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I picked this race because I was looking for a fall 50 mile that was close to home. It was a very small field of runners mostly from the immediate area. The course was advertised to be pretty flat, but my watch clocked three times the amount of elevation gain that was posted. I enjoyed this race and would recommend it for runners with some trail experience.
The trail included single trail wooded areas, exposed powerline climbs, sandy forest service roads, hard dirt pack, and even the starting/ending 5k on road. The variety offered a lot of mental stimulus to stave off boredom. The sand was brutal. Even after a fairly wet week leading into the race, the loose sand was destroying ankles. My ankles had never posed problems for me in an ultra until this race, then they were working HARD. The map on the website posted 2200 feet of elevation gain, so I was anticipating a fast finish. My watch clocked over 6,000 feet of gain. Most of the trail was quite flat. It was a two loop course with most the gain in the first third of the loop. Just be wary if you're sensitive to elevation or are a first time 50 miler. The best news - no hard cutoffs!
* Since the race they have posted about changing course to better manage the sand.
As a local race, it was expected that there was going to be a small field of runners. I just expected more than 35 runners for the 50 mile distance. It was great to have an opportunity to podium and get a huge PR, but it made the course quite lonely. I was running solo from mile 4 to the end. I saw a few runners that I passed in aid stations, but other than that it was only me as far as the eye could see. That might not be the ultra experience everyone is looking for.
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