Your plan in four answers
Hocking Hills Trail Run has not announced its next date, so we have estimated September. Change the date below once you know it.
- Distances
- 50K, 20 miles, 10 miles, 5K
- Terrain
- Hilly
Course
The Hocking Hills Trail Run course
Every distance starts in the lot behind the Visitor Center at Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills State Park and crosses an A-frame bridge over the gorge. The heart of the race is a 10-mile clockwise loop through Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls, Ash Cave and the Fire Tower, using trails in both the state park and Hocking State Forest.
Read the full course notes
About 95% of each distance is on trail, and each loop climbs roughly 1,300 feet. The measured distances are 31.10 miles for the 50K, 20.70 for the 20 Mile, 10.35 for the 10 Mile, 5.01 for the 5 Mile and 3.10 for the 5K.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- 50K, 20 miles, 10 miles, 5K
- Weather on race day
- Mid-September in Logan averages highs near 78 °F and lows near 57 °F, so the early starts are usually pleasantly cool. There is about a one-in-four chance of rain on a given day, which can make the trails slick, so train in shoes with good grip. Some days are still muggy in early September, so carry fluids and plan to drink more on the climbs.
What to train for
With about 1,300 feet of climbing every 10 miles, hill work is the priority: add weekly sessions of steady climbs and practice hiking the steepest pitches efficiently.
Run as many of your long runs as you can on trail, since about 95% of the course is trail.
Strengthen your quads for the descents, and practice fueling on the move for the longer distances. If you are running the 50K, note that the course closes at 3:00 PM after the 7:00 AM start, so pace the first loop conservatively.
Sample week
A sample Hocking Hills Trail Run training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Hill repeats: 8 × 90 s up a steady grade, jog back down
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 5–6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 7 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 10–12 mi on hilly ground, steady effort on the climbs
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Taper
Tapering for the Hocking Hills Trail Run
Start the taper ten to fourteen days before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar.
Also in Claude
Ask Claude for this plan
Add AthleteSpace to Claude once, then paste this prompt and put in your own numbers.
Build me a training plan for the Hocking Hills Trail Run (10 miles) in September. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Hocking Hills Trail Run training questions
How long should I train for the Hocking Hills Trail Run?
Most runners give a 10-mile twelve to fourteen weeks of focused training on top of an existing base. The plan above counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Hocking Hills Trail Run course hilly?
Hilly. Every distance starts in the lot behind the Visitor Center at Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills State Park and crosses an A-frame bridge over the gorge.
What is the weather usually like at the Hocking Hills Trail Run?
Mid-September in Logan averages highs near 78 °F and lows near 57 °F, so the early starts are usually pleasantly cool. There is about a one-in-four chance of rain on a given day, which can make the trails slick, so train in shoes with good grip. Some days are still muggy in early September, so carry fluids and plan to drink more on the climbs.
When should I start tapering for the Hocking Hills Trail Run?
Start the taper ten to fourteen days before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar.
Do I need an account to get a Hocking Hills Trail Run training plan?
No. The plan above builds in your browser with no account, no email, and no card. Make a free account only if you want to keep it, log your runs against it, and have the coach keep adapting it as your training goes.