What’s Up in Ultra This Weekend — November 12

With less than two months remaining on our 2022 UltraRunning Calendar, we want to know where you’re closing out your year. There are still tons of places to get out and find your finish line across the nation if you’re in need of some last-minute inspiration. This week in our What’s Up in Ultra column, we’re highlighting a fast and furious 50m/100m race in Illinois, a classic 50k/50m close to UltraRunning headquarters in Central Oregon, a 50k on Mt. Tamalpais in the San Francisco Bay Area and more.

The Tunnel Hill 100 (and accompanying 50-miler) in Vienna, Illinois, on Saturday, November 12, is typically the place to be for a pre-Thanksgiving PR attempt. This nearly flat out-and-back, rails to trails course sees swift times and large fields each year, and the 2022 race is no different. There are over 300 runners registered in both races, including the defending 100-mile champion Phil Young from Davenport, Iowa, owner of the third-fastest time in the course’s history. In the 50-miler, Camille Herron of Warr Acres, Oklahoma, may be vying for a record of sorts, and is joined on the start list by Rajpaul Pannu out of Denver, Colorado, who represented Team USA at the IAU 100k World Championships in August. Live tracking and results here. Read: Tunnel Hill 100 2017 by Rebecca Joyner.

Closer to our UltraRunning Magazine headquarters in Bend is Run The Rock 50k/50m in Terrebonne, Oregon, on Saturday and Sunday. The 50k is a lollipop-style course and the 50-miler is a multiple-loop course, each within Smith Rock State Park and the Crooked River National Grasslands, offering stunning views of the Cascade mountain range. Both races are sold out this year. 

Down the coast and just north of San Francisco, the Mt. Tam Trail Run 50k is also taking place on Saturday, November 12. The course features over 6,000 feet of climbing and descending in a single loop on the shoulders of Mount Tamalpais and among the infamous Muir Woods National Monument. The winner and new course record holder from last month’s Cuyamaca 100k, Gabriel Kline of San Diego, California, is on the entrant’s list. The race is sold out.

Also on tap for this weekend is a brand new 200-miler in Southern California called the San Diego 200 starting on Friday. Also brand new to the calendar is a point-to-point, 140-mile Route 66 UltraRun that starts Seligman, Arizona, on Friday and ends at the Colorado River. Read Route 66: A Race Back to the Future by Jared Beasley. If you’re closer to Mesa, Arizona, on Saturday check out the Pass Mountain 50k/50m. Also on Saturday’s event list is the Dogwood Canyon 50k in Springfield, Missouri, and the Eastern Divide 50k in Pembroke, Virginia. Kicking off on Friday and going through the weekend in LaGrange, Wisconsin, is the tBunk Endurance Challenge featuring race distances of 50k/50/100/150/200-miles.  

We couldn’t possibly cover them all, so please keep us privy to What’s Up in Ultra in your community this weekend by letting us know in the comment section below. Have an event you’re excited about next weekend that we should include? Let us know about that one, too. Revisit our Ultra Weekend Recap from last weekend if you missed it, and subscribe to our Thursday newsletter to stay in the loop with all things ultra.