Our first full weekend of spring has landed, and from coast to coast, the UltraRunning Calendar has something for everyone no matter where you reside. Boasting three dozen races, this may be one of the biggest weekends of the year to celebrate the changing of the seasons in the northern hemisphere. Below are some of our highlights for this week’s What’s Up in Ultra.
Starting off in Syracuse, Utah, we have the Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50k/50m/100m. At 42 square miles, Antelope Island is the largest of the ten islands in the Great Salt Lake. The 100-miler starts on Thursday, March 24 at 10 a.m., with the 50k/50m kicking off on Friday, March 25. The 50k in has been selected by the RRCA as the Utah State 50k Championship for 2022.
In Phoenix, Arizona, there’s the point-to-point Crown King Scramble 50k, starting in the Sonoran Desert and heading into the pines of the Prescott National Forest and the old mining town of Crown King. This race is almost entirely uphill, beginning at just below 2,000 feet and finishing at nearly 6,000 feet. Tim Freriks of Flagstaff, Arizona, who holds the third-fastest time on the course, is on the start list, as is Kelly Wolf from Durango, Colorado. Wolf holds the fourth-fastest time from her win in 2018.
Purportedly the toughest trail race in Indiana, we have the OPSF5050 50k/50m in Spencer on Saturday, March 26. OPSF is short for Owen-Putnam State Forest, a beautiful, yet rugged forest just an hour west of Indianapolis. The 50k lollipop course features roughly 4,500 feet of elevation gain and is 90% single track.
The Badger Mountain Challenge is on Saturday in Richland, Washington, and is one of southeastern Washington’s only ultramarathons. The race offers expansive views of the beautiful Columbia River drainage basin and offers participants a 50k out-and-back option, a 50-mile single loop course or a 100-mile lollipop race. There’s definitely something for everyone at this event.
Alexander City, Alabama, is where we find the Lake Martin 100, also offering 27- and 50-mile race options. Lake Martin is a 39,000-acre reservoir with over 750 miles of wooded shoreline. The event will be run entirely on the private lands of the 25,000-acre Russell Forest Trail System, which has more than 100 miles of multi-use trails. The 100-miler has nearly 14,000 feet of elevation gain made up of mostly small, but never-ending, hills.
Explore the interior of Alaska at the 8th annual White Mountains 100 in Fairbanks on Sunday, March 27. Follow out-and-back sections of the 52-mile Prairie Spirit Trail in Ottawa, Kansas, by choosing from 50k/50m/100k/100m events, and if red rocks are your thing, get to Moab, Utah, for Behind the Rocks 50k/50m for technical slickrock racing and stunning views of the snow-capped La Sal Mountains to the east.
How are you kicking off your first full weekend of spring? If you’re still looking for something fun to join, check out the other races on our calendar and keep us in the loop with how it goes out on the trails. Thanks, as always, for reading What’s Up In Ultra this week.
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The Franklin Mountains Trail Runs returns under new direction by The Human Potential Running Series. Race features distances of 50k, 27k, Half, 10k, 5k and king and Queen of the mountain. The race was formerly owned and operated by Trail Racing Over Texas (TROT).
I didn’t realize TROT had sold Franklin Mountains. Love that they offer so many distances still!
Our local octogenarian, Maurice Robinson, just finished Prairie Spirit 100 in 29:03! 80 is the new 60!
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