Hi Toby,

The map won't help you much.  Once you get going you won't have any

idea where you are and there are so many small hills you won't know up

from down.

The best race info I found is from this report and GPS:

http://www.noones-saloone.com/RaceReports/Vermont-2007.html

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3436845

The route is extremely well marked and easy to follow and the event is

big enough that you'll see plenty of people and horses along the way.

The horses add plenty of bonus trail markers for you too - just watch

your step:-)

Aid station support is excellent.  After the first 15 miles that have

a couple un-manned water drops, they have full aid stations almost

every 3 miles.

The 4am start is brutal.  I barely slept at all the night before.

Unless you camp out right at the start, you probably will need to get

up and drive at least 20 minutes to the start.  There really aren't

any hotels right in the vicinity.

The humidity was the biggest challenge.  10 min before our start, we

had a thunderstorm so we headed out into dripping thick fog.  I almost

threw up 30 minutes in.  Early morning and at night, prepare to be wet

and it can be pretty cool.  Make sure you have waterproof drop bags if

you have clothes or shoes stashed along the way. Even without rain,

the humidity generates heavy dew and will soak everything you have.

One thing that really helped me was keeping my water bottle mixed with

ice and really keeping up with hydration.  I also carried a cloth to

wrap up a bundle of ice which I either tied around my neck or just

held and mopped my head, ears, and back of my neck as I went along.

I changed from a regular t-shirt to a tank top at about mile 20.  I

was a lot more comfortable with less fabric.  Other than 2 sock

changes, I didn't change any other clothing but probably would have

enjoyed fresh shorts and shirts along the way.  The one thing I wish I

had prepared for was more body glide at each stop.  With the humidity

combined with melting ice on my head, I was pretty drenched all day.

Wet shorts rubbing on your legs is pretty uncomfortable and there were

a few miles I really wish I had a solid coat of body glide to help

prevent chafing.  But I managed to finish with all my skin intact.

One thing that I did right that really helped was having multiple fuel

options ready to pick up at each drop bag.  It's hard to get down

calories in the humidity and more than a few times I got sick of what

I was using.  Fortunately I had backup plans and just switched to

something else that worked and kept going.  With aid stations so close

together, it was easy to dump a drink mix and start with something

else or fresh water without going too long without something.

The last couple miles of the course are pretty cruel.  They wind you

around in the woods near the finish and you'll think you're there

about 4 times before you eventually just pop out of the woods into the

field under the finish banner.

And I'm not sure what kind of hills you train on but Vermont is a lot

different than Colorado.  Here we have big climbs and its easy to plan

your pace and you know when you are the top.  In Vermont, most hills

are only a few hundred feet and there are a lot of them. My quads were

completely trashed by mile 70.  So for training, I'd recommend a lot

of hill repeats and probably some strength work.  You'll need to be

careful to pace yourself on the VT course since it's easy to run a lot

of hills that you should walk.