Booneville Backroads Ultra
Van Meter, IA
- 100 Miler, 100K, 50K, 10K
- Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
The Booneville Backroads Ultra course runs through many of the Bridges of Madison County and the beautiful, rural Iowa countryside. With thousands of feet of elevation gain, seemingly endless hills, and if it rains, some of the gnarliest level B roads EVER, this ultra will challenge runners of all levels. … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Sep 05):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 65 | 79 | 93 | 77 | 83 |
| L (°F) | 53 | 64 | 70 | 64 | 59 |
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Well laid out and challenging.
Overall Rating: Really good. Course Difficulty: This course is all about gravel and hills...constant big hills. While the course itself is fairly challenging, the heat and humidity are what really … MORE
Overall Rating: Really good.
Course Difficulty: This course is all about gravel and hills…constant big hills. While the course itself is fairly challenging, the heat and humidity are what really make this one a beast. I was able to run for about the first four hours and walked the rest; it was just too hot to run. The B-level roads could also be crazy hard if it was a rainy day, they were fairly dry for us and my shoes still weighed three pounds at times.
Course scenery: Really nice. The 100k runs through three of the bridges of Madison County and along multiple gravel back roads. I’m not sure the scenery gets much better in Iowa.
Race Production: Great.
This was an unmarked course. While I did see several people using GPX on watches, I also saw several people with dead watches from using GPX. Huge caution on this…have the cue cards with you, as there are many turns. The race started on time, and the RD was there at packet pickup and the finish. The aid stations were all very good, although they were far between, they had everything that a runner could need and energetic/helpful volunteers. The RD did allow on course crew support, so Debbie met me about every 5 miles to ensure things were ok; this was a huge help.
Race Swag: There was no medal or buckle for the 100k, which I didn’t love, but everything else was good. Custom hat, coaster, socks, race shirt (extra fee).
My Performance: It was pretty tough for me, but I still made decent time. After overheating at a previous race, I have really struggled to run in the heat and humidity. When it started to get hot (about 9:30am) I walked. It didn’t cool off much until the evening, and by that time I didn’t feel like running so I just walked it in. Even with all the walking, I nearly PR’d (Rocky Raccoon-15:31:27), so this could be a fast course for the right person or the right day.
Final notes: This is a good road 100k with really good production. It adds some additional challenge due to being unmarked, but all instruction is clear and given well in advance.
If you are looking for a good challenge, plan on spending all day, and go get this one done!
This is no cake walk
This ultramarathon is run on gravel and dirt (mud) roads in the "Bridges of Madison County" country. While scenic, the fog that was persistent on the day that we ran … MORE
This ultramarathon is run on gravel and dirt (mud) roads in the “Bridges of Madison County” country. While scenic, the fog that was persistent on the day that we ran made it a little more difficult to appreciate. I was also a little disappointed that we didn’t go through any of the covered bridges that makes this county famous. The 50K course starts out with a short segment heading south, and then roughly approximates a square on mainly gravel roads. I say mainly, because there was one mile-long stretch on one of the infamous “B” roads. These are roads that are not maintained, and not graveled. Because it rained quite hard for much of the time after the first two and a half hours, the B road was a sloppy, muddy, mess. I had a hard time staying upright on the slippery mud even when standing still, much less when trying to move. Thus, my goal of finishing under 7 hours was dashed when I hit that segment. Fortunately, there was an aid station right after the B road, which was aptly named the “mud station.” I tried to scrape off the 5 pounds of mud or so off of my shoes, but it was pretty fruitless, so I ended up running through the rain-soaked weeds along the road which did a pretty good job of washing off the mud, even though it saturated the inside of my shoes with water. If that wasn’t challenging enough, there were two other twists to this ultra. Yes, it was hilly with almost continuous rolling hills, but that isn’t one of them. Unlike most ultramarathons, the route was not marked at all. Not a single sign anywhere. We were asked beforehand to print out a cue card with turn directions. This worked pretty well for the first 2/3 of the race, but near the end when my GPS watch was off on the mileage, it added a little bit of doubt as to whether or not I was still on course. Fortunately, I was able to follow the footprints on the wet roads which gave me a sense of assurance that I was still on course most of the time. The second twist was that there were only three aid stations. The first at 10 miles, the second after another 11 miles, and the last just another 4 miles later. As a result, I wore a hydration belt with 2 bottles of water and an extra 20 oz handheld. Because of the nearly ideal cool conditions, I probably didn’t need the hydration belt, and only dipped into those bottles a couple of times. If it had been warmer, I might have used every last drop. Even with all of these challenges, it was enjoyable and I was able to keep a positive attitude. I would have liked to have seen more aid stations, but I guess that added to the aura of the race.