NOTE: Evergreen Trail Runs, which managed this race, has been acquired by Orca Running. So things could be rather different next year. For 2019, they've replaced the 5 mile with a 5K race.

This race is held at Grand Ridge Regional Park, off I-90 just a 20 minute drive from Seattle. There's not much at this exit other than the park system, so getting in was pretty easy. Parking was mainly along the side of the road or along the drive to a church up the hill. We arrived early and had no problems with parking.

As with other trail races, there's no expo, and check-in was a quick and simple affair—give your name, get your bib, wait for start time. No swag included but no big deal to us. You could add a branded but not event-specific shirt for additional cost, but the race is part of a series & no swag helps keep cost down.

Four distances were offered with different start times. 50K & full marathon (about 75 people total) went out at 7:45 am (they did the half course twice, with 50K adding the 5 mi loop). Half marathon, with about 150 starting, went out at 9 am. The 5-miler started at 9:30.

The course started on a wide gravel road, giving us a chance to string out a bit before starting onto the single track trails. Mostly it was hard pack dirt with some small sections where the trail was covered with large rounded stones. Even though the half had a total of 2400 ft of gain, it mostly came in relatively gentle climbs and rolling trails. We're not strong hill runners, but we were able to slowly jog much of the course with a few short hiking climbs. It was a fun course to run. The scenery is the stereotypical Pacific Northwest evergreen forest—nothing in the way of sweeping views but pleasant. The weather was *not* stereotypical—cold but blue skies all day. The sun occasionally blinded us as we turned just the right way, but for the most part visibility on the trail was great.

The first few miles had sections wide enough for 2 people, though it became a bit of a squeeze in the middle miles of the course. Aside from a mile or 2 at the start and end of the course, it was an out and back, which meant full and 50K runners were coming back as the half went out—and the fast ones passed us close to the turnaround point. The trail was also open to regular use, which includes mountain bikes. At this time of year, there weren't too many bikers, and they were considerate of the race runners.

There was one aid station that we passed twice (way up and way back) at 3ish and 10ish miles, with a couple of wonderful volunteers offering up the usual ultra/trail spread (they were cooking up bacon as we went through the second time), and a water only station around mile 7ish. The finish line was a muted affair. We grabbed a few snacks before heading out.

The biggest issue we encountered was with communication before race day. Race management didn't send any email to runners before the event. Then, with the acquisition by Orca Running, they launched with a new website the day before the Grand Ridge event—with all the 2019 races and taking down/breaking the 2018 page the day before the race. That created some stress and frustration, as we were trying to double check times and locations. Hence the lower rating of race management here. Ultimately we were able to find it on their Facebook page. I suspect this was just a snafu as the management changed hands and (hopefully) won't happen again. (Lesson for other race managers: Don't update your website the day before your final race of the year please!)