The Bradbury Bruiser 12 Mile Trail Race is on October 28th this year. The race begins at 8:00 am. The race is being sponsored by L.L. Bean’s, and may be an introduction of more to come next year if things go well. The course is pretty flat, despite being held in Bradbury Mountain State Park, but do not expect a fast time. The vast majority of the race is on single track, and there are plenty of twists and turns to slow a runner down.
If you have never run on trails before, then this race is probably not for you. If you still want to run, then I recommend that you read Trail Running 101 and that you start near the back. If you are an experienced trail runner, then this race will provide a great challenge and should be a lot of fun.
Course Preview
If you would like to see the race course ahead of time, there are group runs on Saturdays at 6:00 am and 8:00 am. Lately, there has not really been much light available at 6:00 am, so if you are there early be sure to bring a head lamp. Parking is available off of Route 9 Hallowell Rd in Pownal, Maine. It costs $3 to park, and if there is no gate guard when you arrive you can leave your money in a donation box by the gatehouse.
This Saturday, October 20th, at 9:30 am, there will be trail clean up and course marking. If you have a little time to spare, groups will head out to mark 3-4 mile stretches of the trail. This will be a great way to learn the trail if you are not yet familiar with it. The last course preview run before the race will be at 7:00 am, which will then be followed by the clean up crews and course marking. Update: The course preview and trail marking has been moved to Sunday, October 21st, at the same times.
Course Description
You can download the Bradbury Bruiser course map by clicking on the image to the right.
The race begins on the Eastern side of the trails, heading up the Link Trail for the first half mile. The trail quickly narrows into single track after turning left onto the Lanzo trail.
The Lanzo trail is fairly straight until you cut off for a quick loop that has you twisting and turning left and right in quick succession. Once back on the Lanzo trail, there is a short run up to Old Tuttle Road and the first aid station.
Turning left onto Old Tuttle Rd, the trail immediately veers to the right onto the Ragan trail which you can follow to the Ginn trail. In this section of the race, you will stay near the edges of the park and will know that you have left the course if you wind up on private property. The borders of the park are well marked. The Ginn trail also has the little elevation change that you will find on the course. The course gradually climbs a small hill, and then goes down the far side as you begin heading south again. There is a second aid station as you cross Old Tuttle Road again.
The Ginn trail leads to the Fox East trail. At marker 64, you take a sharp right and are presented with a very gradual climb that will be the perfect place for catching and passing people. The trail here up through the Monument cross trails is fairly flat, fairly wide, and does not have as many rocks or roots as most of the rest of the course.
The course goes back north of Old Tuttle Rd onto the Ginn trail again, but quickly turns counterclockwise to cross back over to the Fox West trail. The third aid station will be located on Old Tuttle Rd the last time that you cross over. The trail is mostly straight and uncomplicated until you get to the final aid station at the Southern end of the park. You turn and take the trail back to the north into the Knight Woods, where you will turn off for a 2 and a half mile stretch on the “O” trail.
The “O” trail is a lot of fun. You will be frequently turning back and forth as you attempt to follow the trail, and you will feel like Jackie Chan as you hop from rock to rock to find your way through. Once you manage to get through the “O” trail, though, you will be very close to the finish line and will have a relatively easy sprint to back to the Link Trail.
Despite the number of times that you turn on the course, the race does not repeat itself at any point until you head back down the Link Trail in the last few hundred meters. You may look off to your side and see somebody running in the opposite direction as you a mere 50 or 100 feet through the trees, but they may very well be a mile or more ahead of you. On the “O” trail, there are over 2 dozen places where somebody might be running in a different direction than you as they progress along the trail.
The race will be very fun and I challenge anybody to get bored on their run. The constantly changing terrain and technical footing will keep you occupied for most of if not more than 2 hours.
Park Rules and Amenities
Bradbury Mountain State Park is open to the public year round. There is camping available near the park entrance on the Mountain side, and costs $10 per night for Maine residents and $13 per night for others. Reservations are not necessary. Park access is $3 per adult. There will be rest rooms available at the parking lot, as well as a hose for washing off mud after the race.
Alcohol consumption is not permitted at the park and fires may only be built in the provided grills. The park closes at sunset and areas outside of the trails are off limits. Pets must be leashed at all times and cleaned up after. Modifying the trails or picking plants is not allowed.
All proceeds from the race will be donated to the park for trail maintenance and improvements. Separate donations are encouraged. Post race chili will be provided to all runners by Bruce’s Burritos of Yarmouth.
Nice course description. I’ve run the course 3 times in recent weeks and I think people will find it pretty manageable. However, I disagree with you that it’s not a race for trail newbies. Other than the O trail section, the course is quite tame and perfect for someone to get a taste of trail running. Just remember to constantly scan the terrain ahead of you—-any zoning out like you would on a road run will result in some serious dirt eating. I would just recommend to beginning trail runners (and everyone else) that they exercise lots of care and caution when they get to the O trail—the last 2.4 miles of the course. Also, be patient and understand that you are not going to run anywhere near as fast as you would on the roads. Above all, have fun!
Tom Tero
The thing is, the O-Trail is part of the race, and runners will have covered nearly 10 miles by the time they get there. Regardless of how tame the rest of the course may be everyone has to get through the O-Trail. I agree that compared to races like the 7 Sisters or Escarpment, which have technical trails and 3,500 to 5,000 feet of elevation gain, the Bruiser is a walk in the park. But I have seen quite a few accomplished road runners eat dirt on this course. Compared to other Maine trail races this is going to be a challenging one, but that’s what trail running is all about. I’m looking forward to the “Best Bruise Contest” after the race.
Yes, the “O” trail will be tough for first timers—what better way to learn about trail running! Funny that you bring up 7 Sisters as that was my very first trail race back in ’90 or ’91. Awesome race but very tough.
Tom Tero
I had a discussion with Stephen on our run yesterday, and he is more of the mind that this course would be fine for people to run trails on.
My thinking, though, is that if you have never run trails but you race on roads, then you are going to be in for a surprise and if you are going to run then you should start near the back.
Fast runners on the roads are not going to be able to as easily navigate the constant switch backs and will not really be used to falling over, which is a distinct possibility on this course.
Only two people that I have run with at least twice on the course have managed to keep their feet, and that group includes both experienced trail runners and newbies from the roads.
I think that the course is a lot of fun, and I would love to run it and think that anybody should make the effort to get out there to run on the course at some point. I just think that going straight from the roads to attempting to race on the course is going to be problematic.
Not that it can’t be done, just that you need to be aware that things are going to be different and be willing to slow down and pay more attention to what you are doing.
The course itself already adds 2 minutes to a road pace.
Excellent points Blaine. It’s going to depend on the individual. When I ran that first trail race at 7 Sisters, I knew it was going to be far different from roads so I went out conservatively and at a moderate pace. When I got to the turnaround I felt very comfortable so I turned up the pace and ended up passing tons of people and getting 5th. I also passed some dudes who normally would be well ahead of me on the roads and they were absolutely hating life after going out fast thinking that because they were quick on the roads they’d be quick on the trails. They blew to pieces and were stumbling and falling all over the place.
I suspect on Sunday we’ll see some who do quite well and some who fall apart because they didn’t respect the course. Some people will become at least occasional trail runners and some will walk away cursing the day they ever thought about doing this race. And it will all be good and fun.
TT
new to trail races. do we carry all of our own water? thanks
Dave,
If you look at the map you will see that there are 4 water stops, which would provide me with more than enough water in a 12 mile race so I would not bother to carry my own water.
That being said, you are welcome to carry your own water with you if you want. When I ran the Pisgah 50k, I carried a water bottle with me that I refilled at the aid stations (there were 5 or 6 of them.) That race was almost 3 times longer than this one, though.
I love trail running but typically run fairly tame trails/dirt roads. I have never really worn trail shoes since I just found that they chewed up the inside of my ankles because of my foot placement. It makes me a bit more careful on wet terrain, but otherwise, I just wear plan ole running shoes. I am planning on doing the Bradbury Bruiser, but the single track, technical nature of the trail makes me wonder if just running shoes will cut it. Any thoughts?
Darn! After my fall (on my head and 4th finger?!?!)my finger was quite sore. It was bending a funny angle and now it is black and blue and swollen. It figures – just like my race time – a little too late! The course was confusing but that added to the fun. I added a little extra to the 12 miles (12.8 according to my garmin) but I’d rather be over than under. Great job with the race. I will be back next year! Thanks! Dawn
This was my first time running a trail run. I did enjoy it, my time doesn’t show it though. Somehow I managed to do an extra loop at the end. My fault. All said and done I was really tick off but I ran the race for fun and that is what I had. As a road runner, for next year I would love to see some mile markers perhaps every 3 miles or so.
Great Race, super fun course with plenty of support. I like the slightly mysterious navigation that presented itself at the end. A bell lap at the end so we knew there was a mile left. Where are the results. Are they posted yet?
I’m glad that the race went well. I wish that I could have been there!
The results are online here: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/me/Oct28_LLBean_2_set1.shtml
For some reason they aren’t linked to from the main page of Maine results, though.
You can now read about the Race Results here at Run to Win, or you can skip directly to Stephen Wells’ site to read about it.