Starting at 5 a.m., the 50 Mile runs out on scenic fire roads from Avalon to the Isthmus at Two Harbors and back, through the island's interior, which is generally closed. The way home from Little Harbor takes a different road, past Eagles Nest and Pumphouse Hill and back over Haypress into Avalon. There is one official early start, at 4 a.m., for 50 Mile runners who want the extra hour. It counts for an official time and for awards, and the first stations may not be set up yet.
The race's own word for the surface is fire roads, and the route is on them the whole way. The course map gives 6,500 feet or more of climbing, and the elevation profile the race publishes puts the high point at 1,599 feet. The chart's mile numbers show the shape of the day: 21.2 miles out to Little Harbor by way of the airport, 6.3 out to the Isthmus and 6.3 back, then 16.2 home on a different road.
The Avalon Benefit 50 Mile/50K Run is the Avalon Lions Club's fundraiser and the oldest ultra trail run in California. Both distances start together on Crescent Avenue in Avalon, in front of the Wrigley Stage, and run out into Catalina Island's interior on fire roads that are closed the rest of the year. The 50 Mile goes the length of the island to Two Harbors and turns for home; the 50K turns earlier, at Little Harbor Overlook, and comes back through Middle Ranch. Getting there is part of it. The 50 Mile starts at 5 a.m., so runners cross on the Friday boat from Long Beach, San Pedro or Dana Point and stay the night in Avalon.
A dozen Islanders organised the first benefit run in 1982, and the Avalon Lions Club has put it on ever since. It is a fundraiser first: the aid stations along the route are staffed by island student and civic groups, each of which is given a donation for the day, and what the Lions raise goes back into Catalina. A 50K was added in 2017. The 2021 edition was cancelled for Covid.
| Mile | Station | Cutoff | Crew access | Bag | Pacer | Med | To next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00 | Avalon Start/Finish | ? | ● | ? | ? | ? | 7.90 |
| 7.90 |
Haypress
None · basic first aid
|
? | · | · | ? | ● | 7.00 |
| 14.90 |
Airport
None · basic first aid
|
? | · | · | ? | ● | 6.30 |
| 21.20 |
Little Harbor
None · basic first aid
|
? | · | ● | ? | ● | 6.30 |
| 27.50 |
Isthmus
None · basic first aid
|
? | · | · | ? | ● | 6.30 |
| 33.80 |
Little Harbor
None · basic first aid
|
? | · | ● | ? | ● | 5.00 |
| 38.80 |
Eagles Nest Blue Grass Station
None · basic first aid
|
2:15pm | · | · | ? | ● | 5.20 |
| 44.00 |
Pumphouse Hill
None · basic first aid
|
3:30pm | · | · | ? | ● | 2.00 |
| 46.00 |
Haypress
None · basic first aid
|
? | · | · | ? | ● | 4.00 |
| 50.00 | Finish Line | 5:00pm | ● | ? | ? | ? | ? |
18 people have been out there with a camera or a microphone.
+ 10 more.
These are other people's work and we link straight to them. Watching costs nothing and needs no account. More of them: every race we hold, on film.
Nobody sees it until we have read it. No account, no sign-in.
This changes nothing on the page on its own. Somebody checks it against the race first.
Somebody watches it before it goes anywhere near this page. What we are after is footage of this course, on the ground. If it would be just as true of any other race, it is not this.
We want the address of the file the race publishes, not the file. We download it from there so the page can say where the line came from.
We read every one of these and we write back. Every fact here carries the source it came from, and the way a wrong one gets fixed is a person checking it against what you tell us.
Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.
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