The North Face Endurance Challenge Series in Wisconsin is a well run event refined by a team that clearly runs many races each year and understands how to run an ultra. This was my first ultra and I expected that the organization might be lesser than some of the more popular shorter distance runs. The ECS WI was run as well as any race could be.

The course starts and ends at a campground with plenty of parking and space for everyone to stretch out on the grass before and after. The 50km course winds through trails designed for cross country skiing, snow mobiles and eventually runs down the Ice Age Trail. The trail ranges from single track to wide mowed prairie paths and has plenty of rocks and roots to keep you on your toes. The elevation is rated as one of the flatter trail courses and yet for someone training in Chicago there were plenty of rolling hills that made the distance a challenge.

The aid stations were fully stocked with tons of food and water staggered 4-5 miles apart across the course. There were sorta potties at each aid station and at least one station had a cooling fan to help cool off as it got hotter mid-day. The aid station staff were awesome, helping fill bottles and providing ice. There was significant medical support at each aid station, and the race director told us there were ambulances and a helicopter on stand-by if it was needed.

The chip timing allowed for real-time tracking of athletes although it wasn’t always real-time. When I passed through the last aid station it was apparently tracked manually so it was more difficult for my wife to know when I was going to cross the finish line. Even still, I was able to sign up and have the chip timing post to my Facebook to share with all my friends as I made progress through the course.

Packet pick-up was easy as you could choose to pick up in Chicago, Milwaukee or Madison. Living in the suburbs of Chicago I decided to pick up downtown, although in the future I would choose to pick up my packet at the store where the pre-race panel was being held to kill two birds with one stone. The t-shirt was nothing special and is the same no matter if you were running the marathon of 50-miler.

The pre-race panel was better than expected. I thought we’d see Dean Karnazes (he’s the North Face face of the ECS) but I didn’t see him either Friday night at the panel or the day of the race. Instead, the race director and a few seasoned ultra racers shared a mixture of race specific information (what to expect, cutoffs, what to watch for) and thoughts on how others handle running ultras. The entire panel was about an hour at a North Face store about 35 minutes from the race start; the only negative was that there weren’t enough chairs to sit and nobody wants to stand for an hour the night before running an ultra.

The finish festival was well organized. Crossing the finish line we had water and food similar to the aid stations. Each finisher is given a medal which was heavy and nice although the same for every distance (the difference is the ribbon). I appreciated that they gave us an Endurance Challenge Series water bottle filled with water upon crossing the finish line instead of just a disposable bottle of water.

One note for organizers, the course guide changed between the time I registered and when the race took place. When I first read the course guide, it said the electrolyte drink would be Cliff brand and later it was changed to Tailwind. I feel lucky that I noticed because I bought Cliff to try it, only to later notice it was different. When something changes like that in the course guide, it feels like they should send and e-mail to everyone who is registered to review the changes.

Overall, this was a great first ultra to run and there were many others like me as first timers. The staff and resources were plenty and everything was well organized. Definitely a run to do again.