The purpose of this blog is to have a consolidation of comments and questions regarding endurance running and the Iron Horse 100 mile, 100 klm and 50 mile in particular. Please let me know your thoughts and questions just try to keep it reasonably clean. Chris
Iron Horse Endurance Runs 
Could have done a forum but I guess a Blog will do. I still have to learn how to navigate through it. Getting ready post the map of the course on the website. Course will be a lot faster and more runnable
Looks good Chris.may ride the paved trail this weekend on my road bike starting at Goldhead State Park
Should be a good race
If you go into the forest call or e mail them at the e mail or phone no on the website. They want to know who is in the Forest. Safety reasons
I’m so excited to be running my first 100 miler in February. My training has already started as I’m a slow and steady kind of runner and these 16 week programs don’t suit me very well….lol I’ve only been running for 5 years but within those years I lost over 100 pounds in weight and discovered that running is FUN and you meet the most amazing people out on the trails or in your own neighbourhood. Anyways to cut a long story shorter……I LOVE RUNNING! I ran my first ultra in March of this year in Kitty Hawk, NC. The Graveyard 100 was a great first 100k and made me want to try for the 100 miler. I also raised $933.00 for my son’s school to buy ipads for his Special Education classroom. In the run up to the Iron Horse 100 I will be raising money for a local childrens charity called Camp Good Times of Charleston. I also blogg my fundraising and training efforts on FaceBook and have a public page named Sam Runs 100miles……..so check it out the next time your online. Thanks and I’ll look forward to making new friends while running in Florahome. 🙂
How is everyone’s training coming? This course will be great. No more trestle in the middle of the night, No more gravel. Over 13 miles per loop of nice forest service roads. No sand traps.
Anybody who wants to do a training run e mail me and I might join you. Chris
New course looks interesting. Should be fun.
I might have to swing through on my way to Silver Springs next time I get a chance. I was going to do the North Face Challenge in Georgia in October but they don’t have cool Belt buckles for rewards.
My training is coming along pretty good. Hitting 20+ mile long runs now but the humidity is terrible even before 6:30 am in South Georgia…probably the same for Florida.
Great News: Altra the zero drop shoe company, has become a sponsor. They will give a pair of shoes to each of the male and female winners of the 3 races.
Do you recommend trail or road shoes?
I’m not a runner, but I ride my mountain bike in the forest quite a bit in the fall and winter. Depending on what roads/trails are used in the forest there could be some sandy spots. At times people riding horses in the forest can tear up the trails/roads a bit too.
Looking forward to the 2013 Iron Horse run.
Rode the 25 mile loop on my Mt bike today. Real messy after the rain. Great course though. Only 1.5 miles of railroad gravel. Here are the distance breakdowns if you want to follow on the map.
S/F to Grandin and back to S/F:3.44 miles, to Holloway Rd 5.90 miles, to the turn into the ECSF 7.5 miles, To Green Camp:10.01 miles, To Red Camp 11.15 miles, To EastV/WestV intersection 13.55 miles, To aid station 3: 17.36, miles, Back to EastV /West V Intersection: 21.15 miles, Back to Holloway Rd:22.77, To S/F 25.2 miles. I will adjust the Grandin turnaround so it comes out 25 even.
How much breathing room do I have, registration wise? I want to hit a few key workouts in my mileage before I commit.
Iron Horse will be my first ultra. New training program starts on Monday.
Chris–my husband and I are planning on running in the Iron Horse 50 as our first ultra. We’re wondering how early we have to sign up to make sure we get in. He is concerned that one or both of us get broken and can’t do the run…
Jill,
Not sure if Chris replied to you – but just in case…
Last year the race filled up (plus a bit over). If you’re thinking about doing the race – sign up. If it fills up – you might not be able to get in. But if you have to cancel – you can be sure that your spot won’t be left empty.
Iron Horse will be my first endurance run and I was thinking of heading up there to do a loop around the course in the next couple of months. Anyone interested (that lives up there) interested in tagging along? I am coming from Deerfield Beach, Fl.
Again, not a runner… But I did ride my mountain bike on the forest part of the course on 10/21/12. The trails and service roads were in very nice shape. There will always be a bit of sand when you get out past the first camping area. But even that wasn’t bad as it has been in the past couple of years. The next section of the Palatka Lake Butler trail to be paved is supposed to start pretty soon. The section of trail from Holloway road east 4.5 miles. It is supped to be finished in the spring of 2012.. Not sure of exact dates though.
That should say…. Supposed to be finished in the spring of 2013…
Test
Folks, Sorry I have not responded sooner but have had problems with this site. Hopefully it is worked out. Those of you asking about signing up do it within the next several weeks. We are filling up quickly. Those of you who want to do a training run e mail me or just remember to call the Forest station and let them know you are out there. If you don’t get a response from a blog question then e mail me because that means I am still having trouble with this site. Chris
Should I start training now?
Chris Yes you should start training now. I will use me for an example. I am currently training for the Jacksonville marathon in mid Dec. That sets my base. Then in Jan I will up my long runs to the 50km level but no more. That sets “the time on legs” muscle memory to beyond the marathon distance which sets you up for 50 miles or if you feel strong the 100km. If you can do 50km you can do 50 miles. Let me know your thoughts. Chris
Depending on your base milage, the beginning of october would have been better. I started this training plan back in the spring when training for Northface challenge. It was a pretty good setup. I had a base milage of around 6-7.5 miles (by base I mean what I could do comfortably on any given day) I quickly went from that to 14,16, 18 in consecutive weekends. I made it up to a 22 mile long run on saturday and 10 on sunday when I found out I wouldnt have money to do it. So i’m aiming for Iron Horse now. The following site is what I mainly used for a training plan.
http://www.trailrunevents.com/ul/schedule-50m.asp
thanks folks, may comment was a bit tongue and cheek, but the training schedule that Joshua posted schedule is similar to the one I am following. The only big difference is the Tuesday and Thursday runs that I am doing are longer and encompass speedwork. Again, I would like to get up there try the course in December. If you anybody would like to indulge me with a practice run. Please email me at christopheknight@bellsouth.net
Any advice on how much harder the 100K is vs the 50 mile? Figure those extra couple hours are gonna hurt, but that should make the finish that much better. I want the buckle but haven’t done an ultra run before. I have done several marathons and a couple iron distance triathlons.
Paul, the 100km is another 12 miles. If you pace yourself for the first 5o you should have enough in the tank to go the rest of the distance. Remember there is no time limit so you can take a rest if necessary. Chris
Training’s going great and looking forward to my first 100 mile!! My crew and I are planning a training run up there sometime in January and will notify you later of the date. One question.. will cellphones be of any use out there? Thanks!
Again not a runner, but I did ride my mountain bike in Etoniah Creek State Forest on 11/12/12… I have AT&T and the cell service is great in the forest and on the Palatka Lake Butler trail. 4G even. When I had T-Mobile a couple of years ago coverage was kind of spotty in the forest. But they have upgraded cell towers in the area since then so not sure now.
Look forward to hearing from you and yes cell phones do work and I encourage people to carry them in case they run into or see a problem i.e. down runner, bears, Florida panthers etc. Chris
Thanks! Looking forward to meeting up with you all as well, and hopefully no bear or panthers.
Bernadette,
Have been on the course several times and only infrequently had problems with cell coverage. Like Chris said, cell phones are encouraged. Hope to see you there, I’ll be helping Chris out before and during the race and plan on pacing a friend the latter part of her 100K.
Are you going to go down there in December? This will be my first ultra I’m doing the 50 miler. The longest I’ve run is the marathon my first was the Donna Breast Cancer here in Jax Feb of this year and second was Savannah November 3. I’ve only been running since January 2011. I’ve run 16 events including 4 half marathons.
No, I’m planning on getting up there on Jan 13, with my crew,and maybe doing a loop that day. Looks like a good course for your first 50! Good luck with your training!
Bernadette, Don’t forget to e mail me ahead of time so I can meet you out there and have it marked for you. otherwise you will get turned around in the forest. Chris
If you don’t mind I’d like to join you guys Jan 13th. I’m looking forward to it and wish you the best on your ultra run too.
Kevin, sounds good! I don’t know the details yet on time, but we will be up there on that date. Keep in mind, I’m training for 100 mi and will be slowish lol
Bernadette and Kevin, Let me know the time and also send me a reminder e mail after the 1st and I will spin you both ( and whoever else is interested) up on the latest course developments. Chris
Ok looking forward to it all I know is the date January 13
I was going to use it as a way to get familiar with the coarse I’m going to be a little slow to want to get the 50 mile done in 10 or less hrs.
Thanks for the prompt response to my question. I’m sure I’ll have more as we get closer! That’s good news:)
Chris and Kevin, It looks like we will def be up there from Orlando,on Jan 13, at about 7:30am. I plan on only 15 mi, since I have 20something the day before. Just looking to check out some of the course and also crew points. Everything looks like a go so far…just did a 45 mi overnighter a couple weeks ago, and have a 50 mi on trail( with lots of deep sand lol)next week. Hope everyone’s training’s been going well! Thanks, Chris
Bernadette, I should be here on the 13th but let’s talk the week prior and coordinate. I talked Chuck Peterson thru the course and he ran it today. Had no problems and liked the course. Have a Merry Christmas. Chris
I look forward to seeing you ran 15 miles in a state forest by my house and ran in some deep sand to get a feel for it I have two days where I’ve run 27 miles last week
Look forward to seeing you!
I’ll also try to be out there on Jan 13 either running or mountain biking the course while getting ready for the Florida Double Iron Triathlon in March.
Good luck Gary I’ve heard about the Double Iron Triathlon one tough event!
Is there any elevation gain or loss? How much pavement? What flavor Heed?
Jerry, No elevation gain. About 7 miles per loop are paved. Don’t know flavor of HEED yet. Depends on what Hammer sends me.
I rode my mountain bike on 12/2/12 into Etoniah from the south entrance that is right by State Road 100 (the entrance that Is right by the Palatka Lake Butler trail. Here is a video from that entrance down East V. Road. The second video is from East V. Road to the Green Camp site.
Looks like a very nice place to run too Thanks Jay for posting the videos of your bike ride.
Sorry about the noise in the video… The camera was picking up some kind of vibration.
Just got this bit of info from somebody that works at St. Johns Water Management… They are supposed to start construction on the next part of the Palatka Lake Butler trail In Jan.. Start Jan, end July 2013, per DOT project manager. The section east of Holloway road… I hope they leave you guys a clear path for your event!!
Jay, Great video. Wore myself out just watching it. As far as paving is concerned we should be clear. Parks and Rec has indicated they will keep the portion we need clear and DOT has been good to work with in the past. If not we will just detour around them. Chris
Here is the Palatka Lake Butler trail east from Holloway road. At about 11minutes and 24 seconds in the video is the entrance to Etoniah Creek State Forest. Of course if they have started construction this may look a bit different by then.
Jay and everyone else: Stop worrying about construction on the Rail Trail. Fl. DOT is paving Holloway Rd starting Jan 1. That is a good thing. The Rail Trail work is still in the designing phase and will start sometime after the first of the year. No one knows right now when the contractor will start. If however, it becomes a problem I have a PLAN B. However that will remain a secret for now.I did not look at the whole video. Did you get to Red Camp? We will have that part of the trail cleaned up before the race. Chris
I apologize for intruding on your blog, I’m not even a runner. I’m just somebody that lives close by that enjoys the Palatka Lake Butler trail and riding in Etoniah Creek State Forest.
I didn’t make it out to the Red Camp last weekend (didn’t have much time that day). But the trail from the green to the red camp is usually a lot more sandy. A month or so ago when I did ride to the red camp the trail was all clear, no downed trees or debris on the trail.
Jay, I appreciate your comments and the video is really helpful. I am going to go out next week and check that part of the trail to Red Camp. That is really the only part where runners can get lost. As for the construction, I just don’t want people to get spun up about it. It is what it is and we can’t stop it. As long as we can get thru to the primitive camp entrance we will be good to go. DOT, Parks and Rec and Putnam County have blessed the race so I really don’t antocipate a problem.Please do continue your comments. By the way, the legendary Bardin Booger will porobably show up for a visit. Chris
Anyone want to share accommodations? Have a hotel room reserved at the Holiday Inn. If interested, feel free to e-mail me at kurtij@hotmail.com.
Anybody doing the 50 mile race and has a goal of doing it in 10hrs or less that I could run with?
Thanks for the vids, Jay! Looks a lot like what I’m training on now. Can’t wait!
Where are you training Bernadette
Kevin, I’m training at Wekiva St Park for trail and Cross Seminole and neighborhood for road.
Jay, I love the videos but can I ask one favor of you ? Can you go back out there and video a section of it in the dark wearing a headlamp ? Chris , the fact that this course has changed makes me want to come back , I don’t know…………
I did go ride out to the red camp on Sunday. I’ll get the video up soon! As far as a night ride I would have to con somebody into going with me and that might be a hard sell. Two of the guys that rode with me Sunday pretty much hated mountain biking on the trails in Etoniah. TOO much sand for them. But I did just get a really nice Cygolite head light for my bike!! So If I can con somebody into a night ride i’ll do it.
I have a road bike otherwise I’d love to and your videos are nice gives me a preveiw of the trail
Jay, Did you have any trouble finding Red Camp? I am going out today and will mark the trail thru Green camp to Red camp and then an arrow once you hit the power line and need to turn left. Chris
Not really any trouble finding the red camp. As long as you make that left at the power lines (which I didn’t the first time I rode out there a month ago). So if you mark that left you should be good to go. Does the course go through the red camp and recross the power lines a bit north of the first crossing and come back out at the end of East V road? Or do you do an out & back from the red camp?
RUNNERS: I just retrurned from the Forest. I put a yellow pie plate with an arrow marking the route out of Green Camp. I put another one at the power lines for the Red Camp turn off. Jay, I did the same thing the first time I was out there.
John, Come on! Course is much better. No trestles and only 1.7 miles of gravel. Etoniah Forest ia good forest service roads. Chris
Any deep sand or roots?
No roots to speak of. The dirt roads are sandy but nothing really difficult. I hate to run in the sand so I kept us out of sand traps/. Chris
Not really any roots that I remember. There are a couple of spots out past the green camp where there is some sugar sand (white stuff very loose). Both stretches of that are maybe 50 yards each or so. I’m not a runner but the trails seem like they would be way better to run on than the gravel on the Rail Road part. Some of that gravel can be pretty loose in spots.
Thanks, that sounds tolerable:) I’m used to slogging through long sections of deep sand, with roots off to the sides that I’ve flown over more than once. If there’s one root at IH, I’m sure to find it!
Here is a video just after crossing the power lines where the trail heads back in to the woods towards the Red camp. I forgot to turn the camera on after going by the green camp… Doh! The section after the green camp to the power lines is where the worst sugar sand is.
Here is a video taken after passing the Red camp heading back towards the end of East V road. You cross back under the power lines to the end of East V road.
If YouTube isn’t acting too slow… Viewing the videos in HiDef looks pretty good. Again sorry about the noise the camera is making. Trying to get an RMA from gopro as i’m writing this.
Trying to clear my schedule for first ultra. Will being doing Goofy Challenge in Disney as training. Finished couple of Ironman tris. IronHorse looks amazing. Question: How much more challenging is the 100-KM from the 50-mile??? The buckle for the 100-km has me leaning that direction. Never ran over 27-miles before….but plenty of 15-16 hours suffer fest in tris.
Bjorn, You need to get time on the legs. A tri witrh 3 events is totally different than spending 15 hours on your legs running. 100km is not much harder than doing a 50 miler in my opinion. However you need to do a couple of 50k’s before Feb just to get the legs trained. Chris
I agree with Chris you need some longer runs to get your legs used to running long periods of time I ran my first 27 miles this past Tuesday and going to run 27.5 this Saturday. I’ve done some running in Jennings State Forest over some sand and done some beach running but most of it has been on road my plan is to run on grass and dirt whenever possible and run up to atlest 29 32 miles for my base training for the 50.
Kevin. Jennings forest is great if you can avoid all the sand. I was out there three weeks ago doing a 21 miler in prep for the Jax Marathon and ran to Cecil field. On the way back a root got me and I tore my rotator cuff when I hit. Still has not healed. Let me know some time when you go out there and I will join you. Chris
Would December 23 be good for you?
Can’t on the 23ed. Be in Orlando with my daughter and her family. In fact I am out of commission until New Year’s day. After Christmas be in N Georgia until new Year’s eve . Will be running the Appalachian Trail.
Have a nice time in Orlando and running the Appalachian Trail! Ran 15 miles in Jennings yesterday sofar for this month I’ve ran a little over 162 miles and last week I had two days where I ran 27 miles
Just ran a 25 mile loop on new course this past Monday. The park roads are a bit sandy in spots, but that stretch out of Green Camp is terrible. It has to be .25 to .50 mile long with 4-6″ of powder white sugar sand. Could prove to be very difficult at night!!! It was hot and humid the day I ran, so Im sure it was not on my “A” game.
Yea well as long as its not any longer than that should be ok consider it a speed bump
This is as benign a course as I could make it. Yes there is some sand but is mild compared to what it could be. If you noticed some of the side fire roads have some serious sand issues and remember I could have run you through the creek also. I wanted this to be a fast runnable course good for the first time Ultra runner as well as good for the seasoned runner wanting to PR. Chris
This sounds like a great course, and I look forward to running it! I just wanted to let you and Kevin know I just spoke with my crew, and we may not make it up there on the 13th until later…closer to 9. We underestimated how long it would take from here. Again, our primary objective that day is to scope things out…15 mi at the most. Thx and Merry Christmas!
Bernadette, If you are coming from Orlando it should take you about 2 hours depending on how fast you drrive. Go up 95 to the exit for Hwy 206. Take a left and follow it all the way to E. Palatka. Take a right on 17 go through Palatka until you see the St Rd 100 turn off on the left. Get on it and the primitive camping entrance is 12-13 miles. You will recognize the primitive camp turnoff by 2 cell towers. The first is a standard one and the 2nd is a big millitary or space agency tower. The entrance is right past that on the right but the sign is small.That is the forest portion. If you want to start at the beginning we can meet in Florahome. Just let me know. Chris
Yea a little sand is ok besides running in the woods on forest roads and trails is not so hard on the body the ground absorbs some of the impact
Hi guys! Hope you don’t mind but I’m gonna head out there on the 13th as well. Was talking with Chris and he let me know there was a group going out on that day. My plan had been for the 12th but it makes more sense for me to be there when there’s more people around (my hubby will rest easier:-)) Anyways is your plan still for 9? I’m about 2 hrs away as well…thanks!
Hi Heather, that would be awesome for you to join us! I don’t know about the others, but we plan on being up there around 9, for an easy 15. For my crew and I, I think our time would be best utilized in the forest, so we plan on being at the entrance to it that Chris mentioned,at around 9. Looking forward to running with you or at least starting out with you. This 100 mi training has made me the slowest I’ve ever been lol 🙂
Thanks Bernadette, I will see you guys at 9! I am probably going to do 25 but will see how many I get in the day before. I’m only training for the 50 mile, but I have always been a slow runner–now that I am running trails, it’s just slowed me down even more! 🙂 See you soon, can’t wait!
I would do 25 but it’s the 2nd part of a B2B and I’m doing 20 the day before. Plus my crew’s babysitter will be on the clock! If you’re on fb, send me a fr so we can keep in touch. Thx! Almost getting to be freak out time! :-0
Yea, I was thinking about doing a B2B so not sure what I’m doing. I just looked–you’re a fellow FURbie! 🙂 That’s always the first place I look now 🙂 No freak out, it’s gonna be great!
I should also be out there on the 13th either running and/or mountain biking the forest trail portion.
Heather, Bernadette, Kevin, Gary et al: I will be out there with you.(somewhat slower than the rest of you with my artifical knee). Do you want to do a whole loop or a partial. If you want to do the Rail Trail portion we can start in Florahome, go west to Grandin, turn around, go east to the camp ground entrance and do the 13.5 loop thru the forest and then return to Florahome. That is 25 miles. Or we can meet at the primitive camp entrance and do the forest portion for 13.5 miles. You all let me know. Remember to bring a bottle. I will drop some water jugs at the East V and West V split but the only other water is at the Aid 3 location at the end of West V Rd. Chris
Chris, I think we’re just going to start at the primitive trail entrance, and do 15 out and back in the forest. I just wanna get a taste of the trail course. Is there any way I can get a more detailed trail map with the course marked out? Thanks!
Actually, we’ll just do that full forest loop of 13.5. That would be great.
I just did the forest this morning. It is 13.58 miles. If you want when you finish that, run the rail trail to Holloway Rd and back. Chris
I can’t get you one before next week but the one on the website is accurate. The Green and Red camp loop is about 6.1 miles and the west V to aid 3 is about 9.7 total and then back to the entrance for a total of 13.58. I will meet you at nine at the entrance to unlock the gate and talk you through the course. Chris
Thanks a million for your help, Chris! Looking forward to it!
Chris, many thanks to you and Gary for making our run today up there such a positive experience! You did a great job marking the course, and directing us. It was so beneficial to run some of the course. It really is some pleasant running and something I can envision 100 mi on! Thanks again you guys, Bernadette
It was nice running walking with you last Sunday wish you the best on your first 100 miler!!
13.5 is good for me. Think I’ll try my first B2B that weekend 🙂 see you then!
Will meet you at 9 at the entrance to unlock the gate and talk you through the course. Chris
I can meet you guys at the Primitive camp site entrance and run 13 or 25 miles I just want to get a feel for the coarse. Sofar I’ve run around 62 miles this month.
What an awesome run today. Thank you Chris for taking your time to meet us out on the course. Bernadette is going to rock out her first 100Miler! See you all race day. Best Wishes, Julie & Mike McLaughlin (Bernadette’s Awesome Crew Team!!) WHOO HOOOOO!
Thanks so much to Chris for meeting us out there yesterday; really appreciate it! It was great to meet everyone–look forward to running with ya/seeing you on the 9th! Happy Running 🙂
Chris you did a great job on making that course looking forward to meeting all of you again on race day!! Good luck everybody!! I’ve run a little over 135 miles for January and more miles to run before I relax. Ran a little over 29 miles today. Heather hope your feet are better.
Hey I mailed in my application almost a month ago and still haven’t received any verification that I’m signed up. My name also isn’t on the roster for the 50. Should I be worried?
Instructor Joe, If you did not get a response via e mail I may not have gotten your entry. E mail me at crodatz@bellsouth.net and give me you last name and which race you are running. Chris