This is a small, low-key race on a couple's organic vegetable farm. I have ran it four times, and it seems like it keeps getting better year after year. This … MORE
This is a small, low-key race on a couple’s organic vegetable farm. I have ran it four times, and it seems like it keeps getting better year after year. This year, a wooden bridge over the creek washed out earlier in the year, and they just built a bridge out of dirt to cross the creek. I actually liked this arrangement better as you didn’t have to step up onto the bridge. Instead, you could just run across. Grass has also grown on the trail, so instead of soft dirt that can turn to mud when it rains, there is a layer of short grass to run on. There is still one part of the trail that runs along a slope, so the trail is slanted to the left, but it is only a short stretch that doesn’t take long to cross. Basically though, the whole trail is runnable, even for slower runners like me. The farm has a lot of fun animals to watch, including T-bone the miniature steer, Wierd Harold the pig, donkeys, chickens, ducks, and Pearl, the tame whitetail doe who sometimes runs with the runners. The race directors are really nice and accommodating as are all of the runners. They have a really nice aid station with “real food” and a variety of beverages to drink including beer. All in all, it makes for a fun weekend.
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It keeps getting better every year
This is a small, low-key race on a couple's organic vegetable farm. I have ran it four times, and it seems like it keeps getting better year after year. This … MORE
This is a small, low-key race on a couple’s organic vegetable farm. I have ran it four times, and it seems like it keeps getting better year after year. This year, a wooden bridge over the creek washed out earlier in the year, and they just built a bridge out of dirt to cross the creek. I actually liked this arrangement better as you didn’t have to step up onto the bridge. Instead, you could just run across. Grass has also grown on the trail, so instead of soft dirt that can turn to mud when it rains, there is a layer of short grass to run on. There is still one part of the trail that runs along a slope, so the trail is slanted to the left, but it is only a short stretch that doesn’t take long to cross. Basically though, the whole trail is runnable, even for slower runners like me. The farm has a lot of fun animals to watch, including T-bone the miniature steer, Wierd Harold the pig, donkeys, chickens, ducks, and Pearl, the tame whitetail doe who sometimes runs with the runners. The race directors are really nice and accommodating as are all of the runners. They have a really nice aid station with “real food” and a variety of beverages to drink including beer. All in all, it makes for a fun weekend.
Running with the Animals
This was the third time that I've run this race, and it keeps getting better and better. This year the course seemed to be much smoother with less holes than … MORE
This was the third time that I’ve run this race, and it keeps getting better and better. This year the course seemed to be much smoother with less holes than in year’s past. I could see where holes had been filled with fine gravel and the parts of the course that went through grass were nicely mowed and manicured. One highlight of the race this year was Pearl. Pearl is a yearling white-tailed doe that the race directors took in after it’s mother was hit by a car. They brought it inside and bottle fed it over the winter, and now runs loose outside on their farm. It has seemed to imprint on humans, so it is friendly as a Labrador Retriever. It ran alongside some of the runners on the course and even started with the 12 hour runners. Besides Pearl, there are also ducks, chickens, pigs, donkeys, and T-bone, a miniature heirloom bull. Part of the course runs along a small creek, and the banks were covered with wild sunflowers. To me, it seemed much more of a magical place than it did in previous years.
Another new addition to the race was a 36-hour division, along with belt buckles for anyone finishing over 100 miles in any of the race lengths. The race directors and volunteers are very nice people, and will give you the shirt off their back if you ask them. This year, instead of cotton shirts, finishers were given a custom hat. I foresee this race getting bigger and better in future years, and should become a must-do race for midwestern ultrarunners,
Down on the farm
This was a small race on the Good Earth Farm, near Lennox SD. The trail that we were supposed to run on was a dirt track that was soaked the … MORE
This was a small race on the Good Earth Farm, near Lennox SD. The trail that we were supposed to run on was a dirt track that was soaked the day before with heavy rain, so we ran on a shorter loop that was mostly grass for the first few hours of the run. The race organizers managed to get the dirt path packed down enough that we were able to run the longer loop which was only about 1.35 miles. It was a soft path that was easy on the feet. The aid stations were stocked with the usual ultra fare, including vegan items, and there were plenty of things for families to do and explore on the farm. The owners had miniature donkeys, a miniature Dexter bull, chickens, and a couple of pigs.