50 Mile Info.

Zumbro 50 Mile  Endurance Run Description and History:
The Zumbro Midnight 50 a two-loop  (100% trail) ultramarathon within the Zumbro River Bottoms Management area in Southern Minnesota’s Bluff Country / just outside of the tiny village of Theilman. Generally speaking, the Zumbro River Bottoms Management area lies within a portion of the Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood Forest – an expansive 2 million acre tract of Minnesota Hardwood forest. We will not pretend these are mountains, because they are not, this is Mississippi River Valley Bluff Country, it is wild, rugged, beautiful and provides the perfect venue for 100 miles of trail running!.  The race starts and finishes at the West Assembly Area. Runners will have access to five aid stations per 25 mile loop.  The course consists of primarily single and double-track trail with some minimum maintenance gravel road sections.

Registration:
Registration for the 2012 race will open on Thursday December 1st.  You can register online or fill in the online form, print it and mail it in your check.  The fee is $85.00.  Registration will close on Wednesday April 4th at 5:00 PM or once the field limit has been met.  There will be no registration after Wednesday April 4th. There will be no registration at packet-pickup or race-day registration so do not delay in signing up!

Field Limit:
Field limit for the 50 mile race is 200 runners.

Refunds:
Sorry, we do not offer them – please consider carefully before registering.  Registrations are not transferable to following years or to other participants.

What you get:
A well marked course with plenty of aid and tons of friendly, experienced volunteers.  All registered runners will receive a long-sleeve technical T-shirt.  These are unisex shirts and tend to run big for women but do fit well if you size accordingly - smaller men may want to size down as well.

Travel:
The race start is approximately 2 hours South of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Airports in Minneapolis St Paul (MSP), Rochester (RST), and Lacrosse(LSE) – More info on travel can be found HERE.

Lodging:
There is no lodging available in Theilman, MN.

Lodging in Wabasha (15 miles)
AmericInn www.americinn.com/hotels/mn/wabasha

Lodging in Lake City (15 miles)
AmericInn www.americinn.com/hotels/mn/lakecity
Sunset Motel www.sunsetlc.com
Alaska Lodge www.sleepalaska.com

Camping is available right at the start area for everything from tents to the largest RVs. There is self serve registration near the entrance. The daily camping fee is $16.00

Grocery stores and gas stations in Wabasha, Lake City and Plainview

Hospitals in Wabasha, Lake City, and Rochester

Packet Pick-Up
Friday April 13th, 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM - West Assembly Area

We will do a quick race-briefing at 11:45 PM / 15 minutes prior to the race-start.

Drop Bags:
Please keep your drop bags as small as possible - seriously, as small as possible. We will take drop-bags at the start on Friday night but they must be delivered to us by 11:30 PM.

Lights:
Every year runners get caught in a section without lights and it has a serious effect on their race! Use your drop bags, crews and plan accordingly.

Whether and Clothing:
Early April. in Minnesota – we can have highs in the 70′s and lows in the low 30′s or, believe it or not, a combination of both!  All the snow should be gone and the trail should be in good shape, but once in awhile some patchy snow and mud will linger.  Be prepared for all weather and trail-conditions, watch the forecast and plan accordingly - typically, this is a beautiful time of year to run in Minnesota.

Race Start:
Zumbro River Bottoms / Management Area – West Assembly, Saturday April 14th, 12:00 AM (Later Friday night / Early Saturday morning) .  All runners must check-in race morning by no later than 11:30 PM – if you fail to do so, you are not officially in the race – this is your responsibility.  We will do a quick pre-race briefing at 11:45 PM / 15 minutes prior to the race start.

Race Numbers:
You must wear your race number and it must be clearly visible at all times.

Course Markings:
The course will be marked with Orange flags with reflective strips, which will always be on the left hand side of the trail except in the rare occasions  where there will be two-way traffic, in those areas the flags will be on both sides of the trail – reflective arrows will be used sparingly as well.

It is unfortunate but is not unheard of at many of the major trail races that course vandalism has occurred and flagging has been intentionally moved or removed by small minded individuals – it is important that you study the course prior to running and have a concept of where you are going.

Aid Stations.
Our aid stations are manned by volunteers, many of them spending a good part of their weekend out there – please be sure to thank the volunteers!

A complete list of the aid stations can be found on the “Aid Stations, Maps and Data Page”.

Food and Drink – Aid stations will have the following beverage and food choices available:
(All aid stations) Water, Hammer Heed, Hammer Gel, Soft Drinks, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Turkey Sandwiches, Potato Chips, Potatoes & Salt, Cookies, Candy, Fruit
(Mile 50 and Later) Soup, Coffee, Misc. Hot-Foods

*If you have special dietary requirements, please make sure to make use of your drop bags.

Pacers:
Pacers are not allowed in the 50 mile – if you want to practice running with your pacer for a future 100 mile attempt, have them sign-up and finish the thing together!

If you are looking for a pacer ask a friend, someone in your local running group or check the Zumbro 100 Mile Endurance Run Facebook Page. Usually the best thing is to find someone who knows you as a runner – preferably someone you have done long runs with or have run long races with – that way they will know how to read you, anticipate your needs, push you when needed and hold back when required. If you don’t have someone like this to help, another experienced ultrarunner will work. What you don’t want is someone that YOU will end up having to take care of.   Good luck!

Headphones
Due to our past experience with people wearing headphones on trail runs such as these, we discourage their use however we won’t tell you can’t wear them . Full awareness of one’s surroundings, and the ability to communicate with other participants, race volunteers, and trail users unassociated with the event are critical to everyone’s safety.  Please use common sense.

Littering:
Don’t do it.  If you see some trash someone else has dropped, pick it up.  Keep the trail clean.

Cut-off Times:
The finish line cutoff for an official finish is 18 hours (Saturday, 6:00 pm).  All cutoffs will be strictly enforced – we do however reserve the right to pull (or allow to continue) any racer as we see fit – if you are uncomfortable with those terms, consider running another race.

If You DNF:
Should you need to drop out of the race, remove your number and your chip and give them directly to the HAM radio operators at the aid stations you are dropping at – if you are not sure who that is ask around until you find them.  If you leave the course and fail to notify race officials, you will be asked not to come back.

Awards:
1st Place Overall Male and Female

Results:
Results will be updated regularly at the finish.  Preliminary results will be available on the website within a couple of days of the finish – final results (with any corrections) will be posted on our website within a few weeks of the end of the race.

Lost and Found
Any personal items left after the race will be donated to a charity. We will not ship items to you.

Volunteers:
We are always looking for them.  Do you have friends and family coming but don’t really need them to follow you around to crew – see if they want to volunteer.  Learn more by visiting the volunteer page.

Next years race date:
The race is typically the 1st or 2nd weekend in April – The 2013 date will most likely be April 12-13 BUT THIS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.  The Zumbro races are always held the weekend before Minnesota Turkey Hunting starts – sometimes these schedules are not released until late fall of the upcoming year.

You have trained hard and have a lot invested in this – push hard and do your best but please use common sense and be safe.  Best of luck to all of you.

The Zumbro 50 Mile Endurance Run is a Rocksteady Running LLC event – Learn more HERE.