⏵ Course guide · Lake Martin, Alabama
Lake Martin 50/50 sends its 50 Mile and 50K fields around the private Russell Lands trail system on Lake Martin, Alabama: two laps of a 25.09-mile loop for the 50 Mile, with a 16-hour cutoff. I will walk you through the loop structure and aid stations first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for a warm Southeastern spring day. Free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.
Note on dates: the most recently confirmed edition on the official race site ran Saturday, April 4, 2026. As of this writing, the organizer has not yet posted a date for the next edition, only third-party race calendars have, so check southeasterntrailruns.com directly for the current registration window before you plan around a specific date.
These facts come from the official Southeastern Trail Runs course and general information pages for Lake Martin 50/50. Check the current year date, cutoffs, and registration window before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
The 50 Mile runs two laps of a 25.09-mile loop, and each lap itself splits into an 18.6-mile north loop and a 6.4-mile south loop, both starting and returning to the Cabin at Russell Crossroads before continuing.
Each loop passes through four aid station stops: the Heaven Hill Aid Station twice, and the Cabin (start/finish) twice. That gives 50 Mile runners eight total aid touches across the full race, roughly every 6 to 9 miles depending on which section of the loop you are on. Heaven Hill has its own access quirk worth knowing ahead of time: crew vehicles are not allowed past the iron gate, so crews park at the Adamson Road Trailhead and walk in.
The course runs on the private Russell Lands trail network bordering Lake Martin, a reservoir with more than 750 miles of shoreline. Expect rolling Southeastern forest singletrack rather than sustained mountain climbing; no total elevation gain figure is published on the official course pages, so treat this as a distance and heat challenge more than a vertical one until you confirm otherwise with the organizer.
Registration runs through UltraSignup only, with no race-day option, and the most recently confirmed registration window closed at the end of March for an early April race. Camping directly on Russell Lands is strictly forbidden and patrolled; if you need to camp rather than book a hotel in Alexander City, Wind Creek State Park sits about 7 miles from the start.
Sixteen hours across two 25.09-mile loops works out to an average 8 hours per loop, but your first lap should run comfortably inside that number to bank margin for the warmer, more tired second lap.
Because the course is a clean two-lap structure, you get a real data point after loop one: use it. A race-time prediction built off your actual first-loop split, checked against the 10:30 PM cutoff, tells you honestly whether your second-loop plan needs adjusting before you head back out, not after you are already struggling on the north loop the second time.
Without a big single climb to manage, the risk here is treating the course like flat ground and blowing your effort early on the rolling singletrack. A grade-adjusted pace target still helps on a rolling course like this one, since the cumulative effect of repeated small ups and downs adds up over two full loops.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
A 6:30 AM start means cool early miles that can give way to real warmth and humidity by mid-morning, especially on the more exposed sections of the loop.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, leaning higher as the day warms up. With aid roughly every 6 to 9 miles between the Heaven Hill and Cabin stops, you can run lighter between stations and top off often rather than carrying a full loop's worth of supplies at once.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a warm Alabama spring 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 two-lap loop profile. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for rolling Southeastern singletrack, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
The 50 Mile covers two laps of a 25.09-mile loop, itself split into an 18.6-mile north loop and a 6.4-mile south loop each time around, on the private Russell Lands trail system at Lake Martin. No total elevation gain figure is published on the official course pages, so this is not a race defined by extreme vert, but the 16-hour cutoff (10:30 PM from a 6:30 AM start) and Alabama spring heat and humidity make it a genuine endurance test on rolling Southeastern singletrack.
The official course pages describe the loop structure in detail, an 18.6-mile north loop and a 6.4-mile south loop repeated twice for the 50 Mile, but do not publish a total elevation gain figure. If you want that number before race day, ask the organizer directly (rd@southeasterntrailruns.com) or study the course GPX rather than relying on a guessed figure.
With a 6:30 AM start and up to a 16-hour window, and four aid station stops on every 25-mile loop, Alexander City, Alabama spring weather can swing from cool mornings to warm, humid afternoons. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, leaning higher if the day turns warm. With aid roughly every 6 to 9 miles, you can run a lighter kit between stops and reset your carry at each one rather than loading up for the whole loop. Build your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
The overall cutoff is 10:30 PM, a 16-hour maximum from the 50 Mile's 6:30 AM start. With two 25.09-mile loops to complete, that works out to an average of 8 hours per loop, so a strong first lap gives you real margin heading into the second.
The course runs on the private Russell Lands trail system bordering Lake Martin, a large reservoir with more than 750 miles of shoreline. Expect rolling Southeastern singletrack rather than mountain terrain, with the course looping through forest along and near the lake. Camping directly on Russell Lands is strictly forbidden, so plan lodging in Alexander City or nearby Wind Creek State Park if you are staying over.
The event has run under Southeastern Trail Runs for years, and some older references online still call it "Lake Martin 100." As of the most recently confirmed edition, the official race pages list only a 50 Mile and 50K, with no 100 mile distance offered, and the race is branded "Lake Martin 50/50." If you find older references to a 100 mile option, treat the current official course pages as the source of truth for what is actually offered.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/lake-martin-50-50">The Lake Martin 50/50 course guide</a>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and registration windows 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.