About Eddy Trail Races
Eddy Trail Races are a weekend of races based at Chi Rho Center on the south side of Lake Sylvia, on the outskirts of Annandale, MN. The 50k and a half marathon will run through the Stanley Eddy Park Reserve, a wonderful series of trails in our nook of the state.
Have you ever gone to a race and been rushed before or after because of lodging or other logistics? Have you ever met people on the course and then not seen them again? You have the opportunity to lodge at Chi-Rho, hang out with fellow runners for the weekend, and not worry about your meals, all while relaxing at an amazing lake in central Minnesota.
Lodging and Meals
Races can be stressful; from worrying about your meals, lodging, and travel to worrying about your preparation and so much more!
Eddy Trail Races attempts to address some of those concerns so you can focus on doing more of what you love instead of all the logistics. We offer onsite lodging on both Friday and Saturday nights in different settings, in addition to serving six buffet-style meals throughout the weekend.
There will be 3 lodging options available for you to stay onsite. We will have cabins of various sizes with multiple bunk beds in an open room, dorms with 2 bunk beds in a room, or pitch your own tent! If you want to lodge with specific individuals or want a group to be together, please let us know.
Also, there are showers onsite for use by all who are lodging to use.
Buffet-style meals will be offered at 5 pm Friday, 6 am, noon, and 5 pm Saturday, and 6 am and noon on Sunday.
Photography
On a personal note, I remember running my first ultra 2 years ago, running through the woods, and randomly seeing a photographer. I didn’t think anything of it at the moment, but the pictures they took of me are now a cherished memento for me. I hope to have photography at every race Running Tangents hosts and hopefully, you will be able to bring home pictures of your experience that you can enjoy!
Big Eddy
Start time: 7 am
Distance: 50k
Course: Stanley Eddy Park Reserve and the surrounding streets.
The main race goal of Eddy Trail Races is to run through Stanley Eddy Park Reserve and Big Eddy does loops through each of the parks, as well as running the roads that connect the parks and Chi Rho Center. There is 1 main aid station that you will run 6 times and 3 other aid stations that you will run by 2 times each. 12 aid stations over the course of 32 miles so you are never far away from support if it’s needed.
The course is closer to 51 or 52 kilometers than 50, but we won’t tell anyone if you don’t 😉
Cross the finish line and jump in the lake when you’re done!
Course Map: https://www.strava.com/routes/2983909678229495376
This isn’t exact and there is one glitch at the most northern part of the map, but it gives you a really good idea of where the course goes and elevation changes. Some of the straight lines aren’t so straight in person, so it is probably a half mile or so longer than shown.
The Eddy
Start time: 10 am
Distance: Half Marathon
Course: The South and East portions of Stanley Eddy Park Reserve and the roads to get to and from it from Chi Rho.
The Eddy is a wonderful mix of trails, gravel and a little bit of paved road.
8 miles of trails, 3 miles of gravel, and some pavement at the start and end of the race.
3 different aid stations, 1 that you pass by 3 times, so you will never be too far from water or help should you need it.
Stanley Eddy Park Reserve is beautiful and very scenic while being hilly and a challenging run.
Cross the finish line and jump in the lake when you’re done!
Course map: https://www.strava.com/routes/2983777041552705364
This is the route and comes to the same distance as when it is run.
Time Limits
We are committed to having accessible races that all runners should be able to finish. We want to share the Stanley Eddy Park Reserve with all interested parties. With that being said, to respect the time of our volunteers and staff along with concern for the safety of participants, we are going to have time limits on the courses.
Big Eddy (50k) will have a time limit of 10 hours, as well as TBD time limits at a few markers through the course, which is slightly faster than 3 miles per hour.
The Eddy (half) will have a time limit of 4 hours.
We believe that anyone who is running should be able to finish all of these races.
Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns! Thanks!
Volunteers!
Do you have a friend or family member who would be interested in volunteering to help make our event amazing? Heck, you could run one day and volunteer the other!
We will need medical professionals, course markers, aid station staff, traffic monitors, and other miscellaneous positions.