General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Best Midwest Ultra? Rss Feed  
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2014-08-20 6:18 PM

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Lake in the Hills, IL
Subject: Best Midwest Ultra?
I have done only one Ultra and that was the Northface Endurance 50 miler in Kettle Morraine Wisconsin. What do you guys think the best one somewhat close to Chicago is? I have been reading about the Dances with Dirt Ultra marathon at Devils Lake Wis. but have not heard really any reviews. Any thoughts?


2014-08-21 3:10 PM
in reply to: moabrunner

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
Best one is the Chicago 50/50. That is not a trail if that is what you are looking for. I heard great things about Dances with dirt but I have never done it.
2014-08-21 4:26 PM
in reply to: moabrunner

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
I did the Dance with Dirt 1/2 marathon. It is a very tough course. Lots of hills and rocks, but they are known for putting on tough races.
I did the Fall 50 last year, that was a nice race. Not a trail race though.
I have been looking at Run Woodstock over in MI.
2014-08-21 7:24 PM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
I will be able to tell you about Run Woodstock in a couple of weeks. I am doing the 100 miler there on the 5th of next month. I have heard it is a nice race, challenging but runnable trails.

Edited by navbtcret 2014-08-21 7:24 PM
2014-08-21 7:42 PM
in reply to: navbtcret

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
I will be doing the TBUNK 50 in November if sept marathon goes to plan so I will let you know about that one. Last year I did a 3 day trail race right by where I live called the Rock Cut HOBO series (Located in Loves Park, IL about 10 miles south of Beloit) It consists of a 5k night run on Friday, a 25k run Sat. morning and a 50k Sunday. It was a blast, but I don't have anything to compare it to....Race takes place second weekend in Sept.
2014-08-21 8:19 PM
in reply to: moabrunner

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Lake in the Hills, IL
Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
I also look forward to hearing how Run Woodstock is. Looks like a really cool race. Good luck!

Dances with Dirt interests me because it looks like it might be a good way to test a mountain ultra in the Midwest. I know it isn't really comparable to the big ones out west but it looks like it might be the closest thing we can get out here. Kind of would like to try it for that reason alone.


2014-08-21 9:08 PM
in reply to: moabrunner

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Loves Park
Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
How far are you willing to go? I know the superior fall endurance races in Minnesota (50k, 50m and 100m) are super super hilly I believe the 100 miler is one of the touger in the US. I believe the 50m has like twice as much elevation than DWD. This link shows the 100 has about twice as much as Kettle

https://www.facebook.com/PumpkinHollerHunnerd/posts/300270499985689
2014-08-31 12:02 PM
in reply to: bigpaps

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?

The VERY best Ultra in the Midwest is the Indiana Trail 50/100 in April.   Check out the website here:  http://www.indianatrail100.com/ and their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/388425991250501/    It's a Western States and Ultra-Trail Du Mont-Blanc qualifying race and is part of the 2015 Midwest Super Slam. The race directors and state park staff work together to make this one awesomely supported event.   2015 will only be it's 3rd year running but you won't find better. 

2014-10-05 4:26 AM
in reply to: bswcpa

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
I ran the Run Woodstock last month but was injured going into the race and dropped after two loops, 33 miles. The course is very runnable with a bit of up and down. Only one real steep climb but it is not very long on the 16.6 mile loop, you have to run it 6 times. The race is very well organized and real nice atmosphere. The course is a mixture of horse trail, single track, rails to trails, and dirt road. It is very well marked and decent aide stations. My only complaint was that it was 90+ degrees at the start and the only aide station you could get ice from was the start/finish station. With heat like that, that is just unacceptable. there is a far amount of roots along the course to trip over but not too rocky. One area does not drain well about two miles from the start finish line and it was a muddy mess, so bad you could not really run through it. It was only about 100 yards long but very sloppy.

I will return next year to run it again, this was my first DNF, so I need a little redemption.
2015-02-06 9:50 PM
in reply to: navbtcret

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?

I've done the entire Dances With Dirt series (50k distance)

Green Swamp (Florida/March)--Flat and sandy.  Small race.

Gnaw Bone (Southern Indiana/May)--Hilly, can be muddy, tough course, biggest race of the series, AWESOME

Devil's Lake (Wisconsin/July)--Most scenic, longer climbs, some beautiful cliffs and overlooks, great race

Hell (Michigan/Sept) -- Second easiest terrain, great crowd, and final race in the series, so it holds a special place in my heart.  I got to pick up a sweet belt buckle after finishing the series that day.

Great race series, but if I had to pick individual races, I would pick Gnaw Bone and Devil's Lake.  Then I would sign up for Run Woodstock which is on much of the same course as DWD Hell.

 

2015-02-27 4:02 PM
in reply to: #5041779

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
A new race that starts in my town here is the Hennepin 100. They have a 50 as well plus a 5 man relay. You run on the Hennepin Canal. It's mostly gravel with dirt sections and some stretches of pavement. It proves to be very flat and could set a new world record for fastest 100. Sterling, IL is about 2 hours SW of Chicago. Look up the Hennepin 100 if you are interested. (It's a point to point)


2015-04-02 10:02 PM
in reply to: moabrunner

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Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
I live in central IL, there are some really great ones here. Best? Depends on who you ask I guess. Potawatomi trail run is coming up soon 30,50,100,150,200 options. This one is super challenging, people come from all over for it. Another great one around here is the farmdale trail race. Normally it is 30, 50 but this year there will be a 100 option.
2015-05-20 10:44 AM
in reply to: moabrunner

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The Woodlands, TX
Subject: RE: Best Midwest Ultra?
If you liked the trails in Wisconsin, KM-100 has a variety of distances available for the race next month. Not sure how full things are, but the trails are great and the race is very well supported.

kettle100.com
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