8 - COURSE  DESCRIPTION

This chapter gives a brief description of the topography of each leg, including the mileage and ranked in difficulty from 1 (most difficult) to 20 (least difficult).

Stage 1        3.5 Miles Difficulty 20 **** New distance 2002

This leg is mostly flat.  It has some mild, low rolling hills. Shortest leg in the race.  No Follow Vehicle.

Stage 2        4.7 Miles Difficulty 19

Declines slightly for the first 2.5 miles, and then begins an easy, gradual incline until the four mile point.  The last .5 miles are a steady downhill.

Stage 3        8.0  Miles Difficulty 1

The first mile is downhill.  The next 3.0 miles is flat. Then begins the strenuous climb four miles toward Ibex pass.  The final mile of this climb is the steepest.  This is the most difficult stage in the race. 

Stage 4        5.1 Miles Difficulty 5

This leg continues the climb to Ibex pass.  There are 3.4 miles of steep uphill before reaching the top at 2,090 feet.  The last 1.7 miles are all downhill. 

Stage 5        6.0 Miles Difficulty 18

The entire leg is downhill although the last couple of miles begin to flatten out.  The runner awaiting the handoff must be alert.  Visibility of the approaching runner is limited by curves.  The Tacopa Hot Springs road enters from the right at 4.8 miles.  Stay on Highway 127.

Stage 6        6.1 Miles Difficulty 11

This leg begins with a brief downhill section and is followed by a fairly flat couple of miles.  The last 3 miles are rolling hills ending just before the town of Shoshone.  At 1.7 miles, a road enters from the right stay on Highway 127.

Stage 7        6.2 Miles Difficulty 4

Fairly flat until about 1.3 miles, where the uphill begins.  The gradual incline soon becomes a very arduous hill, topping out at about the 5 mile mark.  The leg finishes with 1.2 miles of downhill.  The stage begins about .7 miles south of the intersection of Highway 127, and State Route 178 at Shoshone.  Turn right onto State Route 178.

Stage 8        7.3 Miles Difficulty 2

This leg begins at Chicago Valley Road with one mile of a slight downhill. Then a continuous slight climb  that begins to get steeper at about the 3 mile point.  It climbs steadily and becomes even more difficult the last 1.5 miles.  The stage ends just a few hundred feet over the crest of the hill.

Stage 9        6.8 Miles Difficulty 10

This stage starts, almost immediately, with a short downhill then goes uphill for about 1.5 miles.  The remainder of the stage is along a gradual descent.  The stage finishes with a very short uphill to the handoff .3 mile past Cal/Nev Stateline.

Stage 10       5.8 Miles Difficulty 17

This stage is flat.  It takes the runner into the friendly community of Pahrump Nevada

Stage 11       5.3 Miles Difficulty 16

This stage consists of a slight but continuous incline.  At 1.5 miles after the handoff the runner will make a right turn onto Nevada Highway 160.  Caution:  The next 40 miles of the course is characterized by very fast traffic!

Stage 12       4.7 Miles Difficulty 14

There is a nice downhill for the first .7 miles, with the remaining 4 miles being a steady incline. 

Stage 13       7.0 Miles Difficulty 7

This stage begins with a long steady incline of 4.2 miles.  The stage then levels off with a gentle decline for the last 2 miles.

                             Parking for support vehicles is on the Tacopa Road, south of Highway 160.

Stage 14       5.4 Miles Difficulty 8

This stage begins with 1 mile of downhill and then the runner begins a steady climb toward Mountain Springs Summit.  This runner will tackle the first 4 miles of the climb from approximately 3000’ to 3800’.

Stage 15       5.7 Miles Difficulty 6

The entire length of this stage is uphill.  At about the halfway point, the climb becomes most severe, eventually finishing at the Sandy Valley Road.  This stage climbs from approx. 3800' to 4600' not unusual to see snow!

Parking is very limited. Only one vehicle per team ,PLEASE!

Stage 16       5.0 Miles Difficulty 3

This stage, without question, provides one of the most difficult challenges of the race with 5 miles of tough, continuous uphill running.  At 4.5 miles into the run, it gets steeper. Starts at 4600' to just short of the summit 5400'.

Stage 17       6.7 Miles Difficulty 15

For .6 miles, the runner climbs to the summit at 5495 feet and then a continual descent to 1900 feet. Very fast very steep downhill!

Stage 18       6.7 Miles Difficulty 13

The entire leg is one long continuous descent.  Adequate parking off Highway 160.

Stage 19       6.9 Miles Difficulty 12

This stage continues downhill, at about 4 miles becomes only a slight downhill turns North on Rainbow and last 3 miles is a flat run.  Map will be provided, as runner will finish in a residential area.

Stage 20       7.1 Miles Difficulty 9

This stage is mostly flat with some downhill portions.  There are numerous turns for the runner and follow vehicle.  Finish runner is always a tough, pressure spot.  Map to be provided.