Good Stuff to Know.
The Salt Flats 100 Mile Endurance Run is now going to be joined by a 50 Mile sister-race! The events are held the last weekend in April each year, and follows the same general guidelines that most other 100 mile/50 mile events follow. The weather at this time of year can be everything from sunny and low 80's to blowing snow and low 20's. You are fundamentally responsible for preparing yourself to run in any weather.
General Race Info:
The pre-race meeting is held Thursday evening before the race at the Wendover Community Center, 112 Moriah Avenue, Wendover, UT 84083. Packet pick up will be from 6:00PM to 7:00PM, and the pre-race meeting will start at 7:00PM. Packet pickup will also be available Friday morning from 5:30 AM to 6:30 AM. The 100 mile race will start promptly Friday at 7:00AM. The 50 mile race will start Saturday at 5:00 AM.
SAFETY:
Although infrequent, there is the possibility of encountering non-race-related vehicles on portions of this course. Please stay aware of this possibility as you run, particularly at night.
Night Time Lighting:
You are required to have front lighting (headlamp and/or flashlight) and a rear red light or reflector for the night portion of the run. Failure to have functional front light and rear reflector or light at night may result in disqualification.
AID STATIONS:
We will provide aid stations with water and traditional aid station fare (Electrolyte Drinks, S-Caps, Gel, melons, bananas, PB&J, Soups/Coffee/Hot Cocoa for the overnight stations, etc) but in the end, you are expected to be responsible for your physical well being. If you are visibly tweaking at an aid station, we reserve the right to hold you for medical evaluation or even pull you from the race. Please take care of yourself! There has been much discussion over the past few years on the level of medical evaluation that should be a part of a race like this. This event is NOT the Boston Marathon... it has no "medical director", no on-staff physicians. Thanks to the Elko Fire Department and several dedicated HAM Radio operators, we will have emergency medical support and off-road evacuation capability. If you have any doubt about your ability to maintain your own health, don't register. Also, please refer to the "Medical" page on this site for some general info on some ultra-running-related medical topics.
We will again have 14 aid stations, plus two unmanned water stations. I’ve included the GPS coordinates for the locations as well as instructions on how to get to each of the aid stations where crew access is allowed. Crew access is permitted for 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14. No crew access is permitted at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 13.
All aid stations will have Toilet facilities of some kind. 4, 6, and 13 will only have "Porta-Loos", which are basically 5-gallon buckets with a seat. The others will have standard event toilets from Honey Bucket.
Aid station bags will be available at all Aid Stations except 1. Please bring your drop bags to the pre-race meeting on Thursday night if possible. We'll also have bins for drop bags at the start, but please make sure they're placed in their appropriate Aid Station bins no later than 6:30 AM on Friday April 26th. The salt desert is a unique environment, and wind is generally a constant. As a result, if the winds are high, the aid stations may not have shade canopies as you’ll find in many of the other 100’s. Plan accordingly with your aid station bags and/or crew support.
Aid Station Specifics:
Aid #1 (Speedway) – 10 miles
NO CREW ACCESS
Location: 40.861767 N, 113.755656 W at the end of the Bonneville Speedway.
Aid 2 (Lone Post) - 16 miles
NO CREW ACCESS
Location: 40.906883 N, 113.662667 W at a large post embedded in the desert.
Aid 3 (Cobb Peak Road) - 22.6 miles
NO CREW ACCESS
Location: 40.918808 N, 113.749117 W.
Aid 4 (Cobb Peak Pass) - Mile 25.5
NO CREW ACCESS
Location: 40.953286 N, 113.759436 W.
Aid 5 [and 7] (Hastings Junction) - 31.6 miles/50.4 miles
Location: 41.010689 N, 113.781331 W, at a triangle formed by the confluence of Silver Island Loop Road and Crater Island Road.
From the Start, leave the start and head back West on the Bonneville Speedway access road to the first intersection. Turn right here onto Ranch Road, and continue west for approximately 3 miles to a right turn on West Silver Island Loop Road next to a large, concrete building. Head North for about 23 miles.
Aid 6 (Crater Sheep Camp) - 39.9 miles
NO CREW ACCESS
Location: 41.114073 N, 113.758445 W.
UNMANNED WATER STOP- at mile 46.9, a self-serve water jug will be placed on the trail.
Aid 8 (Ghost Dog) - 57.4 miles
Location: 40.962646 N, 113.886394 W.
From Aid 7, head West on Silver Island Loop Road. After about 2 miles, you’ll thread through a towering rock formation and turn south. Continue south another 5 miles to the Aid Station.
From the Start, leave the start and head back West on the Bonneville Speedway access road to the first intersection. Turn right here onto Ranch Road, and continue west for approximately 3 miles to a right turn on West Silver Island Loop Road next to a large, concrete building. Head North on West Silver Island Loop Road for approximately 16 miles. Again, there is no shade here, no cover, and it is subject to high winds.
Aid 9 (Silver Island Pass) - 61.7 miles
Location: 40.906658 N, 113.920748 W.
From Aid 8, continue South on West Silver Island Loop Road for about 3 miles. The aid station is at the junction of West Silver Island Loop Road and Silver Island Pass Road.
From the Start, leave the start and head back West on the Bonneville Speedway access road to the first intersection. Turn right here onto Ranch Road, and continue west for approximately 3 miles to a right turn on West Silver Island Loop Road next to a large, concrete building. Head North on West Silver Island Loop Road for approximately 14 miles to the junction with Silver Island Pass Road. Again, there is no shade here, no cover, and it is subject to high winds.
Aid 10 (Jeep Trail) – 67 miles
Location: 40.848524 N, 113.889766 W.
NO CREW TRAFFIC WILL BE ALLOWED ACROSS SILVER ISLAND PASS ROAD! The extremely fine dust about half-way up the road causes huge issues for runners and vehicles alike, so we are not allowing crew traffic across that road.
To Access Aid 10 from Aid 9, continue south on West Silver Island road for about 14 miles, passing Aid 11 and meeting the pavement near the concrete building. Turn left on the pavement and head East for about 2.6 miles where you can turn left on a dirt road (East Silver Island Loop Road). Turn left and head north for about 15 miles. Again, there is no shade here, no cover, and it is subject to high winds.
To access Aid 10 from the Start, leave the start and head back West on the Bonneville Speedway access road to the first intersection. Turn right here onto Ranch Road, to continue West for approximately .5 mile, where you can turn right on a dirt road (East Silver Island Loop Road). Turn right and head north for about 15 miles. Again, there is no shade here, no cover, and it is subject to high winds
Aid 11 (Rock Pile) - 74.3 miles
Location: 40.839085 N, 113.967889 W.
From Aid 9, continue South on West Silver Island Loop Road for about 5 miles.
From the Start, leave the start and head back West on the Bonneville Speedway access road to the first intersection. Turn right here onto Ranch Road, and continue west for approximately 3.1 miles to a right turn on West Silver Island Loop Road next to a large, concrete building. Head North on West Silver Island Loop Road for approximately 3.5 miles to a small dirt road on your right, and an open area with lots of head-sized rocks north of that small road. Again, there is no shade here, no cover, and it is subject to high winds.
Aid 12 (Nevada) - 80.6 miles
Location: 40.839840 N, 114.047398 W.
From Aid 11, head back South on West Silver Island Loop Road for 3.5 miles and turn right after the concrete building heading west for about 3 miles to the Aid Station.
From the Start, leave the start and head back West on the Bonneville Speedway access road to the first intersection. Turn right here onto Ranch Road, and continue west for approximately 6 miles. Again, there is no shade here, no cover, and it is subject to high winds.
UNMANNED WATER STOP- at mile 86, a self-serve water jug will be placed on the trail.
Aid 13 (Utah) - 89.7
NO CREW ACCESS
Location: 40.788653 N, 114.051996 W.
Aid 14 (Mirage) – 95 miles
Location: 40.748325 N, 113.972721 W.
From Aid 12, head back East on Ranch Road for about 6 miles to the junction with the Bonneville Speedway access road. Turn right towards the freeway and head South. Just before the Gas Station/Convenience Store/Restaurant, turn right on a paved road that angles South-West. The Aid Station is about 200 yards down this road.
From the Start, leave the start and head back West on the Bonneville Speedway access road to the first intersection. Turn left here and head South back towards the freeway. Just prior to the gas-station, turn right onto a paved road heading South-West. The aid station is 200 yards down this road. Again, there is no shade here, no cover, and it is subject to high winds. The upside? The convenience store is only 200 yards away!
SUPPORT CREWS:
We learned a lot last year about the traffic flow and as a result, this year there are some additional modifications. Crew access is limited to Aid Stations 5,/7 (mile 31.6 and mile 50.7), 8 (57.4 miles), 9 (61.7 miles), 10 (67 miles), 11 (74.3 miles), 12 (80.6 miles) and 14 (95 miles). Crews need to stay OFF of East Silver Island Road except when supporting Aid 10, and stay entirely off Silver Island Pass Road. For all other crew support, only West Silver Island Road and Ranch Road should be accessed by Crew vehicles. Please ensure your crew is cautioned to drive carefully. These roads are rough and have blind curves and hills, so caution is important to ensure the safety of all participants, crews and the public. We are closing several areas outside of Silver Island Road to crews to ensure both the safety of the runners, and to preserve the environment. Only Salt Flats 100 Aid Station teams and runners/pacers will be allowed on the course sections between the Start and Aid Station 5, between Aid 5 and 7 (the entire Crater-Island loop), and between Aid 10 and the West intersection with Silver Island Road. Aid 13 is also off limits for anyone but runners/pacers and Aid Station personnel. Any crew vehicles found trying to access these areas may result in the disqualification of that runner.
PACERS:
You are welcome to have pacers at any time after Aid Station 5. As standard in most 100s, your pacer is there to pace you/keep you company, not as a pack-mule. They're certainly welcome to grab your hydration bottle/pack shortly before aid stations and run ahead to get them filled and help you at the aid station, but please limit their "carrying duties" to that. Pacers may run or cycle next to you, but you may NOT have motorized vehicles of any kind pacing you.
COMMUNICATIONS:
We will have some Ham Radio support, and will attempt to have "live updates" to the web. There will be a race page on this website where friends and relatives will be able to see the updates as you pass the Aid Stations with Ham operators. As the race grows, we expect to have several Ham stations with reporting capability at each Aid Station, but for now it will be limited to just a few.