certified Level 3 USA Track & Field coach (the highest level offered) as well as a Level 5 International Track & Field coach (also the most elite level.) He has worked as a high school track coach, coaches ARE Racing Team and individually coaches 25 different athletes. Some are preparing for a marathon, others for trail ultramarathons and some ascending peaks in the Himalayas.

Erin Quinn is a journalist, lifelong trail runner, outdoor enthusiast, mother of three and lover of life. She’s also a certified UESCA Ultrarunning coach, and head coach of Hawks Swimming, a USA age-group swim team. She enjoys writing about tales from the trail, endurance athletes, and all things related to connection and protection of the natural world. Reach her at erinmaryquinn@gmail.com, Instagram @erinquinnhawksswim, or erinmaryquinn.com.