The 50K starts in the finish area and runs out to Horseriders Camp on the Ice Age Trail and back, over Bald Bluff both ways, for the first thirteen miles. It then runs two counterclockwise nine mile loops of the Nordic ski trail to the finish. The Ice Age Trail section is winding single track over hill after hill; the Nordic loop is wide, scenic and very runnable. The course is marked with orange ground flags.
For a change in scenery, trail direction, elevation and grade, the Ice Age Trail delivers. Expect rocks and roots on steep climbs and descents as you scramble up and over eskers, and narrow single track winding up and over hill after hill on the way to Horseriders Camp. The Nordic loops that make up the last eighteen miles are wide and runnable by comparison.
The Ice Age Trail 50 has been run in Wisconsin's Southern Kettle Moraine since 1982, which makes it one of the oldest continuously running ultras in the country. All three distances start together at the Nordic trail head north of La Grange and run on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail and the wide Nordic ski loop: dense deciduous forest, tall pines, rocky ridges, open prairie, and the lakes, kettles, kames and erratics the glaciers left behind. The hills are neither long nor steep. They are incessant. The 50 mile and the 50K both close at 6:00 p.m., and the day ends with a catered barbecue in the finish area that every runner and volunteer eats for free.
The race was conceived by ultrarunner Tom Ulik and the Badgerland Striders' president Glenn Wargolet in a Milwaukee tavern in 1981. To keep the logistics simple Glenn imagined a one mile loop in a Milwaukee County park. Tom had a different idea, and invited him for a run on the trails of the Southern Kettle Moraine. That was all it took, and the first Ice Age 50 was held there less than a year later. Runners come back: the 500 mile club, meaning ten 50 mile buckles, has more than 160 members, and twenty two of them have twenty finishes. Six aid station captains have been looking after Ice Age runners for more than two decades, among them Craig and Mary Hopper, who are in their 39th year at the Hwy 12 station.
| Mile | Station | Cutoff | Crew access | Bag | Pacer | Med | To next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.00 |
Start/Finish
None · physician on site
|
? | ● | ● | ? | ● | 1.50 |
| 1.50 | Bluff Road | ? | ● | · | ? | ? | 0.90 |
| 2.40 | Young Road | ? | · | · | ? | ? | 4.20 |
| 6.60 | Horseriders Camp | ? | · | · | ? | ? | 4.30 |
| 10.90 | Young Road | ? | · | · | ? | ? | 0.90 |
| 11.80 | Bluff Road | ? | ● | · | ? | ? | 1.50 |
| 13.30 |
Start/Finish
None · physician on site
|
? | ● | ● | ? | ● | 5.00 |
| 18.30 | Tamarack | ? | · | · | ? | ? | 3.90 |
| 22.20 |
Start/Finish
None · physician on site
|
3:10pm | ● | ● | ? | ● | 5.00 |
| 27.20 | Tamarack | ? | · | · | ? | ? | 3.90 |
| 31.10 |
Finish
None · physician on site
|
6:00pm | ● | ● | ? | ● | ? |
Parking. Designated Parking
Nordic Trail (Start/Finish) to Bluff Rd Aid Station #3, 1.2 mi, about 2 mins. 1. Head north on Co Rd H/Kettle Moraine Scenic Dr toward Bluff Rd, go 1.1 mi. 2. Turn right onto Bluff Rd, go 463 ft. Destination will be on the left.
Parking. Designated Parking
iceagetrail50.comParking. Designated Parking
Parking. Designated Parking
Parking. Designated Parking
Parking. Designated Parking
10 people have been out there with a camera or a microphone.
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