Doing the 50K? Be prepared to jump out of the way of the mtn bikers. The field is full and at mile 7 the 50kers go left while the 50 milers go right. You will cut enough of the course off you'll start to encounter them at about mile 25 for them. Don't be wearing head phones so you can hear them coming. Otherwise, you'll have a great time and it's an awesome event. Kelly

You're not going to suffer that badly. It's hilly but they are the type of hills that you feel good about walking fast (speed hike-I pass so many people because they walk slow uphill) and once you're at the top the downhill on the other side if you just relax and go with it you can rest. My other best advice is train for the downhills. I don't know where you live but if you can hike up a mtn and then run down that's what you need to do. I live here in VT and drive to Stowe and go up the Mt Mansfield Toll Rd and then run down-it's 4.5 miles. The first time I do this it may take about 5 days for me to recover, I do it again and it may take 3 days to recover. I just did the Jay race (on the 26) where I went up Jay Peak and ran down and I was hobbling for the next couple days but last weekend (Aug 2) I did the Toll Rd and I was fine this week. When I did the 50K (3 yrs ago) I passed a few people walking down the hills because their quads were shot. I just took a peak at your log-you might want to think about putting in some more miles unless your log is missing some days. I am a running coach and I've done the 50k once and the 50m twice last year being my best time in 9:00:03 winning my age group. The course has some dirt road sections which will help make up some lost time. It's really not that technical-I catch up to some of the slower mtn bikers. It's been raining a lot here in July and even now into August-if it doesn't let up it could be very muddy and being the end of September who knows what the weather will be. Hope this helps, Kelly

I'm up here in Charlotte. Sounds like you have the hills covered. As far as gear, it's up to you. The aid stations are close together-you'll have to look for the 50k. I use a fuel belt with four bottles because I like to have my hands free. The aid stations are good but a lot of time can be wasted at them. You can have drop bags along the way. I don't change my shoes or socks at all-takes too long. No gaitors, like GUs. Stay with how you've been training. Maybe start with a small camel back and switch to hand helds at a drop bag station once it's empty-don't waste time trying to fill it. There are a few ultra runners up here but we don't always train together-different schedules, races etc. Keep asking questions... Kelly

Nope, haven't gotten into that. No time really. Between a SO, 2 kids, regular work and part time ski teaching at Stowe during the winter and my own training (did Boston this year which really cut into ski season) there's not much time left. I do have snowshoes-I think I used them once to hike up and watch my kids compete in a snowboard slopestyle competition at Bolton one night. Also, I'm trying not to turn everything I do into a race. I'd be perfectly happy just going for an afternoon stroll through the woods (assuming I got first tracks in the morning) And my long run was done too! Kelly

I honestly don't know much about the cut offs-luckily it's not something I have to pay much attention to. I finished Jay in 7:16 this year. I finished the VT50 last year in 9:00:03 and Stone Cat in 9:17:58. VT50 has bigger hills than Stone Cat-ones that you can speed hike up and get a pretty good rest on the way down. Stone Cat is more rolly, you end up walking but you almost feel guilty because the hills aren't that big and don't give you much of a rest on the down side (if there is one). Stone Cat can be tricky because it's Nov and the leaves have started to fall covering the roots and rocks in the trail. It's hard to gauge-there was a lot of chatter last year (on Cool Running) with people trying to compare the two races-which one is harder, comparing times etc. Sorry I'm not much help! Kelly

5mph should get you there, though it's hard to gauge average speed since you powerhike the ups and cruise the downs. Only the first two miles are flat. The whole rest of the course is up and down. It's beautifu though, so make sure you look around a bit. Hustle it on the ups, really powerhike them, don't dilly-dally. Run the rest comfortably, don't linger in aid stations, and you'll be good. I did it last year as my first 50 miler, finished in 11:15. Have fun.