General Information
DUE TO COVID-19, our event will be virtual. This year, we are donating 100% of proceeds to Rogue Food Unites - who are "coordinating food businesses, farms, and cultural organizations to meet the acute demand for regional support with a community-driven meal preparation and delivery program. Meals prepared with ingredients from local farms by local restaurants are delivered to locations in Southern Oregon where residents displaced by the Almeda and Glendower fires receive the food they need. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner."
You can run the course anytime during the month of November and upload your results for an official finish. All registrations before November 15th can purchase a Lewis Loops shirt designed by the RD's daughter.
No refunds. No transfers of bibs. No rolling over of registrations. This is for both events. You MAY drop down to the 5K up to 2 days before the event, but must do so through UltraSign Up. This is a fundraiser, so if you sign up and cannot participate, consider your registration fee a donation to the Ashland Woodland and Trails Association (AWTA). You may see course profile photos in our collection of photos above - note neither is an easy course and you will NOT PR at either distance on this course (unless you've never run that specific distance, of course!).
Please make sure that you do not block the gates up the road and you are mindful that some of the parking spots are reserved for handicapped parking. The road and trails will NOT be closed, however we will have volunteers on any of the sections that vehicles have access to in order to try to limit any potential conflict with drivers and our participants.
Runners are strongly discouraged from wearing headphones, however if you feel you must please only have one earbud in, as the majority of both courses is on single track, and you need to be able to hear other runners announcing they are going to pass you. Please do NOT play music without headphones - not only is this completely obnoxious to everyone else using the trails - it's specifically not allow by our permits - anyone doing so will be disqualified without question.
DO THE DOUBLE
NEW THIS YEAR, and due to it being a virtual event, we have added the "13.3 mile" distance, which means if you sign up for this version, you must run BOTH distances. Your finish time will be the combined finish times, but you don't need to do it in one run (but bonus kudos if you do). In other words, you would run the 10M route, then (at the same time or another time in November) run the 5K route - or the other order, it doesn't matter - and combine your finish times for both. So, if the 10 miler takes you 2 hours, and the 5K takes you 40 minutes, your finish time would be 2:40:00 as an example. Sign up for both at the same price of doing either one, but you must finish both to get an official finish time. We hope this is the only year this is an option, and if we get enough interest we may even do something special for those of you crazy enough to tackle the double!!
Bandernatch 5K
The Bandersnatch 5K is an excellent first trail race for a runner new to trails, and still challenging for a more experienced person. This is NOT an easy 5K race; is it not flat nor is it fast. There are some substantial climbs (800+ feet in total gain), and much of the single track consists of multiple switchbacks. You will see some beautiful views above Lithia Park, but you will definitely have earned them. It is a loop course, the first half of which is essentially all uphill, with the second half coming back down. There really are no flat sections in this race...a true Ashland course if we do say so ourselves. The course is approximately 1.7 miles of plush, recently constructed single track, 1.2 miles of fire road and 0.7 miles of paved road (the paved portion is all uphill, so no worries about having to bomb down asphalt). The race is not an easy one, but it will be a fun one - and we hope to embody the spirt of trail running seen at so many other Ashland events. All runners must complete the course in one hour and thirty minutes - averaging just under 30 minute miles - which may be challenging in the beginning but you will make up time coming down the back half of the course. All registrations before October 15th will receive a shirt (select your size during registration, included in the price). The course starts near the parking area of the reservoir in Lithia Park, and heads up Glenview Drive, eventually turning onto Ashland Loop Road. From there you will climb fire road and asphalt, making your way toward the White Rabbit Trail head. From there you will hit the Bandersnatch trail about a mile and change into your run, which will zig zag you up toward the ridge, and then you will bomb back down the "other side" of Bandersnatch, eventually connecting back with Glenview Drive and back to where you started from. Parking near the start is limited, so we strongly encourage people to carpool and/or park in Lithia Park and get a warm up mile or two in to the start.
Lewis Loop 10 Miler
This is our third year of this event, and quickly became become a local's favorite. It is a very challenging 10 mile run, but one that you will absolutely feel accomplished after finishing - and hopefully take in some of the views along the way. All registrations before November 15th will receive a shirt (included in registration price). You will hit many of the newer trails recently put in by the beneficiaries of this race, AWTA. You will run up Lower Red Queen, down Jub Jub, up Loop Road, down Caterpillar, around both Lewis Loops (and even a quick out and back on the lookout trail), down Red Queen, climbing Gryphon and finish it off by running down Bandersnatch. The 10M race will start a half hour before the 5K, so make sure you get there early. Like the Bandersnatch 5K, we do not allow bib transfers, roll overs or refunds. The course will be well marked, and there will be 2 aid stations you will cross through a total of 3 times.
Event's current local time: 6:54 PM PT