Description

The Lake Martin 50 Mile Race will be a great "first long ultra" race.  By long ultra I mean anything longer that a 50K.  Anyone that can run a marathon can handle a 50K.  When you move up to longer events, it becomes a whole new ball game.  Instead of being on the road for 3 or 4 or even 5 hours, the average ultrarunner will need 10 or 12 and possibly 14 hours to finish 50 miles.  Things like hydration, fueling, blisters, night running, etc suddenly become big issues.  One of the most difficult things to figure out is what to put in each dropbag because you really don't know how to figure when you will arrive at a particular aid station.

The 50 mile race will consist of two 25 mile loops.  Each loop will have four aid station stops ranging from 4 to 7 miles apart, but there are only two aid station.  That is, each loop, runners will return to the two aid station, twice.  We will accept larger than usual dropbags (even plastic tubs) so it is not necessary to guess where you will need flashlight or extra socks.  They will never be more than a few miles away.  We have also designed the course so that there are no repeated trails. 

The course will consist entirely of single track trails and gravel trails/roads.  Most of these gravel trails do not allow automobile traffic at all.  The only place you will set foot on pavement is at two "cabin road" crossings and the road into the two restaurants, the food store and the Stable at Russell Crossroads, the start/finish area.  (Most runners will never see a vehicles on the course other than those parked at trail heads.)