Signed up for my first 50 miler!

Well . . . I signed up last night for a 50-mile ultra next August 25 in Michigan. It is the North Country Trail Run at Manistee, Michigan in the Manistee National Forest, near Grand Rapids. It includes the 50-mile ultra, plus a half and full marathon. It is considered a great event for first time 50 milers.

http://www.northcountryrun.com/index.html

Here is their course description:

The course is a well-marked 25-mile loop. There is an additional 1.2 mile section for the marathon runners and a half marathon course. The trail is a single-track hiking trail with enough hills to make for a challenging race. There is no high altitude to contend with, no rocks to jump over, and no stream crossings to wade through, just a beautiful forest with a few roots to remind you you’re not on pavement. Crews can attend to their runners at several points.

I was one of the first 100 to sign up so I get a custom North Country race jacket with my name on it, running shorts, North Country towel (for crying into?), a tech shirt and North Country backpack. They allow pacers on the 2nd 25 mile loop. I would love to have one of my kids run with me then, but I am not sure we will be able to work that out.

One very cool thing with this event is their mentoring program. From their web site:

How the program works:
Our mentors are all volunteering their time and effort to help you get ready for North Country 2012 so we don't want to overload them either. Once you sign-up, a mentor will reach out to you and you two can correspond no matter if you are 10 miles or a thousand miles away. He/she will be there for you to ensure you are putting your miles in, answer any questions regarding training and share any sort of training programs they think might be beneficial for you. The mentors are not there to answer any questions that really are meant for the race organizers and those can all be sent directly to the race to answer. Just like with social networking, this is social training. No mentor will have more than 5 runners he/she will be mentoring for the next year so they won't get overloaded and you will get the attention you are looking for to help you come race day.

I think this is a great service to offer to new ultra runners and I know it will be beneficial to me. I will start a 6-month training schedule in March. I just bought Relentless Forward Progress by Bryon Powell that has training schedules in it and I will probably use one of them. If it turns out that I am not ready by then, I can move down to the full or half marathon.

I like challenges and this will certainly be one. I plan on doing a spring marathon, in addition to the Indy Mini. And hopefully a 50K or two before next August. And on I go!

Very cool, I have been in Manistee and it is a beautiful area! I bet the race will be a great experience.

Excited for you and excited to hear how your training and everything goes!

Awesome!

I like the sound of the course description. Not being one for technical courses, this sounds right up my alley with the exception of the 50 miles....but hey...there's a half in there. The mentoring sounds fantastic.

With this looming on August 25th, will you do the Howl as a tune up for this one?

Dot

Yes, Dot, that is what I am thinking.
Do a decent run, but not kill myself and messing me up for the Michigan 50 is my plan.
I am very excited about Michigan next summer.

Met a guy last weekend that was wearing the 2011 shirt from this event. He said it was great. Was looking at it myself. Perhaps I'll see you there.

I will be eager to read your report. I am looking for a 50 miler with (if trail) is on the lower end of technical, if that is the term to use. One of my friends ran a trail 50K and he said never again because of the cliffs and parts that he thought were quite dangerous. (This one was in WY).

Their course description sounds just like what you want.
They also will have two practice runs around the 25 miles loop.
One in April and one in July - with aid stations!
I hope to run up there and do both of them - what a great thing for them to offer.
I know it will be helpful knowing the course before doing the entire 50 miles in August.