The Glacier Ridge Trail 50K and 50 Mile Ultramarathons and 30K Trail Race are out-and-back style courses.  The 30K and 50K courses largely follow the blue-blazed Glacier Ridge/North Country Trail between the west end of Moraine State Park and the Jennings Environmental Education Center near Slippery Rock, PA.  The Glacier Ridge Trail (GRT) is a local designation for that part of the more extensive North Country Trail system that passes through Moraine State Park.  Trail markers use the North Country Trail designation, so if you notice this out on the course, don’t be confused, they are one and the same.  The 50-mile course uses the GRT, as well as a system of snowmobile/horse trails to the east of Lake Arthur. 

The Glacier Ridge/North Country Trail is well blazed with bright blue blazes from near the start out to the Jennings Center at the northeast end of the course.  There are two sections of the course that will use connector trails that are blazed white.  Once on them, these trails are very easy to follow.  Intersections/turns will be clearly marked with directional signs/arrows. In a few areas, there are secondary trails that cross the main trail.  In these areas, blue flagging will be hung for a few yards prior to intersections, to warn runners of a cross trail, and for a few yards after, to give you peace of mind that you are still on course.  In some areas of the Jennings Center, blue pin flags or flour arrows on the ground may also be used.

The first mile or so of the courses will be run on wide bike trails to allow the pack to stretch out before entering the single-track.  The remainder of the 30K and the vast majority of the 50K follow beautiful single-track through hardwood forests.  That portion of the 50M course between about mile 21 and mile 40 follows a couple miles of gravel roads, with the rest being very runnable double-track/fire roads, although this section is not free of hills.  NOTE: Volunteers will not be stationed at road crossings.  Runners are reminded to use caution at all road crossings.

During the second weekend in April, bright green foliage will be just emerging and early wild flowers will be making an appearance.  Visibility through the forest will be good, making trail blazes and markings easy to spot, but don’t let your eyes wander from the trail for too long.  The terrain is varied, with something for everyone, including highly-technical sections of roots and rocks and other sections that can be run at a nice pace.  For an early-season race, there are sufficient hills to test your level of fitness heading into that big summer ultra.

It should be noted that field limits for the second GRT races have been deliberately kept low to maintain course loading.  For this reason and based on the sellout of the inaugural GRT, we anticipate that the event will fill.  Therefore, early registration is encouraged.