ST. LOUIS – Hopefully, all the participants enjoyed the first course last week at the 2017 FITS Socks Co. Trail Run Series, because we’re doubling down on all of our favorite parts of the trails for course number two! Featuring two times the climbs and two times the creek crossings of our first course, this week we’ve upped the mileage to approximately 4.25 miles to take advantage of the sun while we still have it.
Once again, possible thunderstorms are in the forecast for Thursday, so please be aware that course changes may be necessary depending on the weather.
This course highlights two of Castlewood State Park’s finest trails for running, Lone Wolf and The Rollercoaster. Race headquarters remains the same and we’ll start by heading out across Kiefer Creek Road bridge like we did last week. All similarities to our first course end there. Instead of immediately hopping on Grotpeter westbound, we’ll stay to the right of the trees and head towards the horse-trailer turnabout just up the road. There we’ll hang left and meet up with Gropeter, but make an immediate left and head back towards the bridge. We’ll stay on the south side of the road all the way to the entrance to the south parking lot just across from race headquarters, hang a right and our first climb of the day stretches out in front of you.
The steep, rocky climb gains more than 100 feet in a little more than a tenth of a mile (and a 161 feet in just two tenths up to the very top of the climb on River Scene) where we’ll join the River Scene Trail for more than a quarter of a mile of rolling hills. Then we’ll turn right onto Lone Wolf and hang on in over a half mile of glorious single-track descent on one of Castlewood’s classic trails. (If we get some rain, please watch your footing.) As we get down to the bottom of the valley again, the course will hit its first creek crossing as well, as we navigate across Kiefer Creek and join Grotpeter once again. Instead of heading West towards Justin’s Trail like we did last week, though, we head the opposite direction back towards the park office where our GU Energy Refreshment station will be waiting.
With you’re energy replenished (you’ll need it!), the second of our two main climbs looms ahead as we take on the Midway/Office Connector where we’ll head up 164 feet in elevation over the next quarter of a mile. We’ll cross over Grotpeter Trail directly onto our next featured trail of the day, The Rollercoaster. Named for the constant rolling and turning of the trail , The Rollercoaster will keep you on your toes for the next 1.25 miles of single-track until we cross back over Grotpeter on to the straight-shot descent of the Fren Glen Connector back to the valley floor. One more crossing of Kiefer Creek and you’ve made it to the finish line for the end of Course Two of the 2017 FITS Socks Co. Trail Run Series!
The course map is below.
