Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon

The course is **very** challenging. While the first mile is downhill the next 13 are an unrelenting uphill climb. But, the bike path (that the course runs on) is very scenic. As a bonus the aid stations are well run and the volunteers quite friendly. As you would expect given the race is on a rails-to-trail course, there are no spectators to speak of. The one negative is the misleading race communication. Based on the web pages my friend and I thought we had until 7:15 to catch the last bus to the start. Turns out it was 7:00! We were lucky to have made it, since we were trying to get out early. Also, the RD put out a very ambiguous email that left people wondering if cups would be available at the water stops. The note's wording made it seem like you would have to bring your own bottle and refill it yourself at the aid stations. Fortunately, no. But, you could not get a straight answer to this at the Expo information table. There you were told to find the RD to get a definitive answer. I was not the only one confused by that email since I overheard several others asking whether cups of water would be available on course. What a mess!

I loved running on the Mickelson railtrail through the forests and meadows, alongside streams, and even through a tunnel where a friendly volunteer offered that she had 'chased out the bears'. There aren't many spectators because of the remote railtrail, and I really loved running in the quiet. The race director is extremely responsive to questions and everything went as advertised.