Description:

Welcome to the inaugural Loud Thunder 50 presented by the Quad Cities Trail & Ultra Runners & Sun Trail Running!
Please join us Saturday, April 17th 2021 for a 50mi and 50k trail race on the rugged, beautiful and challenging trails at Loud Thunder Forest Preserve along the mighty Mississipppi River.

Our hope is to showcase this amazing park all while providing a low key trail race experience for those looking for a challenging but rewarding late spring ultra. Our commitment is to provide the highest value event possible by keeping the cost low and the focus on the runner, the trails and this great outdoor community. Your registration fee covers all the race basics as well as custom swag, fully stocked aid stations, custom finisher awards, post-race food and drink and a guaranteed donation back to the park to help ensure future maintenance and conservation efforts. Anyone that has ran any of our races know that we take value seriously and the runner experience is our top priority.

Camping is available right at the start/finish (Horse Corral Campground) and throughout the park at a number of campgrounds. One of those campgrounds is located along the course right near the primary on-course aid station (Riverview). Reservations can be made beginning March 1st through the park at: Loud Thunder Forest Preserve Camping.
There is a 2 night minimum for online reservations. Unreserved campsites are available on a first come first serve basis with only a 1 night minimum. If you decide to camp during the race, please review and abide by all park rules and policies.

WHEN & WHERE
The 50mi starts at 6am and the 50k starts at 8am with an 8pm final cutoff for both races. 14hrs (50mi) and 12hrs (50k).
The start/finish is located at the Horse Corral Campground. Turn south off of Loud Thunder road and continue south on the park road following signs for the Horse Corral Campground.
Park address in Google: 19408 Loud Thunder Rd, Illinois City, IL 61259
Coordinates will get you directly to the start/finish: 41.421726, -90.834335

COURSE
As you can expect with races of this nature, distances won’t be exact but will be pretty close to 50 miles and 50k. Trust us; you’ll get your money’s worth! The race course is 13.3 miles and is primarily a loop format with a few short stretches of 2-way traffic. These 2-way sections will be a great opportunity to encourage and commiserate with your fellow runners! 50mi runners will run the full route 3x before finishing with a shortened 4th loop. 50k runners will run the full route 2x and finish with a shortened north loop.

We will be utilizing the majority of trails at Loud Thunder and you can expect terrain comprised of approximately 95% trail with a mix of dirt single and double track that also includes some short connecting stretches on grass and crushed gravel. There is minimal pavement on the course. The 50mi course contains ~6700ft of gain and about 4000ft for the 50k.
There’s an incredible variety of topography with a number of bombable descents and lung burning climbs. You get beautiful views of the Mississippi and Lake George views from down low and up high. There are some smooth runnable sections but these will also alternate with some serious hill punches to the gut that’ll make you work hard for that finish! This is NOT an easy course and we recommend the 50 miler not be your first attempt at the distance unless you generally run in the front half of the race pack at other races.

AID STATIONS/CREW/PACERS
Two fully stocked aid stations. One is at the S/F that runners hit one additional time per loop and another on the course that runners will hit twice. The longest distance between aid stations is less than 5mi. Both aid stations allow drop bags as well as a crew access. Pacers are allowed for the 50mi ONLY for the last ~18mi.

UTMB QUALIFIER
The 2021 Loud Thunder 50mi (3 points) and 50k (2 points) are both UTMB qualifiers!