Trail races...anyone have a favorite?

coffeelover · Apr 16, 2014

Running Valvers,
Does anyone have a favorite trail Half marathon they have ran and recommend? I have ran lots of Half marathons ( ran a race 1 year after AVR)and several full marathons but would like to run a trail half marathon. Was thinking of doing a race in the Colorado Rockies this fall? Any recommendations?...if you train in the flatlands how does one get ready for altitude?Any advise...
Thanks!

MarkU · Apr 16, 2014

Every February our track club does a 50K trail run along with a 25K "fun run" on a 12.5K loop through a local state park. Flat course, sandy, with mostly scrub vegitation and an occasional alligator sighting.

Mark

SumoRunner · Apr 16, 2014

There's one near Albany NY on October 26, the Hairy Gorilla Half. It's in a state park in hill country south of the city. I haven't run it but have done many shorter trail races put on by the same club. They always do it up right, in fact this crew goes overboard to make runs fun.

http://www.hairygorillahalf.com/

There's a 30K near Catskill NY on July 27, the Escarpment Trail Run that's for true lunatics. This one is tougher than tough, so it has pretty strict qualifying standards. I just saw the race director a couple hours ago, he coaches our track workouts.

http://escarpmenttrail.com/

ski girl · Apr 16, 2014

Want to come to Australia? Consider the Surf Coast Century (100km and 50km options, solo or team):

http://www.rapidascent.com.au/SurfcoastCentury/

These guys run fantastic events and the scenery along this part of the coast is outstanding. Yet another item on my burgeoning bucket list!

coffeelover · Apr 17, 2014

MarkU,SumoRunner, and ski Girl,
Thank you for the info about trail races.Will have to check the races out. The Australian Race sounds REALLY fun!
I really,really want to run a Trail Half Marathon!

haggis basher · Apr 19, 2014

Hi coffeelover.
Like Ski Girl, I am from Australia too, although I am on the East Coast. (Sydney) We have many fantastic trail runs, one which I hope to do in late June over 25km! It is run through wonderful forests, with the first 10km undulating, then the next 15km level or downhill.There are approx 700 cyclists (mountain bikes) go first, then about 1000 runners chasing!
I have done it 4 times, but not since my AVR!
Hope you find a great run.
Brian