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The website still has instructions dating back to 2012, there are conflicting instructions on what to expect, there are outdated maps for downloading, and just in general there is not a lot of guidance that is laid out in an easy-to-understand manner.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!
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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!