Speedgoat 50k, final update!
Well folks, the course is now marked, and yup, there is still alot of snow, although it’s melting rapidly each day. A few things you need to know below:
1. The race is very hard, it’s not just a “little bit further” than a marathon, it’s alot further than a marathon.
2. We had to alter a few routes on the course, but is still 95% the same as last year. These changes are below:
a. We have a 500′ rope in Little Cloud Bowl, at about mile 7.5 it is all snow, so we hung a rope down 500′ in the snow to assist runners. Traction devices would be good if you are a little sketched on steep snowy slopes. It was soft enough to self arrest without a rope on Tuesday morning at 8am, so it’ll be fine, just be careful and considerate of others if hanging on to that rope. it will also be there for the final descent. Likely, there will be an epic buttslide at least a quarter mile long. Needless to say, little roadrunner shorts, might be a problem. 🙂
b. The trail over on Baldy where ropes are set is pretty nasty, loose rocks, shale, steep, be very careful. This is no different than previous years with the exception that the last few years I put a few hours of work clearing trail, this year my back is not allowing me to do that. Be considerate of others, and very careful with rocks sliding.
c. LARRY’S HOLE AID STATION is in a slightly different place. We will have a marshall in place at 3 different junctions, so it’s pretty much impossible to get on the wrong track. The aid station is located at the BOTTOM OF THE SKI LIFT instead of at the turn by the creek crossing. Be aware that this is slightly different, but not any harder, it adds a bit of distance, which we make up later. The loop in Mary Ellen Gulch and Miller Hill is exactly the same, no changes.
d. Coming back to Larry’s Hole, is a bit different too, but very easy, and will have a marshall in this location too, to make sure you are going the correct way. It will be about .3 of a mile further back to Larry’s Hole the second time after climbing over Miller’s Hill.
e. Leaving Larry’s Hole, you will climb a bit further up the service road before going cross-country directly straight up a ski slope. It really isn’t that long, but man…..it’s really steep. Please do your best not to step all over flowers, although they are not really out yet, if we create a trail here and damage alot of vegetation, we can’t do this again. It’s sort of a trial run. I know everyone will be cursing me for this one, but hey, I made it a bit shorter, isn’t that good? 🙂 There is one fairly steep snowy slope to cross. It’s about 30 yards, and we’ve kicked in steps. It is possible still to slip and slide down a ways, but still, it’s soft enough to self arrest. We also plan on shoveling more Friday to make the steps better.
Those are all the changes, the course is the same from there, into the tunnel, down Peruvian gulch halfway, then up the Cirque, then on to a final descent and buttslide. It’s gonna be epic I assure you, please don’t hit me when you cross the finish line.
If there are any other further questions, ask them on my comments, and I’ll be checking back regularly for any.
Come early in the morning. We have 100 more runners this year to check in, it helps us alot for you to be on time. Registration will close at 615am for a final briefing, then off you go to goat calls. See you all Saturday.
