The Endless Mile

The 2024 Endless Mile Race

The 72 Hour race will start Thursday, October 24th at 9:00 AM. The 48 Hour will start Friday, The 6, 12 & 24 hour races will start Saturday at 9:00 AM. All runners receive finisher medals. You may choose to start your 6, 12 or 24 hour race Friday if you prefer. Let us know in advance.

The RAce

Have you ever wondered just how far you could run in 6 hours, 12 hours or 24 hours or maybe even 48 or 72 hours on a smooth, level surface? Well, here is your chance. The Endless Mile will be held at Veteran's Park in Alabaster, Alabama in Mid-October. The park is 26 miles south of downtown Birmingham, and 16 miles south of I-459. The address of the park is 7305 Highway 119, Alabaster, AL 35007. The course is USATF Certified and Sanctioned. It is a fraction over a mile in length, 1.00203 miles to be exact. Runners will circle the paved and lighted path as many times as they can in the allotted time. The event will be electronically chip timed, instantly recording and displaying the exact distance covered. Run the race solo or start a relay team. (There is no official Relay, but you are welcome to run the race with a few friends. Details below. ) Either way, Endless Mile will be an experience you will never forget. Solo runners that reach 100 miles will receive a 100 mile buckle.

Relay?

If you would like to run any of the distances as a relay, just register for that distance. Let us know in advance that “you are a relay.” We will set it up and you can exchange HuTags on any schedule you like with as many relay members as you want. One shirt will be provided with registration. If your team would like more shirts, order them through Ultrasignup. Click on the “Store” icon.

Things you should know

1. We provide "Real Food" to runners for 72 straight hours at EM. We will be preparing and serving meals at the appropriate times. Breakfast from about 6 to 8 AM, lunch from about 11 AM to 1PM, dinner from 5 to 7 PM. Of course we will be providing our usual selections and made to order food through the day and night. If you prefer GUs and other Gels to real food, you need to bring your own. We do not provide gels at Endless Mile.

2. Endless Mile is a “Cupless” race. Please bring a cup, or several, to the race to use for cold drinks, cokes, etc. Write your name or initials on a cup and leave it at the drink table or bring it to the aid station when you need cold drinks. We will have plenty of HOT cups for coffee, soup and other hot liquids.

3. The entire courses is lighted. However the lights are further apart than I am comfortable with. Most runners us a headlamp overnight.

4. We provide Tailwind for the duration of the race. This is a great hydration and fueling drink. If you have never used Tailwind, give it a try.

Race Shirt Cutoff - October 7th

To be assured of receiving a race shirt, YOU MUST REGISTER NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7TH.
The shirt order must be turned in on October 8th. Please do not wait until the last minute to register.

The Course in a one Mile Loop

The course is USATF Certified at exactly a 1.00203 mile loop course that circles through Veteran’s Park in Alabaster, Alabama. The hiking paths are asphalt, very flat and smooth and winds along through wooded areas and past several lakes. Total elevation gain for each loop is about 12 to 15 ft. The 90 acre park also contains picnic areas, picnic shelters, two playgrounds, real restrooms with running water, soccer fields and a youth baseball complex. Some trails are shaded and will provide very pleasant running.

WE WILL REVERSE DIRECTIONS EVER 6 HOURS

Runners will reverse directions every 6 hours. At the end of each 6 hour segment we will place a cone on the course at the timing mat. Runners will circle the cone and head back the way they came. This makes things more interesting and creates a pleasant change of scenery. This also means you will not be able to stop at the aid station on the laps changing from clockwise to counterclockwise. You will need to plan ahead!

Endless Mile Aid station

We provide a well stocked aid stations along the front straight. The aid station is open 24 hours a day during the race. We provide breakfast, lunch and dinner each day of the race. We also provide made-to-order food throughout each day. We can make such items as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, nachos and quesadillas of various kinds, grilled potatoes with all kings of “stuff” added, etc. Tell us what you would like and we will try to comply! We might have a hard time coming up with fried shrimp, for instance. We serve hot food and soup all night, each night. Breakfast starts in the “wee” hours. Of course, there is also all the standard aid station foods like, chips, cookies, candy, fruit, etc. Pizza might even appear a few times in the evenings. Because we provide REAL food, we do not offer gels. If you prefer to eat those, you will need to bring your own. Of course we offer Tailwind. water, cokes, ginger ale, sprite, coffee, tea, pickle juice, etc. Popsicles will even appear from time to time if it’s hot.

Parking at the Race

The Alabaster Parks and Recreation Department is very picky about how cars are parked at the race. All vehicles must be parked in a single parking space. Do not block more than one space. Starting Thursday morning, the spaces near the fence along the course will be full. Those spaces along the fence should be reserved for runners using their car or truck as an aid station. If you are setting up a personal aid station along the course, inside the fence, please park out in the parking lot. There is ABSOLUTELY NOT CAMPING at Veteran’s Park Wednesday night.

1) All cars parked along the fence must be parked in the lined spaces. (All vehicles must be parked in lined parking spaces.)

2) Do not take up more than one space.

3) No campers or motor homes may be parked by the fence.

4) Runners may set up a small personal aid station in front of, or behind their, vehicle. It must not extend out to where it interferes with traffic.

Campers, RVs and Motorhome

1) Motorhomes, RVs and campers must be parked in one single parking space.

2) If the Camper, Motorhome or RV is longer than one parking space, it may be parked using a second space directly in front.

3) The camper, motorhome or RV must not interfere with any adjacent parking spaces.

4) Awnings or expanded sides may not extend into adjacent parking spaces.

5) If you need more space than the width of a single parking space, you must park on the ends of a row with the extension or awning angled away from all adjacent parking spaces.

6) Awnings and Extensions must not interfere with traffic.

Saturday evening the park is overflowing with multiple baseball games going on at the same time. If you leave the park Saturday afternoon, you may not be able to find a parking place near the start/finish area.