150 miles doesn’t come easy. It’s challenging. It’s tough. But you’re tough too. The Buck Fifty will build a lifetime bond with your teammates and will show you just how strong you really are. With beautiful views running through 3 state parks this is a race you’ll never forget.
The Buck Fifty is a 150 mile relay race designed with 30 Legs of the course. Teams of 10 and 5 run in a systematic format to complete all 150 miles of our course. If you are a team of 10, each runner will run three different times, about five miles each time. The legs of the course vary from about 3.5 miles to as much as 7 miles. If you are Runner #1 you would run Leg #1, #11, & #21. Teams of 5 can double up on legs to still run three times, or they can run one Leg each time to run six times in the race.
The race has a staggered start on Friday, so the slower teams start at about 1:00 pm, and the last teams go off between 6-8 pm. There are starting groups about every half hour, which helps with teams checking in before they run, and controlling traffic at the Checkpoints. The Checkpoints in the middle of the night in Great Seal and Tar Hollow State Parks probably are the busiest. This is when the faster teams that took off last start to take the lead in the race, and the parking areas are smaller.
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Challenging relay for a great cause
I was invited to participate in this 150 mile relay race as part of a 5 person "elite" team. The majority of teams were 10 person teams. It was definitely … MORE
I was invited to participate in this 150 mile relay race as part of a 5 person “elite” team. The majority of teams were 10 person teams. It was definitely outside my comfort zone, so why not?
The race takes place in Chillicothe, Ohio. The community is super friendly and supportive of this race. The cause is teen drug prevention.
Start times are assigned based on overall team pace, starting every half hour from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The start groups are small, allowing for reduced traffic on the course as teams drive to the 29 relay checkpoints. This year there were 106 teams.
The checkpoints range from tents in the middle of nowhere to churches, a fire station, and high schools. All are staffed with friendly volunteers and a variety of food choices. The larger checkpoints offered food such as fried chicken, hot dogs, and tacos. Most offered items such as fruit snacks and applesauce.
Team members exchange a GPS running belt at the checkpoint. The volunteers are good at alerting you to which teams are close to the checkpoint and you can check all the teams progress on an app, which may or may not be completely accurate depending on the location, but definitely nice to have.
The race legs range in difficulty and length. All different terrain is covered, from country highway to single track trail. The course is fairly well marked, I would recommend studying the maps and directions ahead of time, as runners on the course are sparse at times and you are guaranteed to run in the dark at some point. I only went the wrong way 3 times. 🙂 GPX maps can also be downloaded to your watch, which was very helpful to me.
At the finish line the entire team can finish together to get huge medals and a box of donuts. The start/finish is in a quaint downtown area with many restaurants and shops. Race swag was a short sleeve tech tee and sticker. A towel was handed out at checkpoint 2. Previous year shirts were also on sale for $5 and all merch was discounted 25% at the end of the race.
Race weather was almost perfect, a little windy on the last day but I won’t complain as Midwest spring weather can be unpredictable. I finished with a little over 31 miles and over 2000 ft of elevation in a little under 24 hours, running 6 times, about every 4 hours. If I did it again, I would probably do it with a 10 person team! I would recommend this race, it would be fun to do with 9 of your closest friends.