At a glance
I registered to the Tussey Mountainback being held near State College in 2013. This is a 50 miles race, I did it as a three-person relay. One runner starts the race while other are driving along the road. Relay teams are supposed to bring their food while ultra runner (people that run the whole thing by themselves) have food and first aid provided. My team completed the course in 7 hours and 10 minutes.
The course is really nice and well organized. People are respectful and when driving and passing you, they are very careful. Teams cheer each other which made me feel this race is really for fun (for the relay, this is another business for the ultra runners). The race itself is wonderful, especially during fall ! People that loves nature will enjoy the race. For thoses who would like to see some pictures, I have a full dedicated album dedicated to the race on my flickr acount here.
The race is really well organized. The post-race party has plenty of food (sandwhich, pizza, salad) and drinks, including beers from a local brewery.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Organization
- The course
- Fun between the teams
Cons
- no food/water but can be easily brought into the support vehicle while running as a relay
Let’s do it ?
If you are somebody that loves the nature and is looking for a nice race in the fall: go for it. It shows the beautiful part of Pennsylvania and can be either competitive (if you do it as a ultra-runner) or just very fun (if you do it as a relay). On other words, this event can accomodate all types of runners, is fun, beautiful and affordable. So, go for it !
juli1 diary 