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As we come down off the high of executing our first race at the Tamalpa Headlands 50k, we look ahead towards closing out summer on a strong note. Our North American calendar has a bunch of fun stuff on tap for the last weekend in August including two days of racing in the Ozarks, a technical mountain ultra in Colorado, a 50k at Burning Man in Nevada and a slew more to choose from.
Starting off in Ozark, Illinois, we have the Shawnee Hills 100 and accompanying 50k/100k races beginning on Saturday, August 26 and rolling through Sunday, August 27. Runners will get to explore beautiful sections of the 265,000-plus acre Shawnee National Forest on this multi-loop, course that features predominantly single-track trails. If you’re not ready to go quite the full 100-mile distance, the event is offering 50k and 100k samplers, which run one and two 32-mile loops, respectively.
A technical mountain ultra in the form of the Telluride Mountain Run 40-miler in Colorado looks like the place to be on Saturday. Delivering nearly 14,000 feet of ascent and descent while taking runners to altitudes over 13,000 feet multiple times on terrain with exposed trails, this course looks challenging and is not for beginners. The crux of the race is a 1.5-mile rocky ridgeline between Ajax Peak and Imogene Pass that includes a summit of Telluride Peak at an elevation of 13,500 feet. The race is sold out for 2023.
Quite possibly one of the most unique ultras on the calendar this year has to be the Burning Man 50k on Tuesday, August 29, in Black Rock City, Nevada. Amazingly, there were 221 finishers in 2022 and the men’s winner, Gregory Billington, of San Francisco, ran it in 3 hours, 13 minutes and 58 seconds. This winning time was good enough for a top 20 50k time last year. The race is as flat as a pancake, guaranteed to be dusty and the only entry requirement is a ticket to Burning Man. Read: 10th Anniversary of the Burning Man 50k by Cherie Yanek.
These aren’t the only races going down this weekend. We also have Midwest States 50k/100k/100-mile in Westboro, Wisconsin, the Oregon Cascades 100 in Sisters, Oregon, the Firebird Trail Races 50k/50-miler Windham, Maine, the Jackrabbit Jubilee 6/12-hour event in Buckeye, Arizona, Black Spur Ultra 54/108k in Kimberley, British Columbia, the North Country Run Grand 50k/50-miler in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the Green Lakes Endurance Runs 50/100k in Fayetteville, New York, all on Saturday, August 26.
What’s Up in Ultra in your neighborhood this weekend that we should know about? Drop a note in the comments below and let us know what we missed. Check back on Sunday for results from these races and more in our Ultra Weekend Recap.