A record number of runners, joggers and walkers turned out at Belleayre Ski Resort on Sunday to take on eight- and 25-kilometer courses at Climb It For Climate, an eco-friendly event held four times a year across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York that aims to raise awareness of threats to the world’s climate.
Sponsored by The Running Kind, founded by Aimee Kohler in 2022 to make running a zero-carbon sport, the event featured volunteer-staffed aid stations stocked with water, electrolytes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fig newtons and GU energy gels. A main booth featured liquids, fruits, salty snacks and zucchini bread. Volunteers handed out watermelon to participants at the finish line.
The courses were set with reusable trail markers and other signage, color-coordinated to each type of run. A percentage of registration fees was donated to the Catskill Center to offset transportation emissions from attendees.
“This course is brutal,” said Kohler, who is known as Aims. “It’s a course that I feel like I’ve designed for myself and I absolutely love every bit of it.”
Participants included Catskill Center Development Associate Sarah Dimaggio, an avid climber, hiker and biker who embraced running at the beginning of 2025.
“I’ve been working with Aims on and off all year for this event,” she said. “Their motives and methods really align with ours. Our mission is to preserve and promote the beauty of the Catskills.”
Also in the crowd were Dee and Mike Kohler, the parents of Aimee Kohler and her sister, Em, who is the company’s creative director. The couple staffed the main booth, helped sign in the racers and answered questions. Mike Kohler cut the wood used for trophies while Dee Kohler showed off a stash jar filled with hand-decorated bottlecap pins.
“A bunch of us sat around a table for a good long while making these,” she said, noting that all finishers would receive one.
The top racer in the non-binary category was Dakota Haines. Haley Heinrich, Dylan Friedman and Cali Janulis were the top three women’s winners, while Lyle Cordes, Yury Tambasau, and Greg Ahlswede rounded out the top men’s finishers.
The booth closest to the start and finish line was home to the raffle table. Gabby Padarsen won a Ciele athletic runners cap and Camp Catskill gift card, while Jeremy Demoss walked away with four Sigmatic assorted coffee packages and a Best Day Brewing six-pack. The Asian Trail Mix running group won the biggest lottery, snagging an Arcteryx duffel bag and $600 Arcteryx gift card.
For all the race-like trappings of Sunday’s event, Aimee Kohler had a suggestion. “You cover your watch, and the goal, instead of finishing first, is an end-time accurate to your own self-estimate.”
Madelyn Crews is a contributing reporter. You can email her at reporting@theoverlooknews.com.