Pulse Recover From the Holidays Fat Ass 50K
No Fees, No Times, No Awards, absolutely No Whining
***This is Postponed*** Due to the amount of rainfall we have had this week the trails are not runnable, Ridge to Rivers has asked we stay off of even the sandier trails. Keep your eyes on this page and our FB event for Updates.
Date & Time:
Saturday, February 8, 2020 **postponed**
8AM at Ft. Boise parking lot by the Bike Park
About:
For the uninitiated, Recover From the Holidays 50k run is a post-holiday tradition. Similar events are held in a number of locations around the United States. The event is an informal event without entry fees, awards, official finishing times, aid stations, or wimps. Our purpose is to get together for a nice run rather than to have a formal race. The distance is not exact. Directions are not exact. Starting time is not exact. I’m pretty sure about the date. Read below for some history of the event.
Directions:
This year’s route features a change over some of the previous years. Instead of starting on Rocky Canyon Road at the end of the pavement, we'll gather at Ft. Boise by the new Bike Park and then make our way to Bogus Basin Road at the Corrals Parking lot, almost entirely on trails, and then turn around and go back. Bring your own map or print these directions; none will be provided.
Take a left from the parking lot onto Mountain Cove Rd. to Cottonwood TH. Make a right onto Toll Rd, after about ½ mile on Toll Rd, turn left on Trail 22- Central Ridge to Trail 26A-Shane’s Trail
Take a right on Trail 26A-Shanes Trail for a couple of miles or so, stay right at junction of Trail 26A and Trail 20A-Bucktail staying on Trail 26A-Shanes. Stay left at junction to go to the top of the hill rather than out to Rocky Canyon road. At the top of the hill stay LEFT onto Trail 26 Three Bears Trail to go DOWN the hill. At the bottom of this hill keep right on Trail 26-Three Bears to go out to the road.
Follow Trail 26-Three Bears down into a creek bottom, then up to a dirt road. Turn left on the dirt road and go to Trail 5-Freestone.
Take a right on Trail 5-Freestone, and start going up for a couple miles. Keep straight past Trail 42-Fat Tire Traverse. Shortly after this junction, Trail 5- Freestone, will connect with Trail 6-Femrite’s Patrol. Keep left onto Trail 6-Femrites Patrol, and go up the hill.
Continue up Trail 6-Femrites Patrol, until you get to Trail 4, take a left and go down. Stay on Trail 4 down, until junction with Trail 42-Fat Tire Traverse. Take a right to go up to top of Sidewinder, continue down Trail 4 to junction with Trail 28-Crestline. Turn right at junction staying on Trail 4, cross bridge and continue right on Trail 4 up to motorcycle parking. There is a bathroom here if you need it.
Cross 8th Street directly over onto Trail 31-Corrals. At junction of Trail 31-Corrals and Trail 30-Bobs, continue straight on Trail 31-Corrals. Approx a mile after this you will need to go through a gate, be sure to close the gate behind you. Continue on Trail 31-Corrals to junction with Trail 32-Scotts, turn left to go down the hill. Follow this trail, staying left at junction of Trail 33-Hard Guy.
When you get close to Bogus Basin Road, there is a fork in the trail. Take the right fork to hit the parking lot. (If you continue left, you will come out at Bogus Basin Road and have to turn right and run up the road to get to the parking lot). There is an outhouse in the parking lot if you need one.
Turn around and return the way you came.
Highest elevation is around 4000 feet. There might be snow on the ground, possibly knee deep in places. There might also be mud or ice on the ground. The only certainty is that there will be ground on the ground.
Click here for a map of the course;
See you there!
History of the January Fat Ass Runs
THE ORIGINAL FAT ASS
by Joe Oakes
In the summer of 1979 I needed to run a 50-miler to qualify for the 1980 Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (which at that time was actually about two miles short.) Unfortunately there were no 50-mile races available. Those of us who ran ultras in those days will remember that the offerings were few and far between. However, a guy named Jack Leydig put on an annual 50-mile run down the Northern Cali- fornia coast, a seven-person relay called the Christmas Relays. I entered as a team of seven under the names of Joe Oakes, Joseph Oakes, JA Oakes, et cetera, and was accepted. It was so much fun that John Lehrer and I decided to repeat it the following year. Because it was to be held over the Christmas holidays when there were very few runs available, we decided to call it the RECOVER FROM THE HOLIDAYS FAT ASS FIFTY. There would be no entry fee, no awards, no aid. We did ask that you bring an old T-shirt so the winner would have his pick of the scruffy lot, the rest selected as you finished at the Upper Crust Pizza in Santa Cruz, California. You just did it, a la Nike's slogan. It caught on. I got requests from folks all over the United States and from out of the country to make use of the name and the idea. I was Eng- land, all over the world. There is even a Fat Ass Club in Vancouver, British Columbia. So, my illegitimate babies have gone free. I am no longer involved, but it warms my heart to know that my progeny (sic) are roaming the earth. I am fulfilled.