Weather

The forcast is calling for a chance of rain on Saturday.  :(

This is an unofficial run, so basically come on out if the conditions are such that you would do a training run, or stay home if the weather spooks you.  Unless there are really nasty downpours or heavy lightning, I will be at both the 9:00 and 10:30 start times to meet anyone who shows up.

Remember, there is no bad weather, just soft people:

Course Map Online

I have the initial version of the course map online.  At this point, the course will not change, but I may tweak the map a bit.  Let me know if you find anything particularly confusing.

Download the course map (PDF file):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3CeKTEkAmvfbkxvM3hxdW9zY0k/edit?usp=sharing

Official Short Cuts

One somewhat unique aspect of the course I have crafted is just about any wrong turn you take will shorten the loop.  I was initially planning to mark short-cuts around the two nastiest hills on the course, but upon reflection I now plan to take this idea even farther.

Throughout the course, there will be marked "cheats" that will cut off anywhere from a few hundred yards to a mile or so.  This will allow slower runners to keep pace with a faster group, and is intended to make running your planned distance an even harder mental challenge than normal.  Sure you can do a point-to-point run, or maybe even an out-and-back.  But can you go the distance with officially marked short-cuts luring you to cut off just that one tiny bit?

Course Info

I did two practice loops of the planned course on Monday, one loop "forwards" and one loop "backwards".  Note that you are encouraged to run both directions, and which direction is which is still up in the air.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/394406877

GPS is telling me each full loop is only about 6-2/3 miles, but I know it's lying.  The problem is I don't know by how much it's lying (I suspect around 5-10%).  So four laps is at least 27 miles, but could be close to the 31 miles I need for 50K.  I'll see if I can find a little bit more trail to add into the mix, but ultimately the course will be however long it wants to be, and you can run however much you want to run.

Pics from the trails

A couple pictures from the straighter parts of the trail.  The course is comparable in difficulty and terrain to the lake Perry trails, if you've done one of the Trail Nerds 50K's there.
 

Kaw River Park

 Ceder Crest, along the bluff

Presenting the First Ever Topeka 5-50K Trail UnRun

What is an UnRun, you ask?  Why, it's just a Fat A-- run (history) without the profanity.  :) 

Basically it boils down to:

• no fees
• no awards
• no aid
• no whimps

But I'm a whimp, I hear you cry!  Not to worry...I am pleased to announce that the Topeka UnRun will accommodate runners wanting to only get in a few miles and avoid (most of) the nastier hills.  Since I plan on running long, I will be moving slowly, making this a good time to come out and run a bit on the trails if you haven't tried it before.  I will also be running for about 5-6 hours, so feel free to join in a bit later in the day...with the loop course you can start wherever/whenever you want.

The date is currently set for Saturday, November 16.  Start time will be sometime between sunrise and 11:00 or so, depending on who wants to show up when.  I don't like getting out of bed real early, but I will show up if someone wants to get in the full 50K and expects to need all the available daylight to do it.

The course will be loops of the wooded trails of Ceder Crest and the Kaw Valley River State Park.  The start/finish line will be where the trail crosses "hill repeat road" at the base of the hill near the river and the parking lots.  There will be apx. 3-1/2 to 4 mile loops on each side (the Kaw and Ceder Crest sides), for a total of 7+ miles per full loop.  I will have water at the start/finish area, but you will need to bring your own food.

Stay tuned for course details, for now, here's my last practice run, which is getting close to a final course route.  I like route I took on the second loop of the Kaw side better than the first one.