Rib Mountain is a beauty to behold any season of the year. Whether you call it home, or if you are just passing through, you can’t help but admire this glacially eroded creation. But why observe from a distance what you can experience through all your senses. Welcome to the …
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Rib Mountain is a beauty to behold any season of the year. Whether you call it home, or if you are just passing through, you can’t help but admire this glacially eroded creation. But why observe from a distance what you can experience through all your senses. Welcome to the Rib Mountain Trail Races!
What better way to discover than to dive right in the twists and climbs, running under a bounty of colored hardwoods on the gorgeous trails of Rib Mountain.
DO YOU HAVE THE ENDURANCE AND STRENGTH TO FINISH THIS CHALLENGE?
Course
25k & 50k: The 25k adventure consists of a loop throughout Rib Mountain terrain and the 50k adventure consists of two loops. The course includes private property trails exclusive to this event! Gear bags will be delivered to aid stations. Racers will be challenged with plenty of climbing – so be sure to prepare for the ups and downs, with each loop including a couple bonus miles (approximately 16 mile / 26 k loop) and encompassing 3400 feet of elevation gain per loop. Aid stations are between 2.5 miles and 4.0 miles apart.
15k: The 15k adventure immerses runners into Rib Mountain with a sampling of the vertical challenge (1400 feet). Runners start and end on State Park Speedway’s race track, gallop through the woods, climb to the top of Rib Mountain, and circle around the quarry. The course includes private property trails exclusive to this event! Two aid stations along the route support runners. This course provides trail runners a true trail challenge with highlights of Rib Mountain State Park, perfect to introduce new trail runners to the sport.
Finish Line Festivities
The well deserved post race party will be held at the finish line! Family, friends, food, music, and most importantly, beer (including Red Eye local craft brews) and drinks, are there to congratulate you, an IRONBULL finisher. All racers & volunteers receive a free meal & drink and spectators may purchase onsite.
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Wisconsin's mountainous trail race!
The Ironbull in Wisconsin is about as close to a mountainous trail race as you can get in the Midwest, with several steep ski slope climbs that require you to … MORE
The Ironbull in Wisconsin is about as close to a mountainous trail race as you can get in the Midwest, with several steep ski slope climbs that require you to climb on all fours at times! There are BOULDERS everywhere on the course, including the easier stretches in the woods, but you actually climb on HUGE boulders going up the ski mountain, which is both exhilarating and treacherous at the same time.
The race is well-organized and the course markings were much better this year (2023) than last year. The aid stations are adequate but not plump with offerings, and that’s ok. The finisher’s award and t-shirt were both high quality this year. Registration also includes a food truck meal and an alcoholic beverage after the race.
The race course begins at the state park speedway, which is so cool, but quickly goes into the woods towards Rib Mountain State Park. Once in the park, you run along a wooded path on private properly for a while, and this is actually the EASIEST part of the course, even though it has LOTS of rocks along the course. It’s also recommended to wear a head lamp at the race start because it’s dark in the woods and the race begins at sunup (but NO sun this year, which I’ll get to later). Then you have a gradual ascent to Granite Peak, which is not too bad and is still quite runnable. But once you reach the top, there is quite a bit of technical terrain, weaving in and out of large rock formations. After all that, you go back down and prepare for SEVERAL very steep climbs and descents through the ski slopes. This is the HIGHLIGHT of the race because it’s so unique. There are times when the grade is 40-50% and includes HUGE boulders that must be traversed on all fours. The descents are just as challenging because of the steepness and rocks along the course. But it’s all worth it because you really “find your tough” by the end of this race. The last few miles are back in the woods and have some up’s and down’s but nothing too bad. The 25k does this entire loop once, while the 50k does it twice! The former has about 3,600 ft of elevation gain, while the 50k tops out at double that!
THIS year in 2023, there were THUNDERSTORMS that began around Mile 5 and never let up the ENTIRE RACE. This made the course even MORE challenging, especially with slippery rocks and eventually full on mud going up and down the slopes. With lightning and thunder throughout the race, it was pretty exciting but also very DARK. I was one of the few smart runners who wore a headlamp and I used it almost the entire race and it helped so much.
Overall, this is a FANTASTIC race with a unique, challenging course and a well-organized event. I drive 5 hours and make this my main destination race each year now, and I’ll be going back again next year. I think the 25k is the sweet spot, but maybe I’ll attempt the 50k. After the race, make sure to grab a ticket at the Granite Peak Ski Area to take a lift back to the top. If there are still runners out there, you can watch them and also visit the observation tower.
One Tough Course!
The good stuff: -The race is highly organized. Every detail was thought of and the event ran smoothly. -When you cross the finish line they say something unique about you … MORE
The good stuff:
-The race is highly organized. Every detail was thought of and the event ran smoothly.
-When you cross the finish line they say something unique about you that you shared at registration
-The views from the top of the mountains are gorgeous. October is a great time to see some color change too.
– I liked the socks instead of a shirt for SWAG. I have tons of shirts and hardly use any of them. The socks will definitely get used.
The Not As Good:
– The course has 13/17 miles that feel ‘hard but fair’. There is a four mile stretch that feels excessive. You run up and down ski runs four times. One is really rocky, all of them are steep. You can’t really run up or down them. Running one would be sufficient. Four felt sadistic. The course is 34 miles anyway so cutting out some of those hills seems reasonable and would make it a 50K.
-The aid stations have enough fuel to sustain you, but fewer options than I am used to. There were bananas, chips, and candy. Again, enough that I didn’t need to bring anything of my own, but fewer options than other races I have done.
Overall, this is a challenging, well-run race. If you decide to run it, know that there are going to be some REALLY steep miles that will really test you. If you don’t mind that, everything else is great!