Ultra Runners

1

North Country 50 (Read 234 times)

kgearin


    Hey, I am new here and have just signed up for my first 50 miler.  Does anyone here have any experience with the North Country 50 race?  I have done a few 50k's (Dances with Dirt Hell and Gnaw Bone) and was just curiuos what the course was like.  Any information any one could provide would be great, thanks in advance.

     

    KG

    Buzzie


    Bacon Party!

      Course is fairly easy, definitely runnable.

      Not at all technical (unless you're barefoot - in which case, beware the acorn caps and toe-grabbing root stumps!). Modest, Michigan-sized hills - nothing much bigger than you'd find at DWD Hell. Footing is soft dirt and, IIRC, maybe a few slightly sandy areas. Trail is almost (if not) entirely under cover of trees.

       

      It's a fun race in a great setting.

      I did it 2 years ago under a new RD; I understand it's now much improved.

      Liz

      pace sera, sera

      xor


        I haven't run North Country but fwiw, Dances With Dirt intentionally makes their courses hard.  I'd be willing to bet NC is more sane specifically because it isn't a DWD event.

         

        jjameson


          I wanted to do NCT but it was full.  Heard it is very runnable.

           

           

            Joe also puts on a race in Michigan in the UP, right around that time of year.  Smile  I really want to run the 50M, but I gotta get this stupid marathon out of the way first.  Joe- I noticed it was rated as a more technical running surface than Ice Age 50, how would you compare it to Ice Age?

            jjameson


              Joe also puts on a race in Michigan in the UP, right around that time of year.  Smile  I really want to run the 50M, but I gotta get this stupid marathon out of the way first.  Joe- I noticed it was rated as a more technical running surface than Ice Age 50, how would you compare it to Ice Age?

               

              I am no longer RD for the Marquette Trail 50 in the UP of Michigan.  Andrew Grosvenor has taken the race over.  I am still helping but maybe this year I will be able to actually run the race!  We may alternate RD positions so I am still involved in the race.  The terrain really varies.  Some parts are very rooty and rocky to the point that running is hard to do but these areas are pretty short.  There are some miles of relatively flat running as well.  Almost all is single-track.  Andrew is changing the course some this year and so it will be a little harder.  Overall I think it is more technical than Ice Age.  The climbs are longer but there aren't as many as Ice Age.  I love the IAT but the character of the trail (to me) is similar, at least on the 50 mile race course.  The race up here has sections that are quite different from each other.