For the sixth-straight year, iRunFar will be livecasting from The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championships in the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco, California. As always, both the men’s and women’s fields are competitive, and the men’s more so than we’ve ever seen at this race.
There are many ways you can follow the race with iRunFar!
We’ll be livecasting the event on iRunFar’s Twitter feed.
We’ll also be combining our Twitter feed with other possible news sources and encouraging all of you to join the discussion in the CoverItLive window below. We also have a full news stream containing the same possible news sources without comments for those who prefer a clean interface.
We’ll also have live video feeds from several locations along the course, including the starting line and finish line. Stay tuned for more information and links.
Here are a couple resources to help you follow the race:
- iRunFar’s women’s and men’s previews;
- iRunFar’s live interviews with Magdalena Boulet, Dylan Bowman, Sage Canaday, Stephanie Howe, Dakota Jones, Megan Kimmel, Rob Krar, Timothy Olson, Kami Semick and Chris Vargo;
- Our live video feeds (they’ll be rolling as appropriate);
- The elite entrants list (only folks from this way are eligible for prizes); and
- The official race website, and the (mostly) updated course guide due to the course re-route (described fully here) as well as the old course guide for comparison.
iRunFar’s Live Coverage With Discussion
iRunFar’s Simplified Live Coverage (Without Discussion)
Our 2014 TNF EC 50 Mile Twitter List
TNF 50 Video
Additional live video will appear at the appropriate time.
Video from the Start of the 2014 TNF 50
Summary of Course Changes
Here’s a full summary of the significant course changes from our crack team of artists: (full version here)
2014 TNF 50 Course Changes
Major Course Change Due to Bridge Washout 12/5, 12 p.m.
Due to rainfall the week prior to the race, a bridge was washed out on part of the course, in Muir Woods National Monument. [Editor’s Note: There’s also course change dealing with the out-and-back to McKennan Gulch described which is below.]
Gone is the hilly, upland terrain after the Cardiac Aid Station in bound as runners will instead head back to Muir Beach on the trail the took outbound.
The distance will be made up by an additional immediate second looping of the course between the Bobcat and Alta Aid stations immediately after the start.
The result of this is an infusion of more runnable terrain and a removal of some climbing.
This is the new course guide showing the rerouted map and new course description.
Here is the information from the race administration on the course change:
“IMPORTANT UPDATE: Mandatory GORE-TEX 50 Mile & 50K Course Change
“The North Face Endurance Challenge staff was notified last night by the National Park Service that a foot bridge along the GORE-TEX 50 Mile & 50K course route has been washed out due to heavy rains and flooding in the area the past week. The bridge was located on a portion of the Redwood Creek trail just south of the Old Inn Aid Station. A reroute is required for both race courses, as the event is no longer permitted to run on the trails from Cardiac Aid Station through the Old Inn Aid Station to the Heather Cutoff trail intersection. Please refer to the updated course guides online for new course maps, pace charts and turn-by-turn directions, that provide in-depth information on the new course. We understand that multiple loops and out and back sections are not ideal ultra marathon course routes,we will be managing the flow of traffic to ensure everything goes smoothly at all critical junctions. and appreciate your understanding of these mandated changes due to recent weather conditions in the area. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] via email or by phone at (469) 475-1317. We wish you all the best of luck race day!”
This is the revised course map, showing the double first loop as well as the removed route through Muir Woods National Monument between Cardiac Aid Station in bound and Muir Beach Aid Station in bound, which has been replaced by returning the same route from Cardiac in bound to Muir Beach in bound:
This map details the section of the course that was taken out through Muir Woods National Monument, and shows how it was replaced by returning from Cardiac in bound to Muir Beach in bound the same way runners go outbound:
And, finally, this map shows the two major changes to the course, the added first Bobcat/Alta loop (so now runners will do two of those loops before heading to Tennessee Valley out bound) as well as the removed trail in Muir Woods National Monument:
McKennan Gulch Course Change
[Update 12/5 5 p.m.] Instead of taking the Coastal Trail all the way out to McKennan Gulch, runners will turn Wilow Camp Trail halfway out the original out-and-back section up a short steep hill to West Ridgecrest Boulevard. They’ll take a left on West Ridgecrest to the original McKennan Gulch. They’ll turn around at the aid station to return on Ridgecrest toward the Willow Camp Trail. They’ll take a right and head down the steep trail again after which they’ll take a left on the Coastal Trail.
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-Bryon Powell, Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar
