Blood Rock 50
50 Mile Endurance Trail Race
The BLOOD ROCK 50
51.32 Mile Race
8,659 ft. of Elevation GAIN
22 Hour Cutoff
Race Start is 7:00 AM, Saturday, December 7th
Blood Rock 50 Mile is a Southeastern Trail Runs race. The race will take place at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama, 20 miles south of Birmingham. The race will start and end at Redbud Pavilion. The 50 Mile Race will start at 7:00 AM Saturday. Aid stations distances range from 3 to 8.5 miles apart. The Cutoff for the 50 Mile Race will be 20 Hours. The 50 course is one full lap of the course and includes all sections of the new Belcher Track. Due to the extremely difficult and remote nature of the backcountry sections of Blood Rock, we must enforce mandatory cutoffs.
Race Shirt Cutoff - November 17th
IF YOU WOULD LIKE A BLOOD ROCK RACE SHIRT YOU "MUST" REGISTER BY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH.
The shirt order absolutely must go in on the 18th. Please register early to insure getting one of these really cool shirts. Additional Long Sleeve Tech shirts and Hoodies with be available until November 1st.
THERE WILL BE NO LATE REGISTRATION
THERE WILL BE NO LATE REGISTRATION FRIDAY OR SATURDAY BEFORE THE RACES.
Detailed Information on All Crew Accessible Aid Stations
This link will provide Aid Station Charts for all distances and information on which aid stations are crew accessible and which allow drop-bags. It also has detailed directions to each aid station, Google Maps link to each aid station and GPS Coordinates for each. The Summit Lake and Train Station aid stations can only be reached by leaving the park. Overnight crew members can only go to either aid station through the front gate near I-65 over night. The north gate closes at 5:00 PM and does not reopen until 7:00 AM. (You must also return to the park through the south gate.) To get into the park overnight, you must have reserved lodging in the park or have the Blood Rock Crew Car Pass. Without one or both, you cannot get back into the park at night.
Lodging and Camping for Blood Rock
Lodging and camping in the park
There are 10 cabins 600 yards from the start of the Blood Rock 100 and 50 Mile, 55K & 25K race. The Oak Mtn State Park Campground has been totally updated and only reopened on Memorial Day, 2024. The campground is just 2 miles from the start.
Updated 12/3/2024
Hotels near the Start
There are 9 major hotels just 2.5 miles outside the south gate of Oak Mountain State Park. They are located at Hwy 119 (Cahaba Valley Rd) at Interstate 20 in Pelham.
2024 Blood Rock 50 Mile Pace Chart
Blood Rock 50 Mile Aid Station Details
THE BLOOD ROCK 50 MILE LOOP GPX FILE
Almost every year at Blood Rock, people mess with flags and signs. In 2022, two days before the race, all the signs at a major intersection were thrown out into the woods. The next day, over a mile of flags and signs were pulled and thrown in the woods. Oh, and one rather critical signs was reversed potentially sending runners miles in the wrong direction. I had several game cameras on the course, one actually on the Green Trail where all the flags were pulled. Of course, that’s the one that didn’t work. I have more cameras this year but don’t take chances. Download the Gaia App to your phone. Then load the GPX file to the Gaia App. Although GPS navigation in the woods isn’t prefect, it’s good enough to keep you on, or very close to the correct trail. Download the app in advance and practice with it. Make a GPX file of one of your standard training runs. Send the file to your phone in an email. Open the GPX file in the email and load it to the Gaia App. Run with it. See how it shows your location in relation to the downloaded course. You do not need any cell reception to use the app.
The GAIA website had thorough directions on how to load your GPX file to the app.
YOU WILL NOT GET LOST AT BLOOD ROCK with the Gaia App.
PLEASE NOTE: SUNSET ON DECEMBER 7TH IS 4:39 PM
In the entire history of the Blood Rock 50 Mile, we have only had two people finish in under 9 hours. Very few have finished under 10 hours. Even though the course is a little easier than past years, most of those running the 50 Mile will finish well after dark. Plan ahead and place your preferred trail running light in a dropbag long before you think you will need it. Just in case, it’s a good idea to start the race with a small flashlight.
