The 500 is NOT a staged race, which means, we run it straight through with no specific checkpoints that we are required to stop at...which means this is freakin' HARD.
We have to pace ourselves and plan on our own when we stop to sleep for a couple of hours or eat. Being an ultra though, we will def help each other out mentally. So far, the four from this year are returning, me and 2 new folks.
I will attempt to do this 7-8 days, running 100k or more a day. The official cut off is 10 days, running 50 miles a day. And this is in the mountains. And the course is designed to break you. Many areas are not even trail, just bush-whacking. There is a river crossing, technical terrain, steep inclines, switchbacks, etc...basically, this ain't gonna be a turkey-trot!