(TNS) — When an Amish mother of seven with a penchant for running heard about the 37-mile Rachel Carson Challenge, she showed up to hike to honor her child Rachel, whom she lost in 2012 to a rare genetic disease.

Sadie Stoltzfus, 41, of Lancaster and her 15-year son Monroe completed the Carson Challenge and were invited by a board member of the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy to its second annual trail endurance event — the 50-mile Baker Trail UltraChallenge from Gilpin, Armstrong County, to Smicksburg, Indiana County.

Mother and son finished the Ultra on Saturday with smiles on their faces.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity to explore more of God’s beautiful world,” Stoltzfus said days before the race. “Let us run with joy in the race before us.”

Afterward, she said, “It was a great day with so many nice people on the course who made the miles fly by.”

Stoltzfus is part of a growing movement of women who, after years of underrepresentation, are helping blaze the trail toward gender parity in long-distance running.

This year, the Baker Trail UltraChallenge had 124 participants split equally between men and women.

While 10 did not show up on race day, which is typical, 56 women and 58 men started the race. Of the runners who completed the 50-mile course in 14 hours, 82% of women and 79% of men finished, according to the Rachel Carson Trail Conservancy.

Coming in first place was Jason Tanner, 50, of Saint Marys, Elk County. The second-place winner, Ann Bartman, 36, of Columbus, Ohio, finished 50 minutes later. The oldest finisher was Lee Dougherty, 75, of Pittsburgh.

This year, Tanner and Dougherty earned “rolling pin” awards for completing all three sections of the 134-mile Baker Trail over three UltraChallenge races. The trail winds through six counties: Armstrong, Jefferson, Clarion, Indiana, Forest and Westmoreland.

Six women earned the top 10 times in the race.

Through recent initiatives focused on equal registration and support for women, the 50-mile Baker Trail UltraChallenge has become a symbol of gender parity for ultrarunners.

“We are the only 50-mile race in the world that guarantees equal space for women, and we achieved that milestone this year!” said Amy Nelson, a conservancy board member who headed the drive to attract more female runners.

Internationally, the Baker UltraChallenge is one of the few long-distance races with similar numbers of men and women, according to UltraRunning magazine.

The women have arrived.

Doing ‘hard things’

“As an Amish mother of seven, running is unusual in our community,” said Stoltzfus, who ran the race for the first time this year.

After she and her husband Roman lost their fourth child, a friend suggested taking up running to deal with the grief.

“I loved running as a teenager, so I didn’t need a lot of encouragement,” she said in a letter to the Post-Gazette.

Plus, Stoltzfus, her husband and their seven children are outdoorsy and love to camp.

She started running, and completed a half-marathon.

When she heard about the Rachel Carson Challenge this summer, she noted that it featured the name of her child. She and her husband and 15-year-old son decided to honor Rachel’s memory by participating in the event in June.

While Roman could not attend, Stoltzfus and Monroe completed the grueling 37-mile challenge.

Their spirit — and the fact that they wore traditional Amish clothing — caught the attention of Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy and led to the invitation to try the 50-mile UltraChallenge two months later.

Stolzfus completed the race, coming in 33rd with Monroe joining her from mile 32 to the finish line.

Competing both events this summer is a reminder that “you can do hard things,” she said.

Stoltzfus likes trail events and running in general because of “the way it makes you feel and it just helps bring life into perspective. Running with my children is a huge plus.”

She also enjoyed being with the other hikers and runners.

“The Rachel Carson Trail Conservancy is a lovely organization with great people that is very well run,” she said.

How they did it

Rachel Faas, 37, of Vandergrift, reached a milestone this year, successfully completing her third Baker UltraChallenge and earning the coveted “rolling pin,” a small ornament to hold three UltraChallenge medals.

She didn’t set out to become a long-distance runner. When she was in her 20s, Faas agreed to do her first 5K as part of a birthday celebration for a friend around Northmoreland Park Lake in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County.

“I thought, ‘I’ve got to run three times around the lake. Oh my God, that is so much,'” she said.

Faas, a second-grade teacher in the Kiski Area School District, went on to run more 5Ks, then 10Ks, half-marathons, full marathons and triathlons.

This was not her first ultra marathon. Faas entered her first Baker TrailUltra by winning one of the trail conservancy’s raffles.

“I know how lucky you have to be to get in one,” she said. “Online registrations for many ultras are the luck of the click.”

After a dozen years, it’s still mind-blowing to Faas to see the distances she has run on a map.

“Like everybody says, it’s so cool to see what your body can do. Your mind wants to quit way sooner than your body wants to.”

She likes to run daily. “I feel like I accomplished something and I feel better.”

She also enjoys the close-knit relationships with other runners — she calls them her “Baker Buds” — and she stays in touch through training and encouragement in Facebook groups.

“Runners are a different breed of people,” Faas said. “I have never met a runner that is down or negative or whiny.”

A Faas crew

Her biggest supporter arrives on race day in a maroon Silverado truck loaded with 6 gallons of water and snacks. It’s her dad, Terry Faas.

No, the water isn’t just for his daughter; he brings extra for the other runners, who have come to recognize the maroon beacon of refreshment.

On race days, he picks up his daughter, drives her to the race and “crews” for her, following the route and arriving at rest stations before her with water, snacks and a fresh pair of running shoes and dry socks if needed.

At rest stops, Faas tells his daughter: “Here, go get the next one,” and stays for the 14-hour event.

“It’s a long day to drive and sit. I have to give my dad major thanks,” she said.

A longtime race car driver, Faas passes on his racing wisdom to his daughter.

“It’s a special time to be with him,” she said.

Jessie Chastain, 44, of Butler County, completed two Carson Challenges in the last two years and had a “what’s next feeling,” she said.

“Amy Nelson was pivotal in getting that itch scratched for what I was doing next,” she said.

Without Nelson’s gentle persistence, Chastain is not sure she would have competed.

“The word ‘ultra’ is intimidating,” she said.

She admits that the last two challenges were brutal, given the course and high temperatures. But Chastain describes herself as a sucker for punishment.

“What I have learned from the training runs we have done with Amy and the trails conservancy is that it’s attainable. You don’t have to be a full-time athlete to do these things.”

Chastain also credits the good vibes of the training events and other runners.

“They really create this environment that is so welcoming that you forget what kind of challenge you are undertaking.”

Two days after the Baker Trail UltraChallenge, Chastain said, “It was rough, but at the same time I’ve forgotten about the struggle.”

Why more women run

Conservancy board member Amy Nelson, 53, of Franklin Park, has run the Baker Trail UltraChallenge seven times and competed in other ultra races. In 2022, she wondered why female runners made up only 20% of the Ultra’s registrations.

“As I began investigating, I saw this was the average around the world for ultra marathons,” said Nelson.

It’s not just the physicality of running 50 miles in one day along wooded trails and secondary roads. Many women are not aware of the race, or of the training and commitment it requires while juggling family and other responsibilities.

“When I see a disparity, I want to address it,” she said. “I have a daughter who is 15, and it’s super important for me to set an example for her.

“There are some people who don’t understand that equity means giving women a chance. This goes back to women not being allowed to run marathons.”

She noted it took 76 years before the Boston Marathon allowed women to run for the first time in 1972.

As Nelson dug in, talking to other local female runners, she found that child care responsibilities and other issues were obstacles to register for the Baker UltraChallenge. Registration fills up quickly. Recently, the men’s division sold out in less than 24 hours.

To give women more opportunity, the trails conservancy decided to offer equal registration for men and women this year for the first time.

Additionally, for the last three years, Nelson offered raffles for complimentary entries for women. It got some of them thinking about it for the first time.

“One runner told me, ‘I entered the raffle to push me to register because I was afraid, not necessarily because it was free.’

“Courage is contagious,” Nelson said.

Confidence was another issue. Women weren’t seeing many females compete in long-distance races.

“Men will sign up and not train. Women are more cautious,” Nelson noted.

She also offered three free training events for women and men to build endurance and learn the Baker Trail over the last several years.

In the end, the registration drive for women not only attracted more female runners. It promoted the race for all runners, she said.

For the first time in 18 years, the stagnant ratio of 80% men to 20% women cracked: In 2022, the race drew 35% female entrants, a dramatic increase.

Not so coincidentally, 2022 was the first time race registrations sold out for the first time in the event’s 19-year history.

In 2023, the UltraChallenge reached the milestone of 52% female runners. In 2025, the nonprofit trail conservancy instituted a 50-50 split in registrations available to men and women.

“We’ve seen an increase in women runners at the UltraChallenge, mainly because of Amy Nelson’s recruitment efforts,” said Steve Mentzer, a board member with the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy. “This aspect helps us get attention among the many other 50-mile races across the nation.”

Both the Carson and UltraChallenge endurance events attract people to the trails and motivate volunteers to keep the trails in good shape for the events, he said. Proceeds from registrations pay for trail maintenance and protection.