Will be in Chicago for a couple of days next week and want to get an 8-10 mile run in early Friday morning (5ish). Hotel is on Monroe about 6 blocks west of the lakefront. I'm planning to head east until I hit the Lakefront Trail and then go either north or south. Does anyone have any other route suggestions? Any places I should avoid?

 

Thanks.

Holly, I've run Stone Steps for the last 3 years and will be running it again this fall after Air Force. It is the only 50K course I've run so I have no basis of comparison.

 

I did look at the times of other runners in the ORRRC 50k series who ran Germantown, Another Dam (great race by the way) and John Bryan to see how the courses compared. It seems that Stone Steps and John Bryan tend to have the slower finishing times so I would assume the courses to be similar in difficulty.

 

The race is limited to 75 starters so the field spreads out rather quickly. There are some steep climbs but most of the single-track trail has gradual slopes or stays fairly level. The course is 90% shaded and 99% trail with 5 paved road crossings every 8 miles. It is nice to have the single aid station/check-in that you come into 6 times during the race. It makes it easier to make gear adjustments and see friends and family.

 

I nearly signed up for Another Dam 50K this year. Had the payment and registration form in a stamped envelope. Went camping the weekend before and forgot to send it in only to check on Monday and see that it was filled up. Oh well.

 

Hope to see you in Mt. Airy Forest.

 

Mike

Do exactly as you said: run east, then take the lakefront path.  Run 4-5 miles, then turn around.  From Monroe, go north; it will be a bit more scenic and nicer.

I don't believe Stone Steps has ever filled up before race day and there ends up being a few entrants that register that morning. You never know though the way races have been filling up lately. The race director (Dave Corfman) will typically keep a list on the site of current registrants but he usually updates about once a week. Just check the page every week or so in the month leading up to the event to see where that number stands.

 

There will usually be a couple of fat ass runs on the course over the summer that will be posted on the website. If you can find the time to come down and run it, I think you'll be more prepared mentally. Dave's running Badwater this year so he should have some good stories to tell during these run(s). You can also check the Greater Cincinnati Trail Runners facebook page for announcements about Stone Steps training runs.

 

Never done Flying Monkey. I've talked to people who have. I understand there a lot of up and down. Not very much flat.

It is not really a detour since you have to run right through it, no?