Red Eye 50km
This page is old. Go to the current Redeye event page.
START TIME: We will start at 8 AM. Real wussy. You can sleep in.
REDEYE 50K (2021 will be the 24th official running of the race)
For its first 8 years, Team Slug, primarily Dan Grayson, Bill Sublett, and James Moore, put on the much-loved Redeye 50km on New Year's Day. After a gap year in 2004, Team Slug passed the event on to Anstr Davidson and Gary Knipling, who led the race beginning in 2005. Eventually Anstr let Gary do all the work alone, and this continued through 2017. Gary then passed the reins of Redeye power on to Dave Woll, beginning with the run on New Year's Day in 2018. The race was technically canceled in 2019 due to a government shutdown and the loss of the formal permit that resulted. But thanks to Lydia Durand, a large group of runners gathered to hold a fun run on the same trails as the Red Eye, only without formal markings, tracking and results.
The essential nature of this "race" has remained the same over all these years. In the Team Slug days, the aid station was manned and there were creative, goofy finishers awards. Under Gary and now Dave, the course has changed on occasion; there are no awards; and the aid station at the start/finish is not officially manned, but there is often a volunteer or three who sets up shop to help the runners, keep tabs on the food and drink tables, and even to offer up some hot food and drink to ward off the often chilly conditions. The aid continues to be supplied by the runners -- remember that the tradition is to bring good, greasy food to share!
WHEN: 1 January 2021, Starting Time 8:00 a.m.
WHERE: Prince William Forest Park, Triangle, Virginia. Take the Triangle/Quantico exit (Exit 150-B) off I-95 (about 25 miles south of D.C.) and follow the signs to the park, which is just west of the freeway. Enter the park (right turn) and make the second left into the Pine Grove picnic area. After your left turn, stay left and go to the end of the parking lot. See Driving Map at right ("Exit 150" is from I-95)
You will need to pay the National Park Service entrance fee on the way out. We believe the fee is $7 for a car or $5 if you walk in unless you have a NPS pass. If you didn't pay on the way in, please stop at park headquarters to pay on the way out.
WHAT: 50 kilometers of primarily groomed forest trails. The course consists of three repeats of a 10-mile loop, with a short loop at the beginning of the first loop to make it 50km, more or less. We will not generally hang a lot of streamers, but will mark the important turns. The trails themselves are well-blazed.
Important Note: Any markings will be taken down by the third loop. So pay attention and learn the course on the first two loops!
WHY: Beats watching parades and semi-pro football on television. Your opportunity to start the year off with a 31 mile per day training base. The squirrels need company. Freezing cures hangovers (???).
Some Details: This is not a real race, no trophies, no T-Shirts, no race entry fees, just the opportunity to run forest trails with your friends. We will track the runners and post "results" of a sort.
Runners should be sure to check in before the race with RD Dave. Check in again after each loop, and, very important note, let Dave know when you have finished, should you bail prior to finishing the full 50k. It is a long day standing out in the cold for our beloved RD. Don't leave him wondering where you are as the afternoon starts to wane by just going home prior to a 50k finish without telling him first!
We will have the one unmanned aid station at the start/finish. We will provide water, sodas and some energy replacement drink. In keeping with the Team Slug tradition of this run, we ask that the runners contribute to the aid station, which usually then evolves into a small feast. Please don't bring too much food. Bring enough for you and a couple of inconsiderate jerks who bring nothing. Don't bring something for everyone. We generally have had to throw a lot of food away in previous years. Leftovers that are not opened will go home with final runners/volunteers, or be passed on to another event director for use in another race or club training run.
Mid-Loop Aid Station: There will be no mid-loop aid, but each loop will go through the Turkey Run area after roughly 7 miles, where there is a restroom facility. You can get water fro the sinks there, by accessing what should be an open and warm bathroom.
Important Points: Parking can get tight. Please review the entrants list and try to carpool if at all possible! If you can't find a legal parking place, look for someone who appears official to direct you. Don't park illegally, please! Parking illegally has led to ticketing in the past by park rangers. Seriously.
Bring a Water Bottle: We will not have drinking cups. Bring a water bottle to pour fluids in or just drink out of the container. This event was established before the invention of the Camelbak.
A Map: We will have an updated course map soon. (Note: We have said this for many years. There is still not a map. You will figure it out. What may help is this data on the Furbutt's Favorites page, which shows the 2nd and 3rd loops. The first loop goes down to the Telegraph Road parking lot and then picks up the Crossing Trail and the Birch Trail (red blazed) to the suspension bridge crossing of the Quantico Creek from there.
The maps on this page come from the Park Service Site
E-mail Dave Woll for more information. .
- 2020 Results
- 2019 Redeye Canceled - Gov't Shutdown
- 2018 Results
- 2017 Results
- 2016 Results
- 2015 Results
- 2014 Results
- 2013 Results
- 2012 Results
- 2011 Results
- 2010 Results
- 2009 Results
- 2008 Results
- 2007 Results
- 2006 Results
- 2005 Results
- 2004 - The Year of No Redeye
- 2003 Results
- 2002 (no results but some pictures if you scroll down)
- 2001 Results
- 2000 Results
- 1999 Results and pictures
- 1998 Report and Results
Your Former Hosts: Slugs Bill Sublett and Dan Grayson
