This was my 3rd year at the race. It's a straightforward, old school, simple cross-countryish/trail race. The first two years I ran with kids as it was their first 4 mile race. This year I ran for myself.

Cost is about average for a race that is between 5K-10K. Great food provided by the Iowa Machine Shed, a well known restaurant in Des Moines. Beef stew with biscuit, pumpkin bars, (not as dense as a brownie, but more firm than cake, awesome icing!), and hot coffee or apple cider. Simple, but great. This year the swag was a nice baseball cap. One year we got a stocking cap. One year a small duffel bag. They all have the race logo. You can sign up online or mail in.

Course is not for the faint at heart. There is some gravel road at the beginning. Then you are only some long grass and field running before a jeep road, then more field running. Then in and out of timber, (with some more field running), with lots of tripping hazards and a few good hills. The ground was beat up in several sections from rain and then cattle going over it. The last stretch puts you through several shallow stream crossings and up and down about 4-5ft banks to scurry up. Then there's a long final hill to the last 1/3-2/3 mile run to the finish. I saw people stumble, trip, and fall. I hit a few things and slipped a bit too once.

Awards are nice big coffee cups with the sponsors listed and the race logo. There's also a woodsman/woodswoman competition where you do pull-ups afterwards and they reduce your overall time, but only in that competition.

All ages race, and by that I mean, there is an over 70 category and two guys fought it out with one being 82. So awesome!

This was my 3rd year at TNF ECS WI. This year I raced the 50K which is essentially a 10Kish loop + the marathon course, which I had run the past two years.

This year we were able to take advantage of the race hotel for the first time, usually it is sold out, and the price discount was significant. It was also the best hotel my family and I have stayed in for the past three years.

Though most of the hotels are about 12 miles away from the race HQ, the drive is scenic and pastoral. Since this is the Midwest and it's Wisconsin, the trail is not super steep nor does it offer mountain or ocean views. However, the course, part of which is on the Ice Age Trail, is more challenging than you might think. It is very rolling with all types of footing from a bit of pavement, to grass, doubletrack, singletrack, even a bit of sand. There are several forested sections as well as prairie. The rolling hills, most of which are not too steep, do start to take their toll a bit in the second half of the race, especially between miles 16 and 22.

The aid stations are generally between 4-6 miles apart and fully stocked with the normal drinks, along with soda, chicken broth, Clif Bar items, candy, chips, even boiled potatoes.

While there is early packet pick-up, this year I opted to simply pick-up just before the race. I appreciated not having to make an extra drive into the malls on Friday with my family during rush hour. They also have a meet and greet/Q&A with special guests, which this year included ultra runners Dean Karnazes, Dylan Bowman, and Timmy Olson. Though I didn't attend this, I saw Dean in the audience over the weekend and I met both Dylan and Timmy in person after I PRed in the 50K on Saturday.

The schwag is a premium tech tee and metal finisher's medal with ribbon. The food afterwards is great, including dinner for the marathon, 50K, and 50M finishers. Your first beer is also included along with several snacks, soda, water, etc.

There are several sponsor booths at the race to peruse afterwards including the ability to get some more freebies, try out gear, and even get a massage.

The North Face always does a quality job with their events especially as they are dealing with hundreds of people over several distances. All course markings are spot on and clear, making the way fairly simple as long as you are paying attention.

As billed, this is a great race to break into trail and/or ultrarunning, with distances from the 5K to the 50K and even a Kid's race held both days.

Wow! What a neat event! Imagine signing up back in January for a race that is only 14K, and being fortunate you got into it! The Wulfman CDT-14K is run on the Continental Divide Trail near Butte, MT. The trail is all single-track. Therefore, to accomodate the limited field, you give the RD's your predicted time, and then they seed you and start people one at a time, every ten seconds.

This race communicates! Wow, there were a lot of e-mails because there are a lot of details in order to make this stellar event work. Odd years, like this year, the race runs south to north and runners are bussed to the start line. In even years, the race runs in the opposite direction and finishers are bussed back to the parking lot off of I-90. Your bus, for this year, is also determined by your predicted time, and you receive your bib with your exact predicted time on it so you and others know how to line up and when you start.

The announcer then has everyone lined up single file at the start and a little light goes off when your time comes as a woman checks you off and there you go! 14K of tough singletrack on the Continental Divide Trail. There is definitely some elevation gain (around 1300+ ft according to the website) with some switchbacks going between 4K and 6K into the race. The course is awesome, but tough, both ascending and descending. Everyeone is very friendly and open to letting others pass if they need to on the singletrack. I was even told by one lady that I was doing pretty good as a flatlander from Iowa!

At the finish line people waited and clapped, you got your race swag, snacks, retrieved your gear bag, and could print off preliminary results. Then, after getting back to your car, you could drive about 4 miles to the Homestake Lodge where there was food, beer, and post-race awards and give-aways. Wow! That was a beautiful place to relax in the mountains after a great race!

This 5K is run on a crushed limestone type trail and is all downhill! Yes...you read that right! It is part of the Deadwood Trail Marathon weekend. I worked the sign-in table in the morning and got to meet the overall RD for the whole weekend, including the Kid's 1K, Fast 5K, 1/2 and full marathons. Emily and her crew put on an awesome event, and the 5K was something I was able to be a part of early Saturday morning.

For the 5K, they bussed you to the start outside of historic Deadwood, SD and then we ran downhill and into town. As we ran by the river and into town, the view was pleasant and volunteers halted traffic when we had to cross the main roads. The western side of SD is at elevation, so it was good to have been in Custer for a couple of days beforehand to get use to it.

After having some treats at the finish line, we waited around for the results, and I just missed placing in my age group by about 18 seconds. This was the fastest 5K I have run since I stopped focusing exclusively on that distance and started running longer distances up to 50K. The prizes for 1-3 in the age categories were gold, silver, or bronze painted railroad spikes, which seemed very appropriate for this race. I was bummed to have missed out on one! This race was also the SD state 5K championships as awarded by the RRCA and it was great to see at least one other Iowan take home one of those prizes in her age group. If the longer events, 1/2 and full marathon, were run as well, and knowing the RD and seeing the great Expo hosted at the Deadwood Lodge, I'd assume they were, this is an event with several options for you and your family to put on the bucket list.