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2021 Southeastern Trial Runs Race Schedule
March 20 and 21 - The Lake Martin 100 100 & 50 Mile Endurance Races & 27 Mile Fun Run. All races start at 6:45 AM. at Russell Crossroads, Alabama, 10 miles east of Alexander City on Lake Martin, one of America's most beautiful lakes. The race is run entirely on the private lands of the Russell Forest Trail System. Lake Martin 100 is destined to become the standard for running your first 100, 50 our Ultra. In 2017 the Lake Martin 100 was voted Best Ultra and Best 100 Mile Race in North America by RunUltra.com April 10th - Series Race 1 - Tranquility Lake Trail Race - 3 miles or 6 miles - Starts at 8:00 AM First race of the Southeastern Trail Series at Oak Mountain State Park. The race will start and end at the Redbud Pavilion on Double Oak Lake. The race will follow a fairly easy 3 mile and 6 mile loop around the lake. An aid station will be located at the 3 mile point. Stick around for Logan's cuisine and lots of adult re-hydration drinks after the race. (There are non-adult drinks too) May 1 - Series Race 2 - The Run for Kids Challenge - 12 Hour, 50K or 10K Races Run for Kids Challenge will again be at Shoal Creek Park in Montevallo. The park is on Hwy 119 just past the National Cemetery. This is an amazing park with exposed limestone bedrock all over the park. The park is also "Very Flat." Three is about 3/4 mile of mountain bike trails that are a bit hilly. The rest is flat. Each loop is 4.5 miles with just over 200ft of gain. May 29 - Series Race 3 - Memorial Day Trail Race - 6 Mile or 12 Mile Option - 8:00 AM Start The third Trail Series Race will also be held at Oak Mountain State Park and will start at the Redbud Pavilion located on Tranquility Rd. The course will be on a 6 mile loop climbing to the top of Double Oak Mountain. The 12 mile will be two loops of the course. There will be only one aid station at the start/finish at Redbud at mile 6. Runners should carry enough water to run 6 miles up a 650 ft. climb. Again, Logan Cook will provide runners with a Traditional Memorial Day cookout. Hang around and enjoy good company, good food and good drink. July 17 - Series Race 4 - Hotter 'N Hell Trail Race - 9 or 18 Mile Option - Race will start at 7:00 AM The fourth Southeastern Trail Series Races. The run will start at the Lakeside Pavilion and follow a 9 mile Loop to the top of Double Oak Mountain up the Red Trail. Runners will start on Mr. Toad, then Foreplay, BUMP (the Blood Rock Trail) and Green Trail back to Peavine Pavilion. Runners will them run a section of the Blood Rock 50 & 100 course down to Peavine Falls Gorge and back over the ridge before returning to the Start/Finish. Eighteen mile runners get to do a second loop of the course. There will be two aid stations per lap. The first is located on the Peavine Falls Pavilion at about mile 4.4. The second is at the Start/Finish at mile 9. Those running the 18 will reach the 3rd Aid Station at about mile 13.4. Runners MUST carry enough water to run 4.5 miles in extremely hot conditions. It probably will be "Hotter N' Hell," but Just remember, there is beer, and some good food waiting at the end. August 21 - Series Race 5 - Ridge to Blazing Ridge Trail Race - 7:00 AM Start - 10.5 or 21 Mile Race 5 of the 2019 Trail Series has a 10.5 Mile and 21 Mile option. The race will start at the Redbud Pavilion on Tranquility Rd, across from the BMX track. The route will be the most challenging yet following part of the first 7 miles of the Blood Rock 100 Course. The 10.5 mile will have 5,446 ft of elevation change. (Yes, over a mile up and down!) There will be an aid station located at the intersection of the North Red/Blue Connector at Billy Goat Gruff Bridge, mile 8. There will be another at the Start/Finish at mile 10.5. The race will include three of the most demanding climbs within Oak Mountain State Park. Completing the 21 Mile option will have you ready for any of the major races in the area such as Stump Jump 50K, Mountain Mist 50K, Look Out Mountain 50 Mile and, of course, Blood Rock. Many runners will need much more water on that first 8 miles than they can imagine. One 20oz bottle will not be enough for MOST runners. This is one race where you DO NOT want to run out of water. And, as always the food and beer are waiting! October 22 through 24 - The Endless Mile* (Tentative) 6 , 12, 24 and 48 Hour Solo or Relay Race. 48 Hour - Start 9AM Friday, Others - 9AM Saturday When we created the Run for Kids in 2011, my original idea was to have a 12 Hour and 24 hour race. Veteran's Park in Hoover was just too expensive and in 2012 we moved the RFK to Oak Mtn State Park. In 2016 we decided to add a timed event similar to what I wanted to do in 2011. We got approval to hold the event at Veterans Park in Alabaster. This is a very fast course, certified at 1.00203 miles in length, where runners can test themselves against the hours and go for state and national records. Again in 2019, The Endless Mile will be held at Veteran's Park in Alabaster, Alabama just south of Birmingham. We will start the 48 Hour race at 9 AM, Friday, Oct 16th. The 6, 12 & 24 Hour races will start at 9:00 AM Saturday. This is not a Points Race in the STS. December 3, 4 & 5 - Blood Rock 100 and 50 Mile Trail Race* Oak Mountain State Park - One Hundred Mile race has a 44 Hour Cutoff, the 50 cutoff is 22 hours. Blood Rock will be the final Southeastern Trail Runs race of the year. The 100 and 50 mile races will start at 12:00 Noon Friday at Redbud Pavilion. This race will be as difficult as any race you will run anywhere with the possible exception of Hardrock 100 and UTMB. When you finish Blood Rock, you will be ready for anything, Leadville, Western States, even Hardrock! The 100 will have between 26,000 and 27,000 ft of elevation gain, the 50 mile, 13,000 & 13,500 gain. December 4 - Series Race 6 - Blood Rock 25K & 55K and 50 Mile Oak Mountain State Park - This is the final race of the 2019 Southeastern Trail Series. The 55K and 25K will start at 8:00 AM in the Redbud Pavilion on Tranquility Rd across from the BMX track. The Blood Rock course is the most demanding course of the trial series with difficult trails and steep climbs. It will also be the most fun, most exciting and most rewarding event of the year. This is the culmination of six months of hard work and dedication. Blood Rock is where you will realize it was worth every minute of the effort. You will also realize you can accomplish far more than you ever imagined. * The Lake Martin 100, 50 & 27, Endless Mile, BOO Run for DSA, Mountain High to Mountain High and **Blood Rock 50 & 100 Mile are NOT part of the trail series. No points are awarded toward the Southeastern Trail Series Points Championship in these races. ** In some cases Points for the BR 50 & 100 will earn series points. Details on "Points Championship" page. |
A word about Course Measurement and Elevation Gain:
There is always a lot of discussion about the length of Trail Race courses. They all seem to be too short, too long but usually, BOTH! Ask two people that measured a 50 mile course with their GPS and one person will have 48.2 miles, the other will show 52.6. The only way to accurately measure a trail race course is to use a measuring wheel. This is fine for short, 3 to 5 mile courses, but is just not practice for longer race routes. So, race directors are left with three options, measures with a GPS, measure on Google Maps type services or Guess. OK, there is a 4th and that's a combination of all.
I use a combination of Suunto's MovesCount "Route Planner," my Suunto GPS watch and my Garmin Instinct watch. I first measure all longer STR courses with my Suunto, Ambit 3, Vertical. Next, I use MovesCount to recreate the course in Route Planner. The GPS course is always a little longer since it records every turn while the route planner tends to record routes as a series of short, straight lines, but this gives me comparison to be sure my GPS distance is close. When I have time, I run the course a second time. If everything seems reasonable, I go with the GPS distance.
Elevation gain is estimated in about the same way. My Suunto Ambit 3 Vertical and Garmin Instinct have built-in altimeters. That is supposed to be more accurate the just GPS. When I compare elevation gain on a given route to what is shown on MovesCount, the GPS elevation is always more. When you compare the profiles of each you see that the elevation lines are very jagged using the GPS and that same line is straight and constant with Route Planner. Personally, I have never gone up a hill (other than on an interstate highway) that was a straight, constant gain for any distance. We don't do races on highways!! I use my GPS again. I am always happy to look at any GPS data you get at any of our races. You might see something I have missed.
There is always a lot of discussion about the length of Trail Race courses. They all seem to be too short, too long but usually, BOTH! Ask two people that measured a 50 mile course with their GPS and one person will have 48.2 miles, the other will show 52.6. The only way to accurately measure a trail race course is to use a measuring wheel. This is fine for short, 3 to 5 mile courses, but is just not practice for longer race routes. So, race directors are left with three options, measures with a GPS, measure on Google Maps type services or Guess. OK, there is a 4th and that's a combination of all.
I use a combination of Suunto's MovesCount "Route Planner," my Suunto GPS watch and my Garmin Instinct watch. I first measure all longer STR courses with my Suunto, Ambit 3, Vertical. Next, I use MovesCount to recreate the course in Route Planner. The GPS course is always a little longer since it records every turn while the route planner tends to record routes as a series of short, straight lines, but this gives me comparison to be sure my GPS distance is close. When I have time, I run the course a second time. If everything seems reasonable, I go with the GPS distance.
Elevation gain is estimated in about the same way. My Suunto Ambit 3 Vertical and Garmin Instinct have built-in altimeters. That is supposed to be more accurate the just GPS. When I compare elevation gain on a given route to what is shown on MovesCount, the GPS elevation is always more. When you compare the profiles of each you see that the elevation lines are very jagged using the GPS and that same line is straight and constant with Route Planner. Personally, I have never gone up a hill (other than on an interstate highway) that was a straight, constant gain for any distance. We don't do races on highways!! I use my GPS again. I am always happy to look at any GPS data you get at any of our races. You might see something I have missed.
Contact Southeastern Trail Runs:
Southeastern Trail Runs,
220 Normandy Ln,
Chelsea, AL 35043
Email RD - Southeastern Trail Runs
Southeastern Trail Runs,
220 Normandy Ln,
Chelsea, AL 35043
Email RD - Southeastern Trail Runs