On June 27th I ran my second 50k race the North Fork Trail Race (http://www.northfork50.com/home.html). The North Fork Trail Race has two options: a 50k or a 50 mile and the total number of people running is limited to 200 so you have to sign up early because it sells out. the race is about 2 to 1 in favor of 50k runners.
I did finish and for this race they did not have medals but pottery bowls that were unique, it's nice to get something different than a medal for a race:
This race is really well organized because they have been doing it for 5 years and the people who run it know how to run them. There was great e-mail communication before the race and they had several trial runs on the course so people could get an idea of what the course was like. Unfortunately I was not able to attend any of them as I had another race two weeks before this one. You could go out to the trail yourself to get an idea what it was like but we have had some wet weather this spring and summer which made the trails very messy in spots plus there is a good chance you could get bit lost because there are trails all over the place in the area. This is the map of the 50k and 50 mile routes:
As you can see from the routes it can be a bit confusing out there if you are running on your own. Fortunately on the day of the race they had the routes really well marked with various color ribbons so you knew when to turn for what distance. Also there was really good signage and striped ribbons to warn you when you were going the wrong way (even with that I ran next to a woman who had gone several miles in the wrong direction around mile 12 and was wondering what distance I was at on my Garmin).
Now that you have seen the course route take a look at the elevation map for the 50k race:
I think this sentence from the course description says it best: "The elevation gain is about 4,650 feet for the 50K and 7,350 feet for the 50 Mile.". The altitude ranges from 6,700 to 8,100 feet for the 50K and up to 8,400 feet for the 50 Mile so altitude is big factor if you are coming from lower elevation.
I ran the race with aa handheld 20 oz water bottle and this was good enough to get me from one aid station to the next (although I cut it close when there was a 5.8 mile section that was very exposed to the sun). They have the aid stations spaced out at a good distance apart and they were very well stocked with everything you could possibly need along with very helpful volunteers. I carried GU packets and salt pills with me but they had them at most of the aid stations. They also had signage telling how far it was to the next aid station so you could prepare accordingly.
This is a very good race to run but I think it is geared towards experienced trail runners due to the altitude, elevation and the overall course itself. I ended up walking more than I wanted or expected to due to several factors: 1. the course is rocky in spots and you can't safely run it, this includes when you are going up and downhill, 2. due to the large amount of rain we had this year it was very sandy and loose footing in many places, and 3. this is a mountain bike trail open to the public so you would have to get out of the way when bikes came through although most would stop and let you go by because they knew there was a race going on. In addition parts of the course go through burn areas where there are no trees so you are very exposed to the sun and heat for miles.
I would only recommend this race to people who have done trail races before and are in peak condition. The 50k distance is actually over 52k due to having to get back to where you started and they have to follow the trails. I ended up running 32.3 miles according to my Garmin. If you are up for challenge this is race to try but be warned that this is not easy.
Pros
Very well organized
Great aid stations
Nice finishers memento and race shirt
Good post race food and beverage selection
Cons
Tough course
The distance from the last aid station to the finish was a bit off.
Personally I have decided that I am just not that fond of 50k races. I wanted to try another one after the first one last year but I think I am going to stick with marathons (or shorter distances) for the immediate future along with some obstacle course races. On a positive note I found out yesterday I got into an Antarctica marathon for 2016!
Happy running!
