Race & Course Information

The 21st annual Leona Divide 50 mile and 50km trail races will once again take place at the Lake Hughes Community Center on April 28th, 2012. As well, this race will be part of the Montrail Ultra Cup race series and a qualifying race giving points for the 2013 The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®, not just for the UTMB®. 

See below for each races map and elevation profiles for terrain details. Some of the highlights include:

• 39.5 miles of PCT
• 10.5 miles of fire roads
• 10 aid stations, some with crew access
• 13 hour finish-line cutoff

Packet Pickup: Time TBD, both at Lake Hughes Community Center. NO RACE DAY ENTRIES.

Race Day Check In, Drop Bags, Packet Pick Up: Time TBD, at the Lake Hughes Com. Center. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY! Hot drinks, muffins, bagels, fruit.

Crew access: Only aid stations #3 & #9 are accessible to crew access. We ask that crew stay off the dirt roads as they are steep and narrow, and aid station volunteers need access to their locations. See aid station map on Course Map page for directions.

Drop Bags: for aid stations #3 (16.4mi), #9 (42.6mi), will be collected at the start/finish area at Lake Hughes Community Center, during packet pick up times. We will have bags and markers available for your use. Mark bags with your name, bib#, & aid station number. Aid stations #3 & 9 don’t close until nearly 7pm. To avoid a long wait for your stuff to reach the finish area, mark your separate bags #3, and #9 (rather than “#3 & 9″ on one bag) and we will try to get the #3 bags to you sooner. Please mark any drop bags that you don’t want returned with “DO NOT RETURN” so we know which ones we don’t have to worry about. You are welcome to pick up your drop bags from aid st. 3/9 after you have finished, or have a friend or crew pick them up for you. See map page for directions.

Friday Pasta Dinner: $5.00 (vegetarian sauce), $3.50 children under 10, from 5 - 7pm at the Start/Finish location. Dinners will be available while they last and include baked ziti, sauce, salad, roll, desert, coffee, tea, and lemonade. This is a fund raiser for the Lakes Women’s Club who take pride in their home-cooked meals. Don Hughes will give a pre-race briefing and answer questions around 6pm.

Pre-Race Briefing: There will be a pre-race briefing both at the Friday pasta dinner and Saturday morning at 5:40am at the starting line. A large (4′ x 8′) map of the course will be on display in the Community Bldg. Friday and Saturday.

Drop Outs: THIS IS IMPORTANT! Any runner who drops out must inform race officials at an aid station immediately so we don’t spend time & effort looking for someone who isn’t lost. If this happens, the runner will be billed for any search & rescue expenses. Runners who hand in their starter tags and for some reason do NOT actually start must tell a race official immediately! We reserve the right to refuse future entry to any runner who does not notify a race official if they drop out. Please locate an aid station volunteer if you drop out, and let them know what you are doing! If you drop out at aid stations #4/8 or #5/7 plan on being their quite some time before we can come and get you. They are remote, and sadly I have not mastered the art of teleporting. Your best bet would be to try and run through down to aid station #6, and we can quickly send someone to get you

Cut Offs: No runner who continues past a cut off will be included in the official results. These generous cut offs are imposed for the safety of the runners and out of consideration for the volunteers, without whom events like this would not be possible. AID STATION #4: 1130AM! AID STATION #6: 2PM! AID STATION #9: 545PM! AID STATION #10 CLOSES AT 6:30PM. IT WOULD BE IN YOUR BEST INTEREST TO MAKE IT THERE BY THAT TIME.

Aid Stations: Sports drink, cola, sprite, fruit, cookies, candy, chips, boiled potatoes (at later aid stations), pretzels, sandwiches, and maybe something homemade by our fabulous volunteers. Aid stations will have basic first aid kits with band aids, vaseline, etc. Please bring your own aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. Please show your appreciation to our wonderful volunteers as you pass through the aid stations!

Race Photographer: Brooklin Rosenstock will be on the course.

Finish Line Food: Chicken and Veggie Fajitas with Vegetarian black beans, steamed white rice, fresh fruit, salad, and tortillas.

Custom Awards: Presented to the overall winners of both the 50 and 31.9 mile runs, and top finishers in the age groups for the 50 mile run at the start/finish site as we sort out the results. Every finisher also receives a custom LD finisher medal.

Weather: Plan for very cold in the morning(40’s), and possibly in the 60’s-70’s during mid day. Please put a dry long sleeve in your drop bag at mile 42 if you plan on finishing after 10 hours. It tends to get very chilly come late afternoon, and you might need it. Watch our weather widget.

Weekend Schedule: TBD in 2012

PLEASE DO NOT LITTER ON THE COURSE! Trash bags will be available at each Aid Station to dispose of your trash. Please help keep the course litter free so we can continue to get our permit from the USFS.

Useful course details:

This is a relatively safe and technically easy course with plenty of daylight at the finish. The first 10 miles will be run on groomed fire roads, but you will do some climbing! From here runners will then connect up with the Pacific Crest Trail, and run out to connect up with fire road 7N23. This will be a hard right turn, and 2.5 miles of solid downhill. At the bottom will be the turn around, and Aid Station#6(mile 29.5). Runners will then head back up the fire road, and reconnect with the Pacific Crest Trail for a return trip to aid station #10(mile 46.1). Once here all runners will then go left down to the finish line.

THIS IS AN OUT AND BACK COURSE FOR MOST OF THE 50 MILE RUNNERS, AND THE TOP GUYS & GALS ARE RACING FOR QUITE A PURSE SIZE. PLEASE QUICKLY STEP TO THE SIDE IF THEY COME RUNNING TOWARDS YOU ON THEIR BACK PORTION. YES THEY HAVE THE RIGHT AWAY, AND NO DO NOT BE OFFENDED BY THIS. WAVE TO THESE GUYS & give some encouragement AS MOST OF THEM TRAIN 25 plus hours a week, pay to travel to races, and unlike Tiger woods get absolutely nothing in return for there incredible athletic accomplishments. They are super studs, and I am honored to have such an elite field at the race this year.

THIS IS NOT AN ORIENTEERING EVENT, & I INTEND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CONCENTRATE ON RUNNING. THIS COURSE WILL BE VERY WELL MARKED WITH FLOUR & RIBBONS. BE ALERT, PAY ATTENTION AT EVERY TURN, AND YOU SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEMS MAKING IT TO THE FINISH. THE LAST THING I WANT IS FOR ANY OF YOU TO GET LOST!

Maps, elevations, profiles, detailed course data:

50 Miler

50 mile course details are seen above. 8900 FEET elevation gain. Click images to zoom in.

 

50k

50k course map is seen above. 4900 FEET elevation gain. Click images to zoom in.

 

The fine print details:

• Race Date: Saturday April 28th, 2012
• 50k and 50 miler races start at 6:00 am
• Entry Costs: 50k & 50m TBD by Nov 1st, 2011
• You must be 18 to enter. We reserve the right to require proof of age
• No pacers allowed
• Bibs must always be visible from the front
• No stashing of supplies along the course - this is cheating!
• Race Location: Lake Hughes Community Center
• Race director reserves the right to alter price, course & race details if necessary.
• Sorry, no refunds or bib transfers allowed.
• Runners may not change races after the start, No rollovers!
• No race day entries
• The race director has the final say on race day for all issues, concerns, questions. Period.