Sly Fox Launching This Year’s SRT Ale with Awesome New Race Along the Schuylkill River Trail

And registration opens today!

Remember last year, Sly Fox Brewing Company launched their first-ever seasonal SRT Ale, which benefits the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, with a five-day clean-up spree along the trail? Well, this year, they will be hosting clean-ups along the trail, but — drumroll, please! — they’re also adding an AWESOME new 50K relay race to the mix. And get this: The entire race will be run on the Schuylkill River Trail. And, to make it even better, it will end at Sly Fox’s Schuylkill River SPREEKEND Party, celebrating the launch of the SRT Ale, where every runner will get their hands on a free can of the ale to crack open for themselves.

Why (oh, why?) a 50K you ask? Well, as race director Carl Ewald tells us, Sly Fox wanted to pair the launch of this year’s SRT Ale with a run that really promotes the trail and, in his eyes, a 5K just wouldn’t really cut it. “The amazing thing about the trail,” he says, “is that it is so continuous and goes through so many communities.” This longer format really gets to show that off.

The race, dubbed the Schuylkill River Relay 50K is going down Saturday, April 23rd, and runners have the option to be totally bad ass and run the 50K on their own, or team up with their friends to run the 31-mile race in six legs, all between five and six miles. The team options are for three and six people, but Ewald tells us you can sign up with any number of people under six and figure out how to split the legs up on your own. Just know, if you sign up with more than three people, you get bumped to the registration price for a six-person team. And note: Teams are responsible for their transportation to transfer points, so you’ll probably want someone with a car on your team.

When it comes to the course, the chip-timed race will take runners along the SRT from Saint Michael’s Park in Mont Clare down through a portion of Valley Forge National Park and all the way to Conshohocken where they’ll loop around and head back to the start location for the SPREEKEND Party. There, they’ll find beer (duh) and live music. And it’s no in-and-out party; the festivities, which are open to the public, will keep going until 10 p.m.

Through February, registration for the race will run you anywhere from $89 for a solo runner to $199 for a six-person team. Prices tier after that. And if that sounds pricey, know that your money is supporting the trail; the race benefits the Schuylkill Canal Association which maintains a portion of the trail. Registration launched at 10 a.m. today and there’s only room for 250 teams, so if you want in, you’d better hop to it! You can find out more and register here. And pssst: You can see what else Sly Fox has planned for SRT SPREEKEND here.

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