The Mohican Trail 100 Mile Run, often referred to as the MO100, has become one of the nation’s premier ultra-marathons. Home of the first ever USATF Ultra Running Championship in 2005, Mohican is reportedly the fifth-oldest ultra-running race in the USA. Traverse 95% trail along a challenging course winding its …
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The Mohican Trail 100 Mile Run, often referred to as the MO100, has become one of the nation’s premier ultra-marathons. Home of the first ever USATF Ultra Running Championship in 2005, Mohican is reportedly the fifth-oldest ultra-running race in the USA.
Traverse 95% trail along a challenging course winding its way through the lush 5000 acre Mohican Memorial State Forest. Along with the 100, The Mohican 50 Mile and Marathon distances have become increasingly popular, offering runners a taste of the whole enchilada. Rest assured is that whatever distance you choose, Mohican volunteers will be there to help you complete your journey.
Due to the incredible growth and popularity of the Mohican Trail Run, the race date was moved up by two weeks to avoid the busy Father’s Day Weekend. The race alone brings about 2000 people to a town of 2600 on what has become a holiday weekend. For the last few years, small adjustments have been made to allow for more parking, including limiting the size of the race, moving the start of the race a mile away from the finish to add parking, and moving the Marathon Run from a more typical morning start to a noon start. By moving the date to a less busy weekend, we now offer runners the following advantages.
- Increased racer limit
- Start and Finish in the same location
- Morning race start for the Marathon Run
- Ample parking near the start/finish
- Greater availability of camping/cabins on site at Mohican Adventures
Ask a Mohican finisher and you will find that Mohican volunteers have become re-known for the level of personal service offered to MO’s hopeful runners. As you run, you will be following in the foot-steps of many legendary MO Runners who have taken the Mohican Challenge, including famed Caballo Blanco of the national bestseller “Born to Run” who completed the Mohican 50 as one of the final races in his much celebrated life journey. Take the first step toward your Mohican journey by entering or volunteering today!
Mohican is also the second stop of the annual Midwest Grand Slam.
Whether you are an experienced ultra-marathoner or just looking for your first off-road Marathon, 50 mile or 100 mile race, MO should be on YOUR Must-Do list.
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Beautiful course, unorganized race
First the good; this is a beautiful trail in a beautiful part of the country. You are in a quaint little part of Ohio (Amish country) and the scenery is … MORE
First the good; this is a beautiful trail in a beautiful part of the country. You are in a quaint little part of Ohio (Amish country) and the scenery is amazing. Do not be fooled into thinking that all of Ohio is flat though because that is flat out not the case with this course! The course provided a legit challenge even though officially the elevation gain isn’t all that high. The course is well maintained, however, I would list it as pretty technical. One thing I did not read about or expect prior to starting is the sheer amount of roots from the pine trees. So be warned, THERE ARE A TON OF ROOTS ON THIS COURSE. I will say it again because my toes are reminding me right now, THERE ARE A TON OF EXPOSED ROOTS ON THIS COURSE. Consider yourself warned.
The volunteers were super friendly, the racers and all of the race officials were super friendly.
Okay, now for the less than great. All in all, the organization of this race was flat-out horrible. From the beginning of signing up and trying to find coherent instructions and details on the website, up to the starting line, hardly anyone you asked knew what was going on. The website still has instructions dating back to 2012, there are conflicting instructions on what to expect, there are outdated maps for downloading, and just in general there is not a lot of guidance that is laid out in an easy-to-understand manner. When I arrived at packet pick up the night before, there was a giant map on the wall that was labeled 2013… Same course, but the aid stations were not the same and I stood around and listened to multiple conversations from confused runners about what was going on. I asked fairly basic questions to staff volunteers and not once did I get a definitive answer.
Course markings were lacking in the camping areas and there needed to be more confidence flags on the trails.
So, if I had to suggest this race to a first-timer I would say, unless the race director seriously works on their organization skills, don’t do it. As ultra-runners we tend to plan out every small detail down to the micro-decisions, and it is impossible to do that with this race. You will be frustrated.
I hate to end on a negative note, so I will say this again, it is a BEAUTIFUL trail!