That moment when a trail points straight down, the mud is slick, and your brain says “absolutely not” but you go anyway, laughing the whole way. That’s the vibe of our pre-race sit-down with Gabby DeAngelis as Sunapee race week finally arrives, and it’s also a perfect window into why New England trail running hooks so many people.

We talk with Gabby about her unconventional path into the sport, from four years of college soccer at Siena to discovering she actually loved track workouts, then heading back to New Hampshire for grad school and running for the University of New Hampshire. She shares how hiking in the White Mountains shaped her comfort on technical terrain, why agility from soccer translates so well to rocky trails, and how she’s approaching this season while coming off a knee injury.

Then we get practical: what makes the Sunapee course feel so “vintage Northeast,” how the two-lap format changes your head game, and why the steep descent can be both terrifying and ridiculously fun. Gabby also explains what it means to be part of the Marathon Sports trail team, what she’s racing in for shoes (Altra Mont Blanc Carbon), and which White Mountains routes she keeps coming back to, including a Mount Adams scramble and a redemption run after a missed turn.

If you’re into trail racing, skyrunning, the White Mountains, or the growing New England mountain running scene, you’ll leave with course insight, mindset tools, and a reminder that sometimes the real opponent is the route itself. Subscribe, share this with a trail friend, and leave a review with your favorite technical descent story.

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