⏵ Course guide · York County charity trail race
The Hex Hollow Half is a two-loop 13.13 mile trail half marathon (with a 6.66 mile single-loop option) at Spring Valley County Park in York County, named for the local Hex Hollow witchcraft folklore and run as a charity race for Olivia\'s House Grief & Loss Center. I will walk you through the course first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for its rooty, roller-coaster terrain and cool late-November timing. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official race registration page. Check the current date, cutoffs, and aid stations in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
The half marathon runs two loops of Spring Valley County Park, about 1,085 feet of climbing per loop for roughly 2,170 feet total, mixing open meadows, hardwood forest, and pine wide-track with roller-coaster singletrack and two stream crossings. The 6.66 mile option covers the same terrain in a single loop.
The course opens across open meadows before dropping into hardwood forest and pine wide-track, which gives you a few different looks in a short distance. It is a good warmup for what is coming, since the meadow sections are the most runnable part of the lap.
Once you are into the trees, the trail turns into the roller-coaster singletrack the race is known for: rooty, rocky, and constantly changing grade rather than one sustained climb.
This is the heart of the race. Repeated short rollers over rooty, rocky ground add up to real climbing over two loops even though no single hill is long. Quick feet matter as much as fitness on this stretch, and the two stream crossings on course add wet rock and uneven footing into the mix.
Because the half is two identical loops, you run the second lap knowing exactly what the roller-coaster and the stream crossings have in store, which is an advantage if you paced the first loop honestly and a real problem if you did not. Save your legs on lap one. The technical footing does not get any easier the second time through, and tired legs make rooty ground more dangerous, not less.
At 13.13 miles the Hex Hollow Half is short by ultra standards, but the rooty, roller-coaster terrain and two identical loops mean your road half marathon pace does not transfer directly.
Repeated short climbs on rooty, technical footing burn more energy than the same vertical gain on smooth trail, so a flat road-half pace will not hold here. Use grade-adjusted effort on the rollers instead of chasing a fixed pace, and expect your overall time to run slower than a comparable road half even though the total distance is close.
Because the course repeats the same technical loop twice, a realistic finish prediction should account for the climbing and footing on both laps, not just extrapolate your first-loop split. A vert-aware race time estimate helps you set a goal that survives a second lap on tired legs over the same roots and rocks.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
At half marathon distance in cool late-November conditions, fueling matters less than it does at ultra distance, but the technical footing still slows most runners down enough to make a simple plan worthwhile.
For most runners, a straightforward carbohydrate source every 30 to 45 minutes is enough for a half marathon effort, even one slowed by rooty, technical terrain. If you expect to be out there closer to 2 hours than 90 minutes because of the footing, lean toward the higher end of that range rather than skipping fuel because the distance sounds short.
Late November in York County typically runs cool, so aggressive sodium loading is rarely necessary here the way it is at a summer ultra. Water or a light electrolyte mix at the aid stations covers most runners. Instead, focus your prep on footwear and layering for cold, possibly wet or muddy conditions on the roots and rocks, since that has more impact on your day than sodium math at this distance.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a cool late-November race day with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.
⏵ Train for it with Summit Line
Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this rooty two-loop York County course, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the technical rollers, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
The Hex Hollow Half is a real trail test packed into a short distance. The 13.13 mile half runs two loops of Spring Valley County Park in York County with about 2,170 feet of total climbing, roughly 1,085 feet per loop, over roller-coaster rooty and rocky singletrack with two stream crossings. It is not a mountain ultra, but the technical footing and repeated climbing per loop make it harder than the mileage alone suggests.
The half marathon covers about 2,170 feet of total elevation gain across its two loops, which works out to roughly 1,085 feet per loop. The 6.66 mile option runs a single loop of the same terrain, so expect a similar per-mile climbing rate on a shorter day. The climbing is broken into repeated shorter rollers rather than one sustained grade, which fits the meadows-to-forest character of the park.
The half is short enough that most runners can get by on less structured fueling than a full ultra, but the rooty, technical footing and two stream crossings slow you down more than the distance implies, so plan on a real fueling approach if you expect to be out there more than 90 minutes or so. A simple carbohydrate source every 30 to 45 minutes, plus water or electrolytes at the aid stations, covers most runners. Late-November temperatures in York County tend to be cool, so heavy sodium loading is rarely the priority it is at a summer race.
The race does not publish detailed cutoff times for either the half marathon or the 6.66 mile option. Confirm the current cutoff and course-closing details on the race registration page before you commit to a pacing plan, especially if you expect to be moving conservatively on the technical, rooty terrain.
Spring Valley County Park mixes open meadows, hardwood forest, and pine wide-track trail with roller-coaster singletrack that is rooty and rocky underfoot, plus two stream crossings on course. Late November in York County typically runs cool, sometimes cold, with a real chance of wet or muddy footing on top of the roots and rocks, so plan your shoes and layers for a chilly, technical trail day rather than a fast, dry one.
The 13.13 and 6.66 mile distances are a deliberate play on the Hex Hollow witchcraft folklore tied to nearby Rehmeyer's Hollow in York County, a well-known regional legend. It is a charity race, with all proceeds going to Olivia's House Grief & Loss Center, and it has been run for what appears to be over a decade, though the exact founding year is not confirmed in public sources, so treat any specific "since" year you see elsewhere as unverified.
This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and aid stations come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.