Found the people, setting, logistics, race options, course, volunteers, swag all really top notch. It is a hilly trail course with little shade which was all just fine. The volunteers and organizers were awesome! Views worth the work. The people made me feel very welcome and supported. Amateur HAM operators tracking each person. I felt like a VIP but never felt rushed and the volunteeers helped keep my mind off my first full TRAIL marathon jitters. Would recommend. It is a hidden gem of a marathon, unique medal and great food after. Oh, saw deer, one guy saw an armadillo. Unless you want speed or flat paved streets you won't be disappointed.

Nice hilly course that had a mix of trails and roads. The trails were very well marked and easy to follow. Aid stations were great. We enjoyed our stay at the Post Oak Lodge. It was a tough course due to the hills. Great views from those hills.

Very well organized. Several races over the weekend. A distance for everyone with the option for doublers. This was my first trail marathon, I'm hooked. The course had several miles of singletrack, with some mildly technical sections. Very scenic. Only down fall for the course was the few miles of out and back on the roads. I hope they can keep it all trail in the future. Hill from hell at the finish lived up the hype. Numerous aid stations that were stocked up with food and liquids. The final two stations were AWESOME.

I ran the 50k. The course is 2 winding laps through woods and scrub outside Tulsa, more scenic than it sounds. The trail is mostly not-too-technical, though I wiped out once. A few very steep ascents make the final 5 miles of each lap pretty tough. What really distinguishes this race is the organization. 50k, 25k, and 10k start times were set enough apart that none of the races were a nuisance to the others. Aid stations were outstanding and very frequent, staffed with unbelievably enthusiastic volunteers.

I cannot believe that we slept so close to the start line. I give the rooms 5 stars. The breakfast and supper were AMAZING. I did the 25K and was signed up for the quarter marathon the next day. The night before I felt fine and thought I could do the half the next day, so we walked over to the lodge at 8:00 p.m. to see if I could change, and in 3 minutes flat it was done. Unheard of in most events. The trails were brutal. It was very foggy and cold, but I had lots of fun. The half was an out-and-back, hilly course. The first and last 3.5 miles are all hills. After the hills are done (sort of), you start heading towards the trail. By far the worst was the last half-mile. It was so bad that they had to give it a name: Hill from Hell. It lived up to its name for sure. All around, a good event; we had a great time and will be back next year.

I ran the trail 50K. The organization was superb, the trail was very well marked, and staying and eating at the lodge was fantastic. It was really great to get to meet and chat with the race director, course master, and guest speaker. The course is fairly tough: hilly and muddy. But if you've run the Rockin' K in Kansas, I think this course is a bit easier. I only gave the course 4 stars because it's a tad contrived, with lots of crazy meandering to create a 25K loop that is then run in the reverse direction to create 50K. You can often see other runners nearby, but are never quite sure if they're ahead or behind you. However, given the area they have to work with, they came up with a pretty amazing and exceptionally well marked trail. No getting lost on this one!

I came to Tulsa with the hopes of a marathon PR. It didn't take long to realize that wasn't in the cards after talking with several experienced trail runners the night before the race. This was indeed a true trail marathon - not a gravel road through the woods. Once I wrapped my mind around this and accepted the new challenge of completing my first ever marathon length trail race, I loved every minute of it. I joined forces with another runner early on and remained positive throughout the race. It was a beautiful day; I'm not sure the weather could've been better. In this race, I had so much to focus on, jumping muddy patches, crossing streams, climbing up hills and over rocks, etc., that I never hit the wall. I finished sub 5 hours, but an hour and 10 minutes longer than my marathon PR. I've never run so long in my life, but honestly enjoyed the challenge.

One note: my rating doesn't come out to 5 stars because I had to rate spectators. While there weren't any true spectators, and I didn't expect any seeing as how this was a trail race, I did give a few stars for the voluteers staffing the aid stations. They did a wonderful job. The race director and his staff were incredibly hospitable, as was the staff at Post Oak Lodge.

The rocks were tough because many were only an inch or two above the ground or were covered by leaves so you could not see them before you stepped on them. But that, to me, is what makes a trail marathon different and challenging. The smallness and organization were great, and the weather was outstanding. Aid stations were well stacked and very organized. I liked the course even without the mile markers. Since I am not all that competitive now, I just liked the scenery. Don't change much.

I thought my head was ready for this one even if my ailing hamstring was not. Wow, was I wrong. The mud, rocks, hills, switchbacks, loosely defined "trails" and lack of any accurate information about distance traversed (no mile markers, and aid station folks that I asked were guessing or just admitted they didn't know) had me confused and dejected. It's a shame because everything leading up to the race - the web site, director's updates, pasta dinner, technical shirt - was first rate! I run a trail marathon before and it was one of my favorites, so it's not the trail experience per se driving my criticism. The lack of spectators doesn't matter to me. The aid stations were well-stocked and the volunteers were very friendly (even if not so informed as to distances). The post-race food and beer were excellent. Just change the course. Two big loops or something other than a "Groundhog Day" kind of experience with all of the switchbacks and repeats. And please tell me that the course was incorrectly measured.... I can't comprehend how I only covered 26.2.

I found this to be a very, very tough course. My GPS indicates more than 5,600 feet of climb and 5,600 feet of descent over the course. I was surprised by these numbers, because the hills themselves seemed like no big deal while on the course, and very few are steep. My GPS also had my total mileage over 28 miles. I know I was off-course before mile one, when about 20 of us ran past a marker that was blown over. My GPS indicates that was a deviation of only eight-tenths. I don't know where the other extra 1.2 mile came in. The trail was a little hard to follow at times, with all of its twists and turns, but I am not aware of ever being off-course except that one time.

The winner finished in 4:02, which is almost super human. Only about 10 or so people broke five hours.
The weather was just about perfect - in the 40's (I estimate) and sunny. The race director at the pasta dinner said that although they had a lot of rain in the previous weeks, that it had dried up quite a bit, and we probably would not get our shoes wet. I found that prediction way off. In many places the trail was very muddy indeed. Almost lost my shoes more than once in the sticky, nearly-ankle-deep mud.

The most difficult part of the race was the rocky surface of some of the trails. I expect uneven surfaces in a trail run, but was surprised at how much of the course was on rocks. Much more than half of the course, I estimate.

The rocks were often hidden in layers of leaves in the forest areas, or by trampled grass in the fields. You really have to look at the ground with every foot plant, but of course you risk missing the course markings this way. When they prepared the course, it looked like someone went through with lopping shears to remove saplings. The problem was that they often left a couple of inches of the "trunk" above the ground, and a couple of times I planted a foot on those blunt little spikes. I also caught my feet in vines, and partially exposed roots, which are common hazards on trails, but which only added to the generally treacherous footing found on long, long stretches of the course.

At an aid station I heard one of the runners tell the course marshal that, except for the altitude, he found this course more difficult than Leadville!

I rated the course 5 stars because of the difficulty. As a trail run, spectators are really not in evidence, although I did see three people sitting on a large rock near a road cheering the runners on at one point. What I strongly feel runners should know is the rocky conditions, so you can decide if your legs - and especially ankles - are strong enough to run this course without getting injured. All the ankle-turning and stumbling early in the race can take a toll, and because the footing is essentially unrelentingly rocky, you are running on difficult ground with unusually tired legs. It is for this reason I say this is a GREAT race if you are an experienced trail runner. I would tell less experienced runners to get on an easier course for some experience first.