I probably started out running a little too fast at the start. After about 4 miles the dry jeep road became snow packed. Several cars had driven on the road, so there were good tire tracks to run in. The course would remain snow covered until the last couple of miles of the race. The traction was good for the most part, but there was a few spots with icy sections. At 6 miles there was an aid station where I filled my water bottle up. The course gained over 2000 feet over the first 8 miles ending with a rather steep hill.

From miles 8 to 12 (the turn around at Turret) was some rolling hills with Turret about 600 feet lower than the high point of the race at 8 miles. I tried to run the uphills easily and then pick up the pace on the down hills.

At Turret I drank some water but did not refill my water bottle as it was still half full. I ran the entire climb out of Turret but again tried not to push too hard on the uphills. I also ate a gel coming out of Turret. I was feeling good at the top of the climb and tried to pick up my pace as the course was descending again.

At the last aid station at mile 17.5 I filled my water bottle. From here the course continues on a slightly rougher jeep road, but again there had been car traffic, so the snow was packed. I was following another runner in front of me when suddenly we ran into a bunch of runner coming back down this road. We all had missed a turn, so we proceeded to run back down the road. I ended up missing the turn by about 1/4 of a mile (the reason why the marathon race distance is report as longer than 26.2 miles).

Once we got back to the turn off the course conditions got real interesting. For the next 5 miles the course was covered with snow ranging from 2 to 6 inches and with some places over a foot deep. The section was rolling hills again but with an overall elevation drop. I walked most of the uphills because of the bad footing with the snow. There were also several other sections that I walk because of the depth of the snow and I was post holing in it.

The trail was most clear of snow for the last three miles as the course quickly dropped about 1500 feet into town. I tried to pick up my pace for this section, but the top part was technical trail with lots of loose rocks. As I dropped lower towards the finish, the trail because less technical and I could run faster without worrying about the trail conditions.

Not all that much. Perhaps start out just a little bit slower and try to pick up the pace a little more through the mid section of the race.

Walked around the finish area cheering on the other runners.


The course conditions. The snow really slowed me down and took a lot of energy.


If you like trail races, this is a fun early season race. Typically there is not any substantial amount of snow on the course.