The race was extremely well organized. Parking was plentiful at the Susanville Railroad Depot, and they had a decent number of very nice shuttle buses set up to take the race entrants to the starting line up in Westwood. Here is where we encounter my first of only two gripes about the whole thing though. While it was pretty organized in terms of counting down to the start of the race (yelling into a bullhorn every minute, starting at the ten minutes remaining mark), there was no starting gun. They just continued their muffled yelling and at some point must have said "Go" or something. I think there's something inherently wrong with that... The people at the front of the lineup obviously heard it, and everyone else took their cue from the front runners, but seriously, get a gun next time so those of us in the middle and back can start our timers.
There were EXTREMELY well-stocked aid stations every two miles on the dot. All the stations had water, Clif brand electrolyte sports drink, m&m's, Clif brand energy bars, pretzels, jelly beans, bananas, chips and more. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, I just remember the stuff I went for myself.
Here's my second gripe: There could have been an additional porta-potty or two along the way. I saw many a runner veer off into the woods along the way to water the plants. There were several (6 I think) restrooms set up right at mile 13, but with as many points where the trail crossed a (dirt) road, there were other spots available to set them up as well.
The run follows the Bizz Johnson trail, which used to be a railway, but has since had its rails and ties pulled up. "Rails to trails" is how I've heard it referred to a few times. The trail is just gorgeous, crosses several wooden bridges, and runs through a few long tunnels that were light by lanterns. The pictures on the website just don't do the trail justice.
I plan on going back and doing the trail again sometime soon. I'll be doing it on a mountain bike this time though! read more
