The Mokelumne River Trail 50 Miler and 50K on Saturday start from the Gold Run campsite area. The course is an out and back course on the Coast to Crest Trail. Our 50 mile race is a UTMB qualifier race (4 Points).
The Half Marathon on Sunday is a point to point course, runners will get picked up from the Gold Run camping area at 8am. Runners will then be shuttled to “Campo Seco staging area” where the Half Marathon starts at 9:00am.
Instead of the organized 5k & 10k Friday, there will be a fun run on a 1 mile loop around the campgrounds, you can do one or more loops. This is open to runners of all ages. The fun run will not be timed. Starts at 7:00pm and it will be followed with a bonfire.
The course follows the Mokelumne River Coast to Crest Trail. Known for its vibrant wildflowers, specimen flowers along the trail will be labeled with small flags the week of April 1 from the Lower Log Boom to Patti’s Point (the Longest Mile).
The out-and-back course runs along the Mokelumne River Coast to Crest Trail and winds along the Mokelumne River past California’s historic mining towns and old mines. Drink in the beautiful scenic views of Camanche and Pardee Lakes, oak woodlands, gorgeous wildflowers, the “Longest Mile Trail,” and wildlife that often includes the majestic Bald Eagle.
Please be aware that between the climbing and the possible/probable heat that the 50 mile course is not an easy race. Proper training is highly recommended. The 50 mile race has approximately 10,000 feet of climb.
Many thanks to the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) for their assistance, as well as their custodianship of the Mokelumne River Coast to Crest Trail and the watershed lands.
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A Local Hidden Gem!
Camping and running with friends, what more could you want? This is definitely one of the best races I’ve ever done! A few months ago, some of my friends and … MORE
Camping and running with friends, what more could you want? This is definitely one of the best races I’ve ever done!
A few months ago, some of my friends and I decided to register for this race and make a weekend of it with camping out at the start. I highly recommend camping because the race starts at 6am due to the trails having restricted hours. Being with friends all weekend just made it much more fun though. I did the 50 miler, but there was also the option of the 50k, which was also an out and back. The 50 miler had the best sights though!
This is definitely not the easiest race with over 10k feet of elevation gain in a little over 51 miles, but the scenery in the middle 20 miles of the course made it so worth it. We ran high above the water and saw so many wildflowers and beautiful sights. It is an out and back course so you can’t appreciate the long downhills too much on the way to the turn around! There are also very steep stairs on the course that put the Dipsea stairs to shame!
The early start was also needed because it ended up being a hot day. My friend’s garmin recorded a high of 93 degrees and there were some long stretches between aid stations. It was nice and cool in the morning when we started and thankfully we ran through a few creeks and could cool off our feet later.
It’s also a very small race with less than 100 registered runners for both distances. It was fun to see the other runners on the course as you passed them and though.
The RD also had post race activities for the runners. They roasted a pig for a potluck post race and then showed a movie in the amphitheater at the campground. It was so great to hang out after and talk about the race.
The race swag was also awesome. We got a headlamp, a race shirt, a little duffle bag and a bottle opener with the logo on it as a finisher’s medal.
This is definitely a race I would do again. There was a course marking issue where a lot of runners missed a turn (I did almost an extra mile out and realized my mistake), but thankfully the RD extended the cutoffs. No other issues besides that though. And the camping was so fun! There was also the option of a doing a half the next day, which I also did (to be found in a different review).