Lenore,
I have also caught the ultra bug.

Best of luck.
Don't have much advise for you other than enjoy, and keep us posted. I will have to let the more experienced folk help you out!
David.

I also did it in 2004. It was my first marathon.

That hill in the middle was rough, but as stated, the rest was quite nice.

I had a blast. It was well supported.

If you are into trails, you will enjoy it.

If I lived in the area (or even the country!), I would run it again.

Hi,

I did it last year. There was record-setting rain and flooding for two or three days right up til the night before, so the RD had to do some heroic rerouting. That meant that about four miles were on highway and around the "big hill," so my experience was a bit different. As crunningman said, lots of short hills, downed trees, water, and last year, mud and more mud. Also, the logistics of getting everyone to the start mean that the race--from what I've heard and this was certainly the case last year--always starts later than scheduled.

With all that said, and in spite of a painful last five miles (my fault), I highly recommend--a great race. Hopefully the clear-cutting going on around here now (I live in the area) won't affect the scenery--it's quite beautiful.

If you live in the area, you might also check out the Knobstone Trail Mini the last weekend of October. It's a good taste of what's in store. It starts at about the same place, but is a loop. (There is also the 50/50/13.2 in Owen-Putnam State Forest the next weekend, but the RD has been hospitalized and it's unclear if it will take place.)

After writing this I'm beginning to want to do it again! Good luck.

Hi Lenore.

I am new around here too, but I have run the Tecumseh Trail marathon every time it has been run and will be back this year.

It is hilly, but for the most part runable. (except for the Indian Hill Road at the 13 mile mark) The footing is pretty smooth, without many roots or rocks. Unless it is really cold, then there is often a good bit of mud. There are also multiple stream crossings and lots of logs to go over. (one year I counted 75 logs and 32 stream crossings) Also lots of turns, twists and switchbacks.

My road PR is 3:10 and I think that the fastest I have run the TTM is around 3:50.

Hope to see you there.