LAKE WARAMAUG— The 50th anniversary of the USATF-sanctioned Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug Ultra Race will be held April 28. It is the oldest 100K in the United States.
Check-in for the 100K and 50-mile races will be at the Lake Waramaug State Park from 5:45 to 6:20 a.m. The 50K check-in will be 5:45 to 7:20 a.m. Runners should not park at the Lake Waramaug State Park the night before the race, as the park is not yet open for the season.
The course consists of rolling loops but is primarily flat and on paved roads around scenic Lake Waramaug. There is a 2.2 mile out and back at the beginning of the race for all runners. The 50K runners will then do three 7.6-mile laps around the lake followed by a 1.9 mile out and back to the finish at the state park.
The 50-mile runners will complete six laps around the lake and finish at the park. The 100K runners will do seven laps around the lake followed by a 2.3 mile out and back to finish at the State Park.
The 50K has a 12-hour and the 50M and 100K have 13-hour-time limits. However, depending on the time runners start the last loop, organizers will consider all factors, the utmost being safety. Every attempt is made to have everyone finish, but the decision is at the sole discretion of race officials.
There will be four aid stations around the lake and post-race food and drinks for all runners.
The race is named for ultra-runner Jack Bristol, who ran for the Bethel high school in the mid-1960s and who passed away in 1991. His cross-country team won the state championship in 1967 and the track team won states in1965 and 1967, but Bristol was already training as a long-distance runner, doing 20-mile training runs with his friend, Dean Perry.
In 1974, the two arranged for the first Lake Waramaug Ultramarathon, the first time anyone finished a 100k race in the United States. Bristol came in second, finishing in 7:40:15. Bristol and Perry organized the race for the next 10 years.
To register for the race, click here.
