Rock Candy News

The Six Hour Challenge we’re bringing to LBA park is something new for Olympia.
Let’s break it down what it is and why we decided to change the format for the popular trail race in Olympia’s coolest city park.

Initially we offered 3 distances to allow the widest possible audience to get a taste of trail running. Trail is more than ultra and we really wanted to share the amazing experience of running trails with as many new people as possible.

Then in 2021 when we had the second LBA event we noticed lots of folks wanting to change how many loops they ran. Some folks ran a single loop and then went out and just enjoyed the woods casually on a second one. Some folks had signed up for 3, but felt out of shape and only ran one. Some were signed up for 5, but called it quits after 3 or 4. This created a bit of confusion at the finish line, and while we got it all sorted we felt this needed some improvement and a solution for this.

The other thing we considered is that over the years several runners approached us asking for timed event like this. By turning the LBA race into a timed event we would solve the finish line mixups, offer a new race style to the area, and give runners full flexibility on how they wanted to approach their LBA race. Thus the LBA Six Hour was born for 2022!

Here’s how this will work at race day

• We’ll have a clock counting down from 6hrs.
  Each loop is about 4.5miles (we’ll give you exact numbers, including vert very soon!)
• We’ll be tracking every loop you complete.
• You can be done after 1 or go the full 6 hours.
• Only completed loops will count, so be mindful of when you’re heading out on your last loop (will let you know!)
• We’ll have fun prizes for runners completing the most loops and raffle off prizes among all participants.
• Each finisher will receive a finisher reward, if you complete one loop or run the full six hours.

Here are a few ways on how you can approach this race:

• Six hours doesn’t mean you gotta stay on the course for six full hours. This race is meant as a personal challenge for you to run your own race.
• You could commit to a single loop and give it your all and go fast.
• Or come out and join us for awhile. Run one, walk one, be party of the trail running community and celebrate movement, the great LBA woods and spend time with your friends.
• Go for glory. It’s totally possible to run an ultra at LBA. A 50K divided by 4.5m loops is 7 loops. 7 loops in 6hrs is 51min per loop. Totally doable. Who is going to be the first person to run an ultra distance at our Little Backyard Adventure?

Got questions?
Let’s hear them.

See you at LBA Park in August!