With under a week to go until the fifth running of the Quad Rock25/50 Trail Races, some final thoughts and instructions:
Weather: The forecast for Saturday is currently looking good, with a projected high in the low 70s and a Friday overnight low in the 40s. The week leading up looks stellar too, so the trails should be in fine fettle for you on Saturday.
An optional packet pick up will be held at Altitude Running on Friday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Altitude Running is located at 150 East Harmony Road just north and east of the Harmony/College intersection on the south side of town. Race partner Salomon Running will be offering a gift with the purchase of any pair of Salomon shoes at packet pickup.
If you can, we ask that you come by Friday to pick up your race gear to help smooth race day parking and sign in. Those of you that can’t pick up packets and shirts Friday afternoon can do so with your bibs in the morning.
New this year, we have two separate start times for the 25 mile and 50 mile races. The 50 mile race will begin at 5:30 a.m. and the 25 mile race will begin at 8:00am.
If you wish to switch from the 50 Mile race to the official 25 Mile race start at 8am to be eligible for 25 Mile awards, please notify us by the end of packet pickup on Friday. 50 Mile starters who drop out at 25 Miles will receive a finish time and finisher award but will not be eligible for overall or age group awards.
Bib numbers will be distributed race morning beginning at 4:00 a.m until 5:20 a.m. for the 50 milers, and between 6:30 a.m. and 7:50 a.m. for the 25 milers. Please keep bib numbers visible during the race and the pull tag at the bottom intact. We will be pulling 50 miler bib tags at the 25 mile turn and at the finish.
We will be at full capacity on Saturday, so we recommend that you give yourself plenty of time to park (up to a half mile away from check-in), get your bib, and get ready to run. If you can carpool, please do. Not only is it one less vehicle on the road but it helps reduce stress on Lory State Park’s limited parking infrastructure, and it gets you priority parking near the start.
There are park toilets at the Timber parking lot (first one to fill on right as you come in), at the top of the Soldier Canyon parking lot, at the bottom of the Soldier Canyon lot near the start, and at the South Eltuck trailhead at the far end of the spur road which overflow cars will be parked on. We will also have port-a-johns near the start/finish (always the longest line).
Parking passes will be distributed by parking volunteers at the entrance to the park in the morning. Lory State Park will be open for parking at 4am. Carpools of two or more participants for both races will be given priority parking close to the start at the Soldier Canyon trailhead. All others will be directed to the Timber trailhead parking area and down the main park road to loop left back towards the start on the Lodgepole Loop. Parking on Lodgepole will be on the right (east) side of the road. The earlier you get there, the closer to the start you’ll be parked. Directions and parking details are here.
Horsetooth and start/finish drop bags must be dropped off by 5:15 a.m. for the 50 mile race and 7:45 for the 25 mile race. Bib numbers will be assigned on the Ultrasignup entrant list by Thursday if you want to pre-label your drop bag with name and race number. Horsetooth drop bags will be returned to the start/finish no later than 5:00 pm. We will try to get 25 mile bags back sooner. It is a 20 minute drive from Lory to Horsetooth if you need to pick up your drop bag before then.
Aid station fare is detailed here. VFuel gel will be served from bulk containers, so we recommend that you carry a 5oz flask (or similar) if you want to use aid station gels. We will also have dixie cups at the aid stations for gel ‘shooters.’
New Belgium Brewing will be providing Fat Tire Amber Ale for the post-race BBQ. Runners will receive a meal ticket with their finisher mug. For those bringing family/friends who didn’t order extra meals when registering, food and a brew will be available for $10 (cash). First beer is free for everyone, we then ask that you make a cash donation for additional beers. Our BBQ will be well stocked with burgers, brats, black bean burgers, Mary’s Mountain Cookies, Trader Joe’s fruit, Great Harvest buns, and lots of other goodies. All proceeds will be donated to the Animal House Rescue along with race sponsorship funds from Countryside Animal Hospital.
Salomon Running will be on hand after the race demo’ing their trail running line up. Check out the back of your race bib for an Altitude Running offer on Salomon shoes. Also check out your bib for an offer from our physical therapy partners, Colorado in Motion. During the awards and raffle, we’ll be giving away some great stuff from other race sponsors, including Drymax and Julbo.
Course markings will be pink ribbons, hung every 1/4 mile or so, with additional marking at all junctions.  Flour markings and/or pink pin flags will supplement at key intersections.
Limited in-race updates will be via the Gnar Twitter feed, and race results will be posted the evening of the race on the Quad Rock Ultrasignup page.
Activities for family and friends:
Trails are open to everyone to enjoy all day; however, crewing outside of designated areas is not allowed. There is a BMX bike park right by the start/finish area, so feel free to bring a bike for the kids (or yourself). Trails are also open to bikes. The reservoir is just a short walk down from the start/finish area and there is a small cove ideal for paddling or submerging battered legs. The Healthy Smile, Dirty Feet One Mile Kids Race (half (closed) road, half trail) – sponsored by long-time race supporter Justin Liddle DMD – will begin at 2:00 from the race start.
Crew access info is available here.
And, finally, if you have questions that can’t be answered here or on the race website, feel free to drop us a line and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
On behalf of Pete, myself (Nick), all of our race sponsors, and our outstanding battalion of volunteers, we look forward to seeing you all on Saturday.
Cheers!
Gnar Runners Event Management
3 Comments
Hi there! I’m signed up for the 50 miler, getting so stoked!! I just want to make sure I am reading everything correctly. There is NO packet pickup the night before, just the morning of, correct? Thank you!
Hi Caroline, This is our pre-race post from 2016. The current race schedule is online here:
Friday packet pickup is from 4pm to 7pm at Altitude Running. You can also pick up race morning. We are chip timing this year so we will be handing out packets and bibs on Friday. We will also send a pre-race email and will publish a pre-race blog post for this year’s race on Saturday after we’ve closed all registrations and transfers.
Thank you!!!