This was the first year of this race and it was relatively small. I think about 50 did the 30k and maybe not quite that many did the 50k. It … MORE
This was the first year of this race and it was relatively small. I think about 50 did the 30k and maybe not quite that many did the 50k. It is in a beautiful setting! Parking is easy (on an old paved airstrip), check-in was fast, and everything about the start of the race was great. The little old country store where you check in was about as charming as they come.
The aid stations were placed perfectly, there were enough of them, the volunteers were super helpful, and the menu of food was great. I don’t know if there were toilets on the course; I didn’t look for them and didn’t notice them. I might have seen one, but there could have been more.
The course itself was harder than it appeared. The first mile was flat and along an old dirt road through a field. After that you had like 2 miles of steep uphill. Then down, and some up and down, and then maybe three or so miles along an old dirt road that was mostly up. But there were flat’ish sections that I ended up walking. Not sure why? Maybe because the hills I’d already run had beat me down. I was walking some of these and felt like I really should be running. The 30k is really a runnable race, with a few exceptions. But the fastest time was just over half of my time, so that gives you an idea how quickly the elite runners will tackle this.
The post-race food was good, and they had veggie burgers. Yay! They didn’t have any buns or tomato or lettuce, onions, or the things that make a burger, so I just squirted a bunch of mustard on my plate and dipped the burger in mustard. Not great, but at least it was some protein. They had a huge apple pie, chips, beer, soda, water, and Powerade, all for the post-race meal.
Nicely done! I’d recommend this one. I drove an hour to get there. It might be worth a two hour drive, but not much more than that. Great regional race, but not a bucket list race. Yet. But this was it’s first year, it will grow and get better, I think. Clearly the RD for this race has run these races and knows what it takes to run a good race.
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Great small race
This was the first year of this race and it was relatively small. I think about 50 did the 30k and maybe not quite that many did the 50k. It … MORE
This was the first year of this race and it was relatively small. I think about 50 did the 30k and maybe not quite that many did the 50k. It is in a beautiful setting! Parking is easy (on an old paved airstrip), check-in was fast, and everything about the start of the race was great. The little old country store where you check in was about as charming as they come.
The aid stations were placed perfectly, there were enough of them, the volunteers were super helpful, and the menu of food was great. I don’t know if there were toilets on the course; I didn’t look for them and didn’t notice them. I might have seen one, but there could have been more.
The course itself was harder than it appeared. The first mile was flat and along an old dirt road through a field. After that you had like 2 miles of steep uphill. Then down, and some up and down, and then maybe three or so miles along an old dirt road that was mostly up. But there were flat’ish sections that I ended up walking. Not sure why? Maybe because the hills I’d already run had beat me down. I was walking some of these and felt like I really should be running. The 30k is really a runnable race, with a few exceptions. But the fastest time was just over half of my time, so that gives you an idea how quickly the elite runners will tackle this.
The post-race food was good, and they had veggie burgers. Yay! They didn’t have any buns or tomato or lettuce, onions, or the things that make a burger, so I just squirted a bunch of mustard on my plate and dipped the burger in mustard. Not great, but at least it was some protein. They had a huge apple pie, chips, beer, soda, water, and Powerade, all for the post-race meal.
Nicely done! I’d recommend this one. I drove an hour to get there. It might be worth a two hour drive, but not much more than that. Great regional race, but not a bucket list race. Yet. But this was it’s first year, it will grow and get better, I think. Clearly the RD for this race has run these races and knows what it takes to run a good race.
Caution: Extreme Hills!!!
Overall Rating: It was really good for an inaugural run. Course Difficulty: Although the course only had a couple of miles of pretty technical trail, the amount of power that … MORE
Overall Rating: It was really good for an inaugural run.
Course Difficulty: Although the course only had a couple of miles of pretty technical trail, the amount of power that had to be exerted on the hills was extremely difficult. While I was walking, I remember thinking that most people I know (non ultra runners) would not be able to walk this trail, it is just that tough.
Course scenery: Excellent. Ran past a couple of waterfalls, through some old mining tunnels, and some rock formations. Good view of the cove from the top.
Race Production: I’m a little mixed on this. For the inaugural race, it was excellent-everything when and where it should have been, plenty of communication, and an on time start. The one area that seemed to be lacking was trail marking, most trails that I have run as complex as this one have a general rule that you can see the next confidence marker from the current one, that was not the case here. There were people lost and taking wrong turns all day. While I personally didn’t get off course, there were several times I had to stop to try and see a flag, and at the end, a couple of miles where I had no idea if I was on the right trail. This could be improved.
Another thing that was odd was the lack of attention at the finish line. As I came in, there were spectators, but no one to say ok, you’re done. You just kind of stand there…eventually a guy came over and asked if I got a jar. I took one, grabbed a burger and took off. I think this area could use some work.
The aid stations were excellent!!! Wide variety of fuel, and the volunteers were helpful and attentive. They led you through every step from checking in to heading out.
Race Swag: You know, there is just kind of a standard that when you finish a race, you get a medal or a buckle; I know that ultras do things differently, but the finisher gift for this one was a glass jar with a leather wrap…that’s going to be tough to hang next to the other medals. I’m sure that some people like jars or pottery or wood carvings or whatever, I’m just not all about that. The other stuff – drop bag, shirt, sticker, head band were all good.
My Performance: Not bad. I knew going in that this would be a vertical challenge so I was hoping for a finish around 8 hours. I was shocked in the last few miles when I was trending for a 7 hour finish. This time definitely doesn’t reflect how difficult this course is (I had some 21 min miles), but there were some pretty fast downhill sections to make up for it.
Final notes: This is a hard course, physically. Your bones, joints, and spine will hurt. At times you will feel like you can’t walk anymore from the steepness of the hills, and on the way down, you will feel like your IT bands are going to snap. You’re feet will get wet in the creek crossings, and if it rains up to a week before the race, you will be in a muddy sloppy mess for part of it. Much of the rocky part of the trail also had a 4-6” leaf covering over it, which made a nice mine field for the ankles.
Just being real with this assessment, but if you feel up to the challenge, this trail will take you to some beautiful places you would otherwise never see.