BALLWIN, Mo. – The little note we included in Monday’s course reveal about a “call for rain” turned out to be a little too prescient; if only it could have warned us about the sheer amount of rain we received. So, we’ve ripped up the previous course we announced and we’re presenting another one for your rainy day enjoyment (that protects the trails as much as possible).
As we said earlier this week, both Altra Running and Hoka One One will have trail running shoes available to demo on Thursday. If you do not yet own a pair of trail runners, all of us at Alpine Shop would strongly urge you to consider testing a demo pair during this week’s race. There will be some mud on the trails and the extra grip of trail specific shoes will only help. Just saying!
Our new approximately 3.85 mile course will seem a little familiar to how we started last week, however, to preserve the stretch of Grotpeter Trail on the south side of Kiefer Creek Road, we’ll be using the meadow all the way down the road as far as we can go. After about seven-tenths of a mile, we’ll hit the first climb of the day, the adequately named Cardiac Hill. (At a 14.8% grade, it’s the third-most difficult climb in the park behind the Grand Staircase—21.9%—and the Lone Wolf Trail hill that starts at the parking lot opposite race HQ–18.9%.) Justin’s Trail (which we ran last week) will join you from the right, but you’re continuing straight and getting a bit of a breather on a quick descent before making the short climb to the top of Ries Rd.
Continuing along the same course as last week, we’ll follow the Mountain Ridge Connector all the way back down, but here’s where things take a detour. Grab some energy at the GU Energy Station because, while you may be back at the valley floor, you’re not staying there. The course heads back up the 10% grade of the Midway/Office Connector Trail (one you may remember from week 2!) for the next four tenths of a mile.
From then on, your major climbs are all through. Instead of taking on the Rollercoaster (week 2!), we’ll make a right back on to Grotpeter for about a half of a mile before you have one final chance to stretch your legs on the descent down the Fern Glen Connector. Watch out for mud puddles at the bottom, but really it won’t make much of a difference. Any splatter should get taken care of as you make your way through Kiefer Creek on your way to the finish line!
