Racing season is here. We’re in it. We’re losing the headlamps for morning and evening runs, we’ve got registration openings on our calendar, maybe even are signed up for one or three. Every year we scour Alpine Running’s website and Instagram for updates and inspiration and try to Tetris a race or two of theirs into my calendar. Back again is the Smith Rock Classic, which offers a little something for everyone.
Alpine Running hosts Run the Rock in the fall and they’ve added another weekend at Smith Rock coming up on Saturday, May 31st. They are offering a 50M, 50K, and 10M in the beloved State Park, but this time the courses include a bit of the Crooked River Grasslands to showcase the high desert terrain in addition to the gorgeous Cascade mountains.
50M | Start time: 6:00 AM | Price: $170
The 50M course will be twice around a 25-mile loop from Skull Hollow with about 7,500 feet of gain and loss. Runners will get about 80% of this course on singletrack with 7 fully stocked aid stations and 1 minimal aid station. There are 2 cut-off times: aid station 5 (mile 25-ish) at 12:30 PM and aid station 8 (mile 40-ish) by 5 PM.
50K | Start time: 8:00 AM | Price: $150
The 50K course starts and finishes at Skull Hollow. This course gives about 4,500 feet of gain and loss as well as gorgeous views from Mt. Adams in Washington to Mt. Bachelor. 80% of the route is on singletrack and 20% gravel road. There will be 4 aid stations available.
10M | Start time: 9:00 AM | Price: $95
Though it’s the shortest distance by a good bit, make no mistake, this is a challenging 10 miles! Taking runners up to Gray Butte, this course has about 2,200 feet of gain and loss and 1 aid station.
Longboard Louie’s will be at the finish line with a post-race meal and all race participants will get a custom award at the finish – you’ll have earned it!!
The beneficiary of this event is the Ridgeview High School cross country team. You can register online at Ultra Signup here!
