Honestly, there are very few places on this earth that rival Smith Rock State Park for it beauty, scenery, rock formations and trail choices for hiking, biking and running. I am fortunate enough to call this place home and live a mere 5 minutes from the park, which comes in handy when I want to go for a long trail run.
Before I get into the race itself, let me throw out a HUGE shout out to Go Beyond Racing, who not only staff their races well, but go out of their way to make sure that runners have a good experience, even when they don’t finish*
This year’s race (I ran the 50K) started and ended in the same spot, right next to the yurt, at the main parking lot of the park. The course takes off down the hill towards the bridge to cross the river. At the bridge is where this year’s course differed from last in that instead of turning right and heading up Burma Road (a VERY wicked hill), runners turned left and ran the River Trail around to Monkey Face and then continued around the backside on the Summit Loop Trail, which was not used at all last year. At the top of Summit Loop, runners crossed Burma Road and continued on towards Gray’s Butte which maintained the same course as last year.
The course changed again at about mile 15 and incorporated a new hill on the back side of Gray’s Butte that easily rivals Burma and caught most runners off guard as the sun was high in the sky by that point. By mile 18, the course was back to what it was last year, spilling into Skull Hollow campground, running up the Mt Cole Trail, completing the circle around Gray’s Butte, then sending runners down Burma and on to the finish line.
The top 3 male finishers were all locals, with Ryan Kaiser of Bend taking the top time. Of the top 3 women, only #3 was a local but the top lady was from Portland and #2 was from Hood River, so it’s not like they travelled far 😉
As for yours truly, I started out well enough and even led the pack for the first 2.5 miles…
However, at around mile 17 (near the top of the viscious hill) my left hip started to throb. By mile 25, my body said no more and sadly (for the 2nd year in a row), I had to bow out. Live to fight another day, they say. Fortunately, because I was still in 11th place when I called it quits, I easily got back to the finish line to see Ryan, Chris and Rob come across.
Next year will be different.
However, my hat is definitely off to Go Beyond. The course was beautifully marked, there was never a question as to which way to go, support was always there when needed or wanted and everyone was really great. For those considering making the trek over to Central Oregon for an amazing experience, plan for this one next year, regardless of the distance you want to do. In fact, the very next day after these races, are the 5K, 10K and Half that take place on the roads around the park. It’s truly an entire weekend of races sure to satisfy any runner.