Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon

I was very disappointed in the lack of support at the aid stations as well as at the finish. I feel they need to do a better job at stressing the 6 hour cut-off at registration time. At the aid stations there was only water and gu and sports drink. I finished in 6:15 and they were packing up which meant warm water for finishers and no food. I was really disappointed at the support, especially because it was hot. I love racing in Oregon because usually the treatment is the opposite of what is provided for this race. I'm glad I did it and finished but that's about it.

I just wanted to add my comments as a recent and more 'average' runner since there aren't that many current reviews. Be aware this course is TOUGH for an average runner. The cutoff is 6 hours and that is not as easy as it sounds to make. I normally do a 4:15-4:40 marathon depending on conditions and came in at 5:50. There is not quite enough water on the course due to the terrain. There were runners that were dehydrated that dropped out. We were successful by drinking at each water stop AND bringing a bottle for in between the stops. Just recognize if you are normally a big city type runner, this course is hard with the elevation (~5,550 ft), the sandy dirt, the switchbacks, the roots, the rocks and the trail nature of it. Train on trails, wear running gators to prevent rocks from getting in your shoes, bring water, wear dark clothing since it will be caked with dirt afterward (white stains). Great experience, well managed race but just tough. It tends to attract a small field of athletic runners.

This was a 20 mile race followed by 6 frustrating miles of trying to get by very slow 1/2 marathoners. Most of which had headphones on with the music so loud they could not hear the marathoners asking to get by on their left. The main problem is that the the 1/2 and the full merged at the 1/2 6 mile point and their race started 1 hour after the marathon. So this meant when the leaders of the marathon got to the 20 mile point they were greeted by runners going about 7 minutes per mile slower. the trails are very narrow at this point with no way to gently get by. I emailed the race director about this problem two weeks ahead of time and got no response. Also the people that marked the course did not know the course and it did not match the published course. They changed the starting line and several sections were run in the opposite direction as mapped and they added two brutal hills that were not even on the map. Who knows how far we actually ran.