12/11/2025 – 25th Anniversary Epic

Rob DeVelice will lead "25th Anniversary Epic" with a duration of 1 hour somewwhere in West Anchorage.

Note early start time of 6:00pm.

For twenty-five years, Thursday Evening Epics have turned an ordinary 6:30 p.m. weeknight into a standing date with adventure and fortitude!  From early outings in 2000 to recent classics like Bird Creek 20K, No Man’s Land, Bunny Boots, Rays on Rainbow, McMurdo, Hairy Potter, and dozens more, the theme has stayed the same – adventurous, supportive non-competitive runs/hikes of a few hours where most never go.

Over 1,200 Epics, a loose collection of names on the “leaders” page has quietly built a tradition: Rob, Jesse, Lee, E. Marquez, and many others go every week no matter what the weather or season.  We’ve post holed by headlamp our way up peaks and bushwhacked impenetrable valleys, kicked balls through Rarámuri-inspired routes, left footprints on ski tracks, been the only cars left in the parking lot, and sometimes just rambled to “see what’s out there.”

On those Epics we’ve found many hidden trails and  visited countless unnamed places that some now have a name on the map like Nintendo Hill, Dicky Bird, Upper Highway, Caballo Blanco, Tortilla Chip Rock, Quadruple Bypass, Path of Destruction, Rough Around the Edges, Tire Iron, Sheep Thrills Ridge, No Mans Land, Black Mesa, Nigra Falls, Ninja Ridge, No Disco, Old Stump Road, Hole in the Wall, Workshop of Horrors, McMurdo, Keg and Ales, Lilly’s Trail, How Low Will it Go, and Sweat Lodge just to name a few.

This 25th-anniversary Epic is a simple walk around the track to reminisce all the perils and favorite adventures, see familiar faces, brainstorm future routes and celebrate Thursday Evening Epic Runs.

Meet at The Dome for a 6:00pm start time.  We’ll walk the track for as long as we wish and if participants desire will gather for meal at the participants discretion.

06/06/2024 – Botany Challenge 49

Rob DeVelice will lead "Botany Challenge 49" with a duration of 2 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.

Meet at 6:30 pm at the Falls Creek Trailhead for a sauntering exploration of botanical, avian, and aquatic diversity. We will stick together for about one hour, at which point decisions will be made regarding fragmentation into smaller groups.

12/07/2023 – 23rd Epic Anniversary

Rob DeVelice will lead "23rd Epic Anniversary" with a duration of 1 hour somewwhere in East Anchorage.

Meet at 5820 Yukon Rd for a 6:30 departure (Anne Ver Hoef’s house).  We will explore local trails and return for a celebratory party at 7:30.

Please feel free to join for just the party if desired.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to catch up with everyone.

The Epic Runs Concept

12/08/2022 – Epic Anniversary Gathering

Rob DeVelice will lead "Epic Anniversary Gathering" with a duration of 1.5 hours somewwhere in The Chugach Front Range.

Join Rob and Anne in celebrating Epic Anniversary, established December 7, 2000; twenty-two years of running adventures.

Meet at 6:30pm for start time.  We will begin and end at Anne’s house: starting out across the bridge over Abbott Road and taking a selection of awesome trails.  Rob and Anne will peel off after a section and head back to the house to prepare anniversary snacks and beverages.  Let’s celebrate all the memories, adventures, mishaps, thrills and friendships!  Address: 5820 Yukon Road.  All are welcome to join in after the run, at Anne’s house.

03/25/2021 – Ferns in the Snow

Rob DeVelice will lead "Ferns in the Snow" with a duration of 2 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.

Rendezvous at 6:30 pm in the Telephone Pole Rock parking area. We will proceed upslope to visit a population of licorice fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza) at the northern limit of the species. For cool information on licorice fern go to:

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/55104-Polypodium-glycyrrhiza

The photo below was taken by RLD on January 13, 2021.

11/26/2020 – Thanksgiving Virtual Epic

Rob DeVelice will lead "Thanksgiving Virtual Epic" with a duration of 1.5 hours somewwhere in West Anchorage.

Head out wherever (and whenever) your heart, desires, and/or capabilities lead (with proper social distancing). Please enter information on what you did in the comments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

06/25/2020 – Botany Challenge v49.2020

Rob DeVelice will lead "Botany Challenge v49.2020" with a duration of 1.5 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.

Meet at 6:30 pm at the Falls Creek Trailhead on the Seward Highway. This will be a botany focused nature hike (not much running) and will update a species list originally generated in 2013 (see hyperlink below). We will attempt to identify 49 species of native plants (Alaska being the 49th state). The route will extend from sea level to about 1,200 feet elevation along the Falls Creek Trail in Chugach State Park.

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/alaska/FallsCreek/index.shtml

 

05/14/2020 – Botanical Recon

Rob DeVelice will lead "Botanical Recon" with a duration of 2 hours somewwhere in Turnagain Arm.

Meet at 6:30 pm in the Windy Corner parking area on the Seward Highway. We will begin on the Turnagain Arm Trail for a couple of kilometers and then diverge upslope via scramble and bushwack towards Sheep Thrills Ridge botanizing along the way. We will return after about one hour by the same route.