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- Yellow Leg 3.2 miles - Follows the Breakheart Hill, Fox Run, Tennessee Pipeline, Lodge and Saugus River Trails. A significant, rocky climb up Breakheart Hill followed by a fast descent to the Fox Run Trail. The footing on Fox Run is decent in most places but there are rocks and roots to deal with. A short paved section takes you to the Saugus River Link which brings you to the Tennessee Trail. The Tennessee trail starts with a short, steep climb up a grassy hill followed by rolling terrain. This grass covered trail takes you to the Lodge trail which is covered with pine needles. After completing the Lodge trail you turn left onto the Saugus River trail. The first section of trail along the Saugus River bank is very technical single-track with an abundance of rocks and slippery roots. Once past this section the trail is more runnable and most of the second half of this trail is covered with a thick pine-needle carpet making for very enjoyable running.
- Blue Leg 1.2 miles - Follows sections of the Pearce Lake Trail, Eagle Rock Trail, Jeep Road and Fern Trail. Leaving the Saugus River trail the course veers right onto a short section of pavement before turning sharply left under the power lines. A rock scramble brings you to unnamed single-track and to Pearce Lake. You'll have a brief run next to the lake before making the difficult, rocky climb up Eagle Rock Trail. Take a moment when you reach the top to enjoy the view. The tricky descent down Eagle Rock brings you back to the lake and onto Fern trail. It's often muddy here and if it rains you can expect to get your feet wet running though standing water. A short run on Jeep Road (dirt and grass) brings runners back to Fern Trail which leads you to your last short stretch of pavement in the race. Enjoy this brief respite because the hard running is about to begin!
- Orange Leg 1.8 miles - Follows the Ridge Trail. This is the most difficult two miles of the race with constant changes in elevation, an abundance of rocks and a good chance of getting your feet wet. Turning left off the pavement the first climb begins along a rocky dirt road parallel to the power lines. Where there's power lines, there's pain! Plenty of loose rocks here to slow your progress. After leaving the power lines, the remainder of the race is on technical single-track or rocky outcrops. There is one long, grinding climb and several short, steep ups and downs too. Focus and foot placement is key here as a hard fall on the Ridge Trail could leave you battered and bloodied. The last half-mile to the finish line is mainly downhill and fast if you still have anything left in the tank.
Terrain Breakdown
Single-track - 3.4 miles
Wide trails - 2.4
Jeep road - 0.2
Pavement - 0.2
Total course - 6.2
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4 comments:
Lots of work went into this description. Thanks!
I'm planning on running the course for fun. (Or for pain.)
Anon,
If you run it, you will certainly experience both!
Dan
I ran it. How exhilarating! And it's tuff. There was little pain, but that's because I stopped a lot to check the map and had to keep backtracking to find the course. I lost the Saugus River trail towards the end of the yellow part of the course, then got confused within the blue part a couple of times. The ridge trail was very clearly marked with orange blazes, and it was the most enjoyable part of the run even though I had to walk some parts of those long hills. Loved the scrambles over ledges and the views! I'll be back this weekend to do the course again, and clarify where I got confused before. Maybe I'll register for this one as well as Ravenswood, and choose at the last minute which one to actually run.
Anon
I'm glad you liked the course, at least the parts you could follow. It will be very clearly marked on race day so it will be easy to follow. Hope you can make it.
Dan
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