Are we there, yet?
My main concerns are vertical gain and warm temperatures. Ultrarunning has it rated at 4/3 but that doesn't seem to fit the 60K, only the 100K course. This year seemed to be an anomaly with muddy conditions. The 60K has a 12 hour cutoff with 2460 ft of gain and 4774 ft of loss. The course profile looks reasonable but I've been mistaken interpreting those in the past and missed cutoff times. Average temps look okay but it is desert which means little or no shade and probably no cloud cover.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
Not a clue how it would be but it looks interesting.
http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=50278
I saw this one and it looked interesting. Not sure if I could do 100 miles in the 30 hours but I thought that it might be a good way to get 100k or a little more in. It is in the middle of the summer but it's a little farther north so the temps might be a little cooler.
Don't let the CT location fool you. I lived in CT for 5 years and June 30th can be very hot. I've also got plans to return to Canada for a reprise of Powderface 21K and another race the week prior, Rundle's Revenge 25K. Now those are far enough north that it might be a bit cooler.
Black Canyon is/was a golden ticket (100K) race for WSER. I think it still is a golden ticket. Lots of fast people show up. Looks like a cool course, but I love the desert. However, high direct sun exposure could definitely be an issue for me. But I still love the desert.
LB2
It is for 2018 as well. The 100K is also a qualifier for WS and both the 100K and 60K score qualifier points for UTMB.
king of the non-sequitur
WC, ill be there doing the 100k. ive only run the modified course (2017) but im from there and know that area pretty well. the 60k will be on the latter part of the course which is reputed to be very rocky with many ups and downs. the weather is crazy everywhere these days so i dont know what to say about that except pack to be prepared for anything. the storm this year was easily predicted once it was hitting Cali we knew it was coming so there were days to prepare. and even though it was very cold up high when we were down by the turnaround it was pretty nice. i'd say heat more likely will be an issue than cold. it's a beautiful area and running out there is worth a trip regardless.
Bridle Trails 50k 1-13-24 5:39
Cottontail 6 Hour 4-13-24
Cougar Long Series (May,June,July,Aug 2024)
Carkeek 6 Hour 10-19-24
Did they change it? The website says the 60K is the first 37.4 miles of the 100K course with a net loss in elevation starting at Mayer HS and finishing in Black Canyon City.
KillJoyFuckStick
I haven't ever run the race(s) but I've been on the Black Canyon trail a handful of times. There are not huge ass climbs but the elevation chart in sections look like someone in cardiac arrest (literally doesn't seem to be any section that is flat). Combine that with desert exposure, rocky terrain, and who knows weather and you have a pretty tough course.
You people have issues
They had to modify it last year due to record rainfall and snow. I don't think they've permanently changed the course.
That's what makes me hesitate. I've run several other races that looked they they had liberal cutoff times only to find the course a lot tougher than I expected resulting in DNFs with missing them.
oh maybe they didnt. sry dont know why i thought that. maybe because my Cousin offered to pace me late thinking he was doing the 60. im looking forwsrd to the p2p and not having to worry about getting in the leaders way on their way back