Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Lake Martin 50

All is set for the Lake Martin 50 on March 23rd.  I ran the course Friday, January 28th, start to finish to get an exact measurement.  I have run 6 times now on measured courses using my Garmin GPS watch. Three of the runs were at Veteran's Park here in Birmingham on the 5K course that serves as the High School State Championship Cross Country course.  Two runs were at Oak Mountain State Park and one was the Lookout Mountain 50 Mile trail race in Chattanooga. The watch is measuring about 92% of the actual distance on trails.  The adjusted distance is 25.02 Miles per 25 mile lap.  The elevation gain is 2,726 feet per lap.  Below is the updated GPS course map, the elevation profile and the Russell Lands Trail Map.

The elevation profile has been corrected using a Garmin elevation correction program.  The GPS data from my watch is cross referenced with Geological Survey data to give the most accurate measurements possible.  Total elevation gain for each 25 mile loop is 2,726 feet or 5,452 feet for the 50 miles.

In a few weeks, I plan to have a training run on the course.  I will post a date as soon as I know.

The course is beautiful and the trails are great. If you have a chance, print the course map and try it out.  Please go by the Stables and fill out a waver before running.