Tough ~50 km-ish Races

Tough ~50 km-ish Races

This was originally posted on my Facebook notes 2018-11-21.

Well I’ll preface this by saying I am not expert, I just wanted to write a small perspective from my own personal view on a couple hard ~50km races that I have experienced and thought I could share some information for some folks looking for unique harder challenges at this distance.

As mentioned, I’m no expert. In fact at the time of writing this I am only 33 months into running (28 months into ultrarunning). However since then I have run 31 ultramarathons, and so I have some experience relatively speaking as I do like to run races averaging over 1 per month since my first ultra in Aug.2016.

So the purpose of this is to highlight 3 tough and awesome ~50 km (ish) races. So here we are in my personal order:

3. Squamish 50 km | Squamish, BC, Canada | 34.43 mi/55.41 km | +7,598 ft gain | Race Director: Gary Robbins | Squamish50

2. Franklin Mountains 50 km | El Paso, TX, US | 33.4 mi/53.75 km | +7,175 ft gain | Race Director: Robert Goyen | Trail Racing Over Texas

1. Santa Barbara Nine Trails | Santa Barbara, CA, US | 34.85 mi/56.09 km | +11,148 ft gain | Race Director: Luis Escobar| www.allwedoisrun.com

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So why did I choose these? Well bases on my limited experience thus far, as mentioned above, I think that these are some of the most scenic and toughest courses mile for mile that are around. Even speaking and chatting with other ultrarunners who have been in the sport for a while these are the epic races that come up in when speaking with hard races in this distance category.

Squamish | I have a bias opinion on this race because I when I ran this earlier this year it was done as part of the Squamish 50/50 and so I was already quite beat up standing on the start line for day 2, which is the 50 km race. However, that being left aside this race is great in the sense that you start low elevation in a park and climb up and down in the PNW forests and remote area just north of Squamish, and circle back around into the town where you ultimately finish in a point-to-point format. There is this epic section called the “Galacitc Schiesse” which is this awesome climb 3.24 mi (+2,022 ft gain) which comes early in the race and just throws you into your place. There is no faking this terrain. Squamish 50 is put on by Gary Robbins and he and his team does a great job. However, this race is super popular and sells out in hours each year when it opens. Soon I see this as a possible lottery race due to the amount of people wanting to experience it. But if you ever get the chance...DO IT.

[Registration for 2019 Squamish opens on Nov.23 and is expected to sell out in about 4 hrs]

Squamish 50 km | Photo: Brian McCurdy photography 2018-08-19

Squamish 50 | Squamish, BC, Canada (August)

Franklin Mountains | Texas is known for being flat(ish) compared to a lot of ultrarunning areas around North America. While this is fair in general, a particular place is the very corner of Texas called the Franklin Mountains State Park is one of the very south reaches of the Rocky Mountains. There you are at the very western edge of Texas, bordering New Mexico to the east, and Mexico directly to the South. The race is so technical and mountain-like terrain that it qualifies for the USA Sky Running series. When you are out there running the trail is so technical you can’t look more than 10 ft ahead or you will trip and fall on your face. In fact, there was a ton of bloody knees and hands at the finish line of these race for that simple fact: rocky terrain is not so forgiving on human skin. If you are looking for a tough challenge in the south, look no further than the Franklin Mountains. This amazing point-to-point race (with one small out-and-back summit climb) circumnavigates the park and mountains. Come run this race with Trail Racing Over Texas each Nov where there is a 3-day running festival. Either way the Franklins will test any ultrarunner in whatever aspect they are looking for. The view from the peak out over to New Mexico, back over Texas, and south to Mexico is pretty sweet too!

[In Feb. the distances are a little more extreme: 100 km/100 mi/200 km/200 mi) put on TROT as well...try if you dare!]

Franklin Mountains 50 km (part of the Skyrunner USA series) |
Photo: Trail Racing Over Texas/ JJustis Photography 2018-11-10

Franklin Mountain Trail Run | El Paso, TX, USA (November)

Santa Barbara Nine Trails | When someone thinks of tough races ~50km in distance usually they don’t think of coastal towns/cities where elevation is minimal. With SB9T this is not the case. The course is legit and tough as can be, which is why it makes my personal #1 ranking in ~50 km races. I ran this in 2017 and was not fully understanding what I was getting into. An amazing race put on by the infamous Luis Escobar, who took it over a few years ago. The course is basically a link up of 9 trails (hense the name), which consists of an out and back style. The 9 trails trek up and over peak after peak with some fire roads in between. So over the 17 mi out to the turnaround you know exactly what you have to face on the way back. Held in a city that is at sea level, don’t let this fool you; SB9T will take everything you have.

[2019 SB9T registration is now open, after a 1 year hiatus due to the Thomas fire, and is already hosting some epics racers male & female--I believe most of the coconino cowboys are going. Take on the challenge if you dare, but definitely put this one on your bucket list.]

Santa Barbara Nine Trails 35 mi | Photo: Katie Meding 2017-03-25

Santa Barbara Nine Trails 35 mi | Santa Barbara, CA, USA (March)

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Well there is my personal opinion on 3 tough races that I feel anyone should tackle if you are looking for a serious challenge. Not only do these races all have great course locations, and the atmosphere surrounding them, they are also all hosted by great people and held in great scenic areas where you and you family can make a mini vacation out of. Throw these on your sign up watch list or better yet, your bucket list to run!

Cheers.

Trevor Meding | trail and ultra runner