Run for Kids Final Information

We are now three days and two hours to race start for the 12 Hour and 50K.
We will have package pickup and late registration Friday afternoon at Oak Mountain State Park from 4:00 PM until 6:30.  There is no mandatory meeting and runners may pick up their packets Saturday morning if they prefer.  The only purpose in the Friday pickup is that we have a lot of out of town runners that might want to get oriented and take a look at the course.  We also hope some of the later registering runners will come out Friday instead of waiting until Saturday morning.

Here is a review of some critical information.
1.  The 50K and 12 Hour Races start at 7:00 AM sharp
2.  The Festival Run (1 to 6 hour run or more) starts at 8:00AM
3.  The entry fee to Oak Mountain State Park is $3.00 per person.  Please bring exact change.  There is an ATM at the gate.
4.  Runners arriving for the 7:00 AM start must go to the South Gate of Oak Mountain State Park.  (Close to Interstate 65) The north gate opens at 7:00AM and if you go to it Saturday, you will miss the start.
5.  The start/finish is at the Cedar Pavilion located at the far south end of Double Oak Lake. Here is a map of the park Oak Mtn. State Park.  and to the Cedar Pavilion. Click on the block in the lower left to see a detailed map of the location of the Cedar pavilion.
6.  We will have Package Pickup and Late Registration Friday afternoon, 4:00 until 6:30 PM.
7.  Race day package pickup and Late Registration will open at 6:00 AM at the Cedar Pavilion.
8.  Drop Bags and Coolers are welcome.  You may leave them at the Cedar pavilion or in you car. If you are parked in the large parking lot shown on the map your car is only about 50 yards off the course.
9.  The run course passes within 20 feet of three park bathrooms.  Please use them.  Don't just step off the trail.  The Lake Trail is a very popular biking and hiking trail and we don't want to offend anyone, especially the park personnel.  Park superintendent, Michael Jeffreys,has been extremely helpful and we want to keep him on our side.
10.  At one point I had said we might have an unmanned water station on the far side of the lake.  We are NOT.
There are several drinking fountain along the course, the last, right in from of the canoe rental office just before heading into the woods.
11. While there is water around the front side of the lake, runners must carry water with them on the course. You will not be able to drink enough at aid stations to avoid getting dehydrated if you are running multiple laps.  5K Runners.  THERE IS NO WATER ON THE COURSE.  Carry a water bottle!
12. We will start serving food as the first 50K runners are finishing.  This should be between 11:00 and 11:30.  All runners are welcome.  Family members and friends may purchase a meal ticket for $5.00.

The Course:
We will have the course very well marked.  There will be signs at every turn along the front side of the course.  We will also have White flagging and  white flags all along the course.  At critical areas we will use flower to mark large arrows on the ground.  It will be impossible to miss a turn.  Right!  If you pay attention you will not miss any turns, just don't blindly follow another runner.  None of us would ever do that!

The trail is about a good as any single track tail is the Southeast.  There are no technical sections just a lot of roots and in some areas, quite a few rocks.  You will need to watch the trail.  I removed some of the worst potential offenders last weekend but don't enjoy the view while running on the single track.  The worst (rocky) section is the 150 to 200 yards immediately after crossing the dam.  Be particularly careful here.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a very popular biking and hiking tail.  There will be signs at both ends of the trail to warn mountain bikers to watch for runners.  We will be running counterclockwise and about 90% of the bike traffic goes in the clockwise direction so you will see them coming.  BUMP (Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers) built and maintains the trail so be courteous to mountain bikers and hikers.

There is only one place to get off the single track trail (other than the horse trail) and that is Rattle Snake Ridge trail.  About half way around the back side this trail turns sharply off to the right and heads uphill.  Don't make any right turns on the back side of the lake.  It will be clearly marked.

50K runners will run 9 laps around the lake.  As you finish the ninth lap we will direct you to a final 1000 yard loop to complete the 50K.