⏵ Course guide · Central Illinois hidden gem
The Farmdale Endurance Trail Runs cover 800 acres of Farmdale Reservoir between East Peoria, Washington, and Morton, Illinois, with a full slate from 10K to 100 Mile on winding single-track, service road, and open prairie. I will walk you through the course and time limits first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for a long day or night on central Illinois trail, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the race organizer's own registration page. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and aid stations before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
Farmdale Reservoir is maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers and volunteer organizations, and the course makes full use of the property: miles of meandering single-track trail, rolling service roads, and open prairie sections that give the race a remote feel despite sitting close to the Peoria metro area.
The 10K and Half Marathon start at 8 AM, the 30 Mile at 7 AM, and the 50 Mile and 100 Mile at 5 AM, all sharing the same trail network at different loop counts. This is now the 21st running of the Farmdale Endurance Trail Runs, a well-established event with an experienced volunteer crew.
If you start the 100 Mile and decide you can only complete 50 miles, stopping exactly at mile 50 earns you a 50-mile award. Stopping anywhere else, including miles 60, 70, 80, or 90, is scored as a DNF for the 100-mile entry, so know this rule before you plan any mid-race adjustment.
Pacers are allowed once you have completed your first loop, giving 50 and 100 mile runners real support for the later, harder stretches of the race. Crew access is limited to the Start/Finish aid station, so plan your drop bags and any crew meetups around that single point.
With a 32-hour cutoff for the 50 and 100 Mile and a 5 AM start, most 100-mile finishers will spend at least one night on course. Pace for a sustainable effort across loops rather than a fast early push.
Since Farmdale runs on a looped trail network, treat your early loops as data rather than a place to bank time. A realistic per-loop pace target, checked against the 32-hour cutoff, tells you early whether your effort is sustainable across the full distance.
If you are on the fence about the 100 Mile, decide before race day what conditions (time on your feet, how your legs feel, weather) would lead you to take the mile-50 drop-down option. Deciding in the moment, exhausted at mile 50, is much harder than deciding with a clear head beforehand.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
A 5 AM start and up to 32 hours on course for the longer distances mean planning across a full day and possibly a full night, with whatever October weather central Illinois brings.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Because the course is loop-based with aid access at the start/finish, use that frequency to keep your intake steady rather than gambling on carrying large reserves between stops.
Sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range covers most runners, adjusted for whatever conditions show up on race weekend. October in central Illinois can run mild or can turn cold and wet, so build flexibility into your plan rather than locking in a single number.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a long central Illinois day with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.
⏵ Train for it with Summit Line
Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness and this exact looped Farmdale terrain. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for a long day or night on trail, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
The 100 Mile gets a 32-hour cutoff to cover Farmdale's meandering single-track, service road, and open prairie terrain across the 800-acre reservoir property. No elevation gain figure is published, but this is central Illinois trail, not mountain terrain, so the main demands are the sheer distance, repeated exposure to whatever October weather shows up, and pacing discipline across a long day and night on trail.
The organizer's UltraSignup page does not publish an elevation gain figure for any of the five distances. Farmdale is described as a mix of winding single-track trail, rolling service roads, and open prairie rather than a mountain course, so expect rolling central Illinois terrain rather than sustained climbing.
With a 5 AM start for the 50 and 100 Mile and up to 32 hours on course, plan for a long day and likely at least one night for 100-mile finishers. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, adjusting for whatever October weather central Illinois brings. Pacers are allowed after your first loop, which gives longer-distance runners a real support option later in the race. Build your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
The 10K and Half Marathon carry a 9-hour time limit from their 8 AM start. The 50 Mile and 100 Mile share a 32-hour cutoff from their 5 AM start. If you are running the 100 Mile and can only complete 50 miles, you must stop exactly at mile 50 to receive a 50-mile award; dropping at any other point, including miles 60 through 90, is scored as a DNF for the 100-mile entry, with no cost difference refunded.
Farmdale Reservoir is an 800-acre property maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers and volunteer organizations, located between East Peoria, Washington, and Morton, Illinois. The course covers miles of meandering single-track trail, rolling service roads, and open prairie, giving a natural, remote feel for a race this close to the Peoria metro area.
The 30 Mile and 50 Mile distances are reasonable first-ultra options here: real trail variety without mountain-scale climbing, a well-established 21-year-old event with an experienced volunteer crew, and generous time limits relative to the terrain. The 100 Mile's built-in drop-down-to-50 option also gives first-time 100-mile starters a defined, honest exit if the day does not go as planned.
Link this guide
Race directors and clubs: link or embed this guide anywhere. It stays current.
<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/farmdale-trail-run">The Farmdale Trail Run course guide</a>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and aid stations come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.