My first thought when I arrived at the race start at the Kettle Morraine State Park in the morning for the race was "wow. This is a fancy ultra." I had run both Lakefront ultras in Chicago, as well as attempted the Ice Age 50 in the spring previous to this, so my experience with ultras was pretty low-key. TNF Endurance challenge had quite the set up, which thankfully made the race start really easy to find. The race start is staggered...50 milers at 5am, 50kers at 7am, Marathoners at 9am (I think). Between this, and starting the first bit of the race on pavement, the runners are really spread out through the race. I definitely appreciated this organization, as it's really easy for trail to get congested and stressful.

I absolutely loved this course--lots of hills and climbs, but they were broken up through a lot of runnable sections, as well as quite a few sections on prairie. I've heard this course described as "easy"..while I don't necessarily agree with that, I think overall it's much more runnable and easier to get some good speed going in sections. I was worried about not having access to a drop bag for the 50k, but found that between what I could carry and the well-placed aid stations, I didn't really need one.

All the hooplah at the finish line was great--you get the zen of an ultra while you're running with the energy of a city finish at the end. I usually don't care that much about swag...but getting handed an Endurance Challenge water bottle (filled with water!) along with your medal at the end of the race was pretty clutch.

TNF offers packet pickup in Chicago at the John Hancock North Face store for this race as well, which was super convenient for me (and a lot of others, I imagine). You also get a pair of smartwool socks in your swag bag, along with the Tshirt. I can always use more socks!

Couldn't stay away from this race series-- I'll be back in Wisconsin for the 50 miler this fall! At some point I would love to do one of the other races in the series.