For the CDT Winter weather has descended in central Pennsylvania, but snow and ice don't mean local runners have to give up their sport or head indoors to a treadmill. With the right clothes and shoes, in fact, winter can be one of the most enjoyable times to explore local trails.

The views from mountain trails are often best in the winter after the leaves have fallen off the trees, and on the trails runners don’t have to worry about icy sidewalks or traffic.

Josh Cone, a fitness/ wellness specialist at Minitab, said he is drawn to trail running for “the challenge and adventure of running over roots and rocks, dodging trees, seeing the animals, watching the snow fall, and seeing all the beauty of each season. I'll take that any day over the challenge of stepping over a curb or dodging a car.”

Cone first started running trails in the snow and said there isn’t any weather that will keep him off the trails now. “We definitely have gear in 2008 to handle any kind of weather central Pennsylvania throws our way.”

For Cone, that gear includes a dry-fit shirt, fleece jacket, gloves, headband, and shorts. As the temperature dips below freezing, or in windy or rainy conditions, he adds waterproof and windproof pants and jacket.

Craig Fleming, a State College resident, owner of Haven Shoes in Lock Haven, and director of the Hyner View Trail Challenge, said in addition to clothes made of technical fabric that won’t hold moisture, he wears traction devices on his shoes in icy conditions. Commercial products such as STABILicers and Yaktrax slip on over shoes. Fleming also makes his own screw shoes using sheet metal screws. Advertisement

In addition to ice and cold, winter trail runners have to contend with shorter periods of daylight and hunting seasons. Fleming said he hasn’t yet found any kind of weather that will keep him off the trails, but he often runs at night with a headlamp to avoid hunters during hunting season.

Fleming’s favorite spots for running are the trails that make up the Hyner View Trail Challenge course in Sproul State Forest and the trails from Shingletown Gap in Rothrock State Forest. “The trails that offer me the most single track, most difficulty, and the most scenery are the ones you'll find me on,” Fleming said.

It is unlikely that runners will encounter wintry conditions at the Hyner View Trail Challenge on April 18, but in order to train for the event’s 16.8 miles and 4,222 feet of elevation they will probably have to brave some ice and snow.

More information about the Hyner View Trail Challenge is available on the event web site at www.hikerun.com.

Runners looking for an earlier test on snowy trails can try the 31/ 2-mile SnowFest trail race on Feb. 8. The race takes place at R. B. Winter State Park in Mifflinburg during the annual SnowFest. For more information, see www.midpenntrailblazers.com.