The Odyssey Trail Running Rampage will bring in Fall with four great trail running races: the 50K Ultra, the Marathon, the Half Marathon, and the Six-Miler. These trail races will give athletes the opportunity to run on some of the best trails in the Southeast at a gorgeous state park nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Douthat State Park. Get together with family and friends this weekend at Douthat State Park to enjoy hiking, mountain biking, paddling, fishing, and relaxing.
We are excited to be are part of the Virginia State Park Adventure Series were athletes can compete at different events at Virginia State Parks to earn points to win prizes at the end of the year.
The 50K Ultra, the Marathon, the Half Marathon, race courses will be a loop format offering challenging uphills, fast downhills and beautiful views at multiple points on the trail. Racers will run along creeks with waterfalls and through Rhododendron-covered tunnels engulfing the trails. The loop will have a total elevation gain of 2700 feet over 13 miles, the majority of which will be gained in the first three miles.
The 50K Ultra will entail 3 loops ((Two) Half Marathon loops + (One) 6 mile loop); the Marathon 2 loops; and the Half Marathon 1 loop. There will be 1 aid station on top of the mountain, at the cabin overlook, at mile 3.5 with water only and 2 fully stocked aid stations at miles 9(mile 1 for the Six Miler) and 11.25 (mile 3.5 for the Six Miler) of each loop. They will have HEED water, flat cola, potatoes and salt, banana halves, and pretzels at each station. Ultra and Marathon runners will be able to stage supplies at the finish of the loop.
The Six Mile Trail race will be a single loop with a few challenging uphills, but mostly rolling terrain. This loop will have over 1000 feet of elevation gain. This race will incorporate the last five miles of the other three events' loop with the addition of the Tobacco Hollow Ridge Trail at the start. The loops for all the events are a little long by 0.3 +/- miles (more plus). There will be no extra charge for the bonus miles!
Why the loop format? The loop preserves a little piece of history. The half marathon loop was designed as part of the Odyssey Off-Road Iron – Distance Triathlon, in which competitors capped off 2.4 miles of swimming and 112 miles of biking with the trail marathon of two 13.1 mile loops. Numerous requests for the option to skip the swim and bike and to “just” run the loop led to creation of the Trail Running Rampage events.