On August 16, 193 runners embarked on the 10th running of the Twisted Branch Trail Run, a 100k that traverses the Bristol Hills Branch of the Finger Lakes Trail in western New York.
The race is the brainchild of Scott Magee, a western New Yorker who is passionate about the local trails. Prior to founding the race, he had only dabbled in the ultramarathon world, meaning Twisted Branch began and evolved with little influence from other events.
Regarding his relative inexperience going into Twisted Branch, Magee said that “it’s sort of a blessing and a curse. It made it more challenging for me, but I think it also allowed me initially to [direct the race] the way I wanted to do it.”
Magee’s short track record in ultrarunning lends support to his claim that Twisted Branch is a labor of love to showcase and rehabilitate the Bristol Hills Branch.
“I loved the land, I loved the trail, and I just knew I wanted to bring as many people and attention and feet to the trail,” he said. “The best thing for a trail is feet.”
The Bristol Hills Branch is a part of the wider Finger Lakes Trail network, a system that’s nearly 70 years old. Tom and Donna Noteware pioneered the efforts for the Bristol Hills Branch, and their influence is inescapable. While Tom passed away the year before the first running of Twisted Branch, his memory lives on through the dedication of a bridge with his name on the course. Donna proved essential in helping Magee coordinate the permitting and land access for the first Twisted Branch, and she continues to volunteer each year.
Even with the help of such trail angels, Magee wasn’t certain the race would continue after the first edition.
“After the first running, I wasn’t sure I was even going to put the race on again; at the end of that night, I was like, ‘That was awful, what a failure on so many levels,’” Magee said. “I woke up the next morning to [messages saying], ‘That was magic. When’s the next race? When’s it going to come out next year?’”
At that point, Magee had created something more powerful than himself, a race that continues to motivate both him and the local community every year, through constant reroutes, negotiations with landowners and race logistics.
This year’s event included dry trails, hot conditions and an endless supply of enthusiasm and support from many volunteers.
At the front of the pack, former training partners Andrew Simpson and Benjamin Linne battled all day with nearly an hour lead over third place. The friends, who are now separated by geography, ran together through the first 35 miles of the race.
“It was fun to watch them be very friendly with each other. They hadn’t talked to each other for years,” Magee said. “At some point, [they] were going to make a move on each other. Andrew had made the move coming down into Urbana [at mile 59], and he knew that Ben knew how to close.”
From Urbana to the finish, up and over Mount Washington on 5 miles of burly, technical trail, Andrew put his foot on the gas, widening his lead over Ben by nearly a half-hour in the process. Simpson crossed the finish line at Champlin Beach in 10:37, good for the seventh-fastest time ever in the course’s history. Linne was second in 11:06, and Bryan Ruggeri finished third in 12:16.
On the women’s side, 2024 runner-up Zoe Fortier took the lead early and never looked back. At the first timing point at Naples Creek, 12 miles into the race, Fortier led by nearly 20 minutes. Her lead grew by a few minutes at every aid station until Urbana, where she was almost an hour ahead.
Fortier crossed the line in 14:07 for her first Twisted Branch win, ahead of Aislinn O’Connor in 14:55 and Karen Benway in third at 15:12.
The lack of a close battle at the front of the women’s race meant the most exciting storyline may have come from the volunteers. Exiting Mitchellsville at mile 57, first-place Fortier forgot her water bottles as she raced on.
“Downhill from [Mitchellsville] into Urbana, [aid station volunteer] Kirsten grabbed the water bottles and ran 2 miles to give them back to [Fortier],” Magee said.
This story was just one in a long list of volunteer magic, as seen mostly by mid-pack and back-of-the-pack runners, including myself. I witnessed volunteers tape up my hydration vest when it broke, adorn me in glitter at Lake David, hurry to their car to lend me tape for my feet and cheer me on at every possible point.
When I told Magee that one of my favorite parts of the run was the overwhelming support from the volunteers, he was far from surprised.
“From a hierarchy of priorities, I care more about the volunteers’ experience than [the runners’],” Magee said. “If I can set the volunteers up to have a blast, then you’re bound to have a really great day.”
Magee emphasized that the kindness of the volunteers is not taught or trained but reflects a supportive, passionate group of people from across western New York. At the time we spoke, Magee was in the process of a lengthy volunteer debrief, where he received feedback to help improve the event in 2026.
Although Twisted Branch is just one Saturday in August, its impact on the people in the community, the runners that train for it and perhaps, most importantly, the longevity of the Bristol Hills Branch, stretches much farther.
“The trail is unquestionably in the best shape it’s ever been in my lifetime,” Magee said.