⏵ Course guide · Oklahoma state-park ultra
The Lake Murray Endurance Run sends its field through Lake Murray State Park, Oklahoma's first and largest state park, on over 30 miles of forested singletrack near Ardmore. Five distances share the same out-and-back trail network, from a 5 mile to a full 100 mile. I will walk you through the course and aid layout first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for this old-school, well-supported ultra, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official Blaze Trails Running race page. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and aid stations before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
Every distance shares the same core trail network out of Tipps Point Campground, running out-and-back segments to the Buzzards Roost and Tucker Tower aid stations plus a shorter Elephant Rock loop. The 100 mile repeats this full pattern four times, the 100K three times with a shorter opening loop, and the 50K and 25K each run it once.
Lake Murray State Park covers 12,500 acres of rolling, forested hills, with trail described on the official race page as ranging from simple and flat to moderately difficult sections with rocks and roots. There is no headline climb here. The terrain rewards steady, efficient running more than climbing strength, and the repeated loop structure means you will get to know the technical sections well by your second or third pass.
This is a cupless race, so bring your own hydration device. Aid stations sit 4.7 to 6.7 miles apart with water, Gatorade, bananas, oranges, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, Oreos, fig cookies, soda, and Salt Stick. Drop bags are allowed at the Start/Finish (Tipps Point) and the Buzzards Roost aid station for the 100 mile and 100K, so plan your gear swaps and calorie caches around those two access points across the multiple loops.
The 100 mile's 32 hour cutoff comes with checkpoints along the way: past mile 53 by 10:30 PM Saturday, past mile 79.5 by 6:30 AM Sunday, past mile 89.5 (Tucker Tower) by 9:45 AM Sunday, and past mile 94.8 (Buzzards Roost) by noon Sunday. The 100K carries its own checkpoint past mile 34.1 by 10:30 PM Saturday and must start its final loop by 6:30 AM Sunday. Treat these as real gates, not a formality, since missing one ends your race regardless of the overall 32 or 27 hour limit.
With intermediate cutoffs baked into the 100 mile and 100K, your pacing plan needs to hit specific checkpoints on time, not just arrive at the finish inside the overall limit.
A vert-aware finish prediction is less useful here than mapping your expected arrival time at mile 53, mile 79.5, mile 89.5, and mile 94.8 against the posted cutoffs. Use a race-time calculator to set a target overall pace, then sanity check it against each intermediate gate so you know exactly how much buffer you are carrying at each stage.
Because the same trail sections repeat several times across the longer distances, a grade-adjusted pace target for the technical rocks-and-roots stretches gives you an honest number for what you can sustain on the third or fourth pass, not just the first. Runners who push the technical sections hard early tend to lose that time back on later loops when fatigue meets the same roots and rocks.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
Late October in Oklahoma can still run warm during the day and cool off fast after dark, especially for 100 mile runners on course into a second night.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Aid stations are spaced 4.7 to 6.7 miles apart with bananas, oranges, PB&Js, chips, Oreos, fig cookies, and soda, which is enough to lean on for real calories rather than carrying everything yourself, especially once you use your Buzzards Roost drop bag on the longer distances.
Sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range covers most runners here, and Salt Stick is available at aid stations as a backup. Because this is a cupless race, your hydration plan depends entirely on carrying your own bottle or bladder between the 4.7 to 6.7 mile aid gaps, so dial in your carry capacity before race day, not on course.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a warm Oklahoma 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, this repeated out-and-back course, and your projected checkpoint splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for multi-loop ultra pacing, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
Lake Murray State Park is Oklahoma's first and largest state park, 12,500 acres of forested rolling hills with over 30 miles of trail that range from simple and flat to moderately difficult sections with rocks and roots. The 100 mile course runs a repeating out-and-back pattern through the Buzzards Roost, Tucker Tower, and Elephant Rock sections four times, so the terrain itself is not extreme, but the repetition and the 32 hour cutoff clock reward pacing discipline over raw speed.
The 100 Mile has a 32 hour overall cutoff, with intermediate checkpoints: past mile 53 by 10:30 PM Saturday, past mile 79.5 by 6:30 AM Sunday, past mile 89.5 (Tucker Tower) by 9:45 AM Sunday, and past mile 94.8 (Buzzards Roost) by noon Sunday. The 100K has a 27 hour cutoff, with a checkpoint past mile 34.1 by 10:30 PM Saturday and the start of the final loop by 6:30 AM Sunday. The 50K, 25K, and 5 Mile should be finished by 10 PM Saturday.
This is a cupless race: you need your own hydration device, since aid stations 4.7 to 6.7 miles apart carry water and Gatorade along with bananas, oranges, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, Oreos, fig cookies, soda, and Salt Stick. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour on the longer distances, and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range given late-October Oklahoma weather can still run warm. Drop bags are allowed at the Start/Finish and Buzzards Roost aid station for the 100 mile and 100K. Build your own numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
Lake Murray State Park sits 90 minutes south of Oklahoma City and 90 minutes north of Dallas/Fort Worth, with over 30 miles of trail through forested rolling hills. Official race material describes the terrain as ranging from simple and flat to moderately difficult, with rocks and roots in the technical stretches. It is not a mountain course, but the repeated loops on singletrack mean footing awareness matters more than raw elevation.
100 Mile runners can pick up a pacer starting at mile 53 or after dark (sunset is around 6:40 PM), and 100K runners can use a pacer from mile 40.3 or after dark. Pacer exchanges only happen at the Tipps Point or Buzzards Roost aid stations, and pacers are not permitted in the 50K, 25K, or 5 Mile: an unregistered pacer in those distances is grounds for disqualification.
The repeated out-and-back structure through a small number of aid stations (Buzzards Roost, Tucker Tower, Tipps Point, and the Elephant Rock loop) means frequent access to drop bags and crew, which is friendlier for a first attempt than a remote point-to-point course. A 32 hour cutoff on rolling, non-mountainous trail gives a well-prepared first-timer real room to finish, though the intermediate checkpoints mean you cannot bank all your buffer for the end.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/lake-murray-endurance-run">The Lake Murray Endurance Run course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/lake-murray-endurance-run" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Lake Murray Endurance Run course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>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.
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