Coming from hilly California trails, I admit that I totally underestimated this course. It "only" has 1300' elevation gain, the majority of which are in 2 big climbs (done 2x … MORE
Coming from hilly California trails, I admit that I totally underestimated this course. It “only” has 1300′ elevation gain, the majority of which are in 2 big climbs (done 2x for 25K runners, 4x for 50K runners). What killed me were the short ascents and descents, and the large rocks jutting out of the barely-there single track trail. Despite my poor performance, I thought it was super well-organized and a fun race!
Some more about the race:
-Course: A lot of single track with large rocks. A few short sections of fire road or grassy fields. A few small creek crossings. My Garmin listed ~1400′ elevation gain, whereas Strava says it was closer to 1300′.
– Parking: Free parking within a 3-minute walk of the Lodge.
– Aid stations: 4 aid stations. All were stocked with food except for #2, which only had water and sports drink. The first 3 are very closely bunched together, with a big gap between #3 and #4. I brought a 12 oz. handheld, which I refilled twice and felt was sufficient. I also brought my own Gu, as we were told they wouldn’t have any on the course. The 3rd aid station was Oktoberfest themed, and the 4th had alcoholic shots you could partake in, just before the Hill from Hell.
– Bathrooms: Flush toilets at the Lodge. Two porta potties at every aid station.
– Swag: Technical, unisex long-sleeve tee, which was roomy even for an XS. It’s very light and comfy. All finishers received a medal, and age group winners received a handcarved wood medal display.
– Post-race food and drinks: Chili (beef and veggie by request), brats, chips, and beer. No soda, which was disappointing. There was also coffee and it was good!
– Course marking: Fantastic! There seemed to be a ribbon every 20 feet and big signs at every turn.
– Advice for anyone considering this race: Super well-organized. All of the volunteers, fellow runners, and spectators were very friendly. I highly recommend this race! One thing I would also recommend is wearing compression socks to keep the weeds and grass from cutting up your leg.
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There *are* hills in Oklahoma
Coming from hilly California trails, I admit that I totally underestimated this course. It "only" has 1300' elevation gain, the majority of which are in 2 big climbs (done 2x … MORE
Coming from hilly California trails, I admit that I totally underestimated this course. It “only” has 1300′ elevation gain, the majority of which are in 2 big climbs (done 2x for 25K runners, 4x for 50K runners). What killed me were the short ascents and descents, and the large rocks jutting out of the barely-there single track trail. Despite my poor performance, I thought it was super well-organized and a fun race!
Some more about the race:
-Course: A lot of single track with large rocks. A few short sections of fire road or grassy fields. A few small creek crossings. My Garmin listed ~1400′ elevation gain, whereas Strava says it was closer to 1300′.
– Parking: Free parking within a 3-minute walk of the Lodge.
– Aid stations: 4 aid stations. All were stocked with food except for #2, which only had water and sports drink. The first 3 are very closely bunched together, with a big gap between #3 and #4. I brought a 12 oz. handheld, which I refilled twice and felt was sufficient. I also brought my own Gu, as we were told they wouldn’t have any on the course. The 3rd aid station was Oktoberfest themed, and the 4th had alcoholic shots you could partake in, just before the Hill from Hell.
– Bathrooms: Flush toilets at the Lodge. Two porta potties at every aid station.
– Swag: Technical, unisex long-sleeve tee, which was roomy even for an XS. It’s very light and comfy. All finishers received a medal, and age group winners received a handcarved wood medal display.
– Post-race food and drinks: Chili (beef and veggie by request), brats, chips, and beer. No soda, which was disappointing. There was also coffee and it was good!
– Course marking: Fantastic! There seemed to be a ribbon every 20 feet and big signs at every turn.
– Advice for anyone considering this race: Super well-organized. All of the volunteers, fellow runners, and spectators were very friendly. I highly recommend this race! One thing I would also recommend is wearing compression socks to keep the weeds and grass from cutting up your leg.
So much (brutal) fun!
I ran this race with three other running friends (so there will probably be more reviews on this site coming up soon). We all ran the 25k which is 2 … MORE
I ran this race with three other running friends (so there will probably be more reviews on this site coming up soon). We all ran the 25k which is 2 loops of a course. There’s also a 50k and a 10k on Saturday and a marathon, half-marathon and quarter-marathon on the Sunday. If you run on both days, you’re a ‘doubler’ and you get an extra medal, which is a genius idea!!
This was my first 25k and my longest run for 12 year so my expectations were modest. However the whole race experience was excellent. Easy packet pick-up the day before at the venue. Friendly runners on the day. The trails are not often run, being private, so sometimes they were a little tricky to follow but signposting was excellent throughout. There were four aid-stations on the loop, two of which were loads of fun, bringing loads of energy to the race. The course is NOT easy. It includes two sizable hills (even for a California girl used to hills) and is constantly up-and-down, which wears the legs away slowly and innocuously. What’s harder is that they are VERY rocky so you have to watch every single footstep, so beware! It was lovely running through woodland though and there were some great views of Tulsa in the distance!
Race production was excellent, I can’t fault it. There was free food at the end and AG winners got beautiful hand-made plaques. I LOVE the race shirt. (Jess T below mentions that they’re unisex and ‘roomy’. She is absolutely right, I just really like how it fits me personally). I’ve hardly taken mine off since. The medal is also big, heavy and beautiful.
My only suggestion would be breakfast options for runners before the race. There was breakfast at the hotel which was $12, no runner can pack away $12 food before a race! A $5 option of coffee/bagels (or even free coffee/bagels) would be a really nice touch.
This was my first race in OK and I had an absolute blast!!! Thanks, Post Oak.
Definitely a race I'll run again
A series of trail races on the usually private property of PostOak Lodge. This race embraces a 'challenge' of running a double on Saturday (10k, 25k, or 50k) and then … MORE
A series of trail races on the usually private property of PostOak Lodge. This race embraces a ‘challenge’ of running a double on Saturday (10k, 25k, or 50k) and then on Sunday (quarter marathon, half marathon, or full marathon). Any combo makes you a challenge completer. I only ran the 25k on Saturday – but could totally see making a weekend of it and staying either at the Lodge or in the cabins on site. It seems there were meal plans you could purchase and nightly bonfires for runners.
There were many great things about this race: (1) in the weeks leading up to the race, there were practice runs on the normally closed course, (2) packet-pickup could be done all week long – m thru th at Tulsa Runner and f and sat at the race, (3) for a small trail race, Tulsa Runner still set up all weekend to sell shirts, hats, nutrition, hokas!, anything you may need or have forgotten, (3) the people were super friendly!, (4) the course is beautiful, but tough (which makes it fun), (5) great aid stations, and the infamous TATUR people had their bar set up, (6) there is a post race meal, which was great!
Just a few “I wish it was better”: (1) the shirts are unisex, and even the XS is a bit roomy, (2) post-race there was a meal, but no soda! I really want cokes after trail runs.
Some notes about the course: I underestimated the difficulty of the course. At least for Saturday’s runs – it was very technical. The course was made more difficult probably because it’s not run on that frequently – there are lots of rocks along the way. Runnable, but technical.
Overall, I had a great time! And found the entire experience enjoyable. I think I’m in for a double next year.