ST. LOUIS – Hopefully, the record number of participants enjoyed the first course last week at the 2018 Alpine Shop 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.
The trails seem to have weathered the rain nicely and we’re going to run the course we hoped to run! The temperatures are expected to be in the mid-80s around race time, so please hydrate and be ready for a great evening.
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 Grotpeter, 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 for over a half mile of glorious single-track descent on one of Castlewood’s classic trails. (If we get some more 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. We head East on the trail, 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 Fern 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 2018 Alpine Shop Trail Run Series! Enjoy an Urban Chestnut beer, some hot dogs, and thanks to sponsor Altra Footwear, you may head home with a certificate for a new pair of trail runners from Altra!
The course map is below.
