The Raven Rocks Run is set to go tomorrow at 9am. See our Logistics Note for advice on getting to the park and getting oriented once you arrive.
NOTE: Course is wet (lots of rain this Fall)! Bring a change of shoes for the ride home!
Race organizers are at the park today doing the final prep work and fine tuning the course for our Sunday morning start.
There is Last Minute Online Registration available until 6pm if you are deciding late to run – sign up now and make tomorrow morning easier for yourselves and us! 😉 If you want to sign up for the race on race day, we open same day registration at 7:15am.
Note if you are running tomorrow and want to have an extra layer for the start but then want to peel it off (after that first big hill!), we will have volunteers at Michigan Road (1 mile into the course) who can collect your outer layers and will return them to the finish line area under the tent for you to pick up after you finish.
This year the Raven Rocks Run will feature two slight course changes — First change is an extended tour of the Raven Rocks overlook with the newest trail in the Rez which opened in early 2018. The new trail — I have given it the name “Raven Cliff Trail” — follows the Raven rocks outcropping down through new single track trail. If this trail had existed in 2015 when we set the course it definitely would have been part of the race — and now it is! More rocks and more ravens! (There is actually a pair of ravens that live just south of Raven Rocks, they must be able to read…)
Second change is a re-routing of the Blue trail at around mile 4.75 done by the park. This change is around 1/2 mile after the fire tower water stop. The new trail cut avoids some of the most eroded parts of the blue trail downhill and is generally super smooth with good footing.
These two changes actually slightly shorten the course.
Because of the rainfall in the week leading up to the race (and the generally wet fall weather), the Michigan Road swamp trail cut-through is flooded with standing water. We will route through the main Michigan Rd access trail instead. This change adds back in about 0.1 mile to the course.
So in all a net shortening of the course – but not by much. I expect everyone’s times to be faster! 
😉
See you on the trails!
