FORGE ahead

On a challenging hike, there isn’t—or at least, there really shouldn’t be—much to write on other than the trail guide in your hand. Jeff Beck knows this better than most.

Using a photocopy of a vintage map of Port Hudson, the 37-year-old owner of FORGE Racing and organizer of the Battlefield 10K and Trail Kidz 1 Miler hand-scribbles descriptions and decisions on each twist, turn and trail his popular local races will take. Runners will dash over one area he marks as “a huge hill” and past scenic sites like Fort Desperate.

“I added the highlighter colors after I got a chance to sit down back at the car,” he says. “Later, I do a ‘clean’ version for others to use. This looks like chicken-scratch, but it gets the job done.” forgeracing.net