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⏵ Course guide · New Jersey fixed-time festival

NJ Trail Series One Day Course Guide

NJ Trail Series One Day is a fixed-time festival at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, New Jersey, where you pick a clock, 72, 48, 24, 12, or 6 hours, or a certified Boston Qualifier Marathon or 50K, and run a flat, lit 1-mile loop for as long as your race lasts. I will walk you through the format and the loop first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for banking miles over hours instead of chasing a single finish line, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

NJ Trail Series One Day quick facts

Dates
Thursday, October 1 through Sunday, October 4, 2026
Location
Sussex County Fairgrounds, 37 Plains Road, Augusta, New Jersey
Format
72 / 48 / 24 / 12 / 6 hour fixed-time races (day and night starts for the shorter distances), plus a certified Marathon and 50K, each startable Thursday, Friday, or Saturday
The loop
1.000 mile certified flat loop, pavement and crushed gravel, lit at night
Certification
USATF certified Marathon course (NJ24029JLW, Boston Qualifier) and 50K course (NJ24028JLW); IAU Bronze Label, USATF sanctioned
Timing
MYLaps ProChip mat, every crossing counts as one completed lap
Aid
One continuous aid station open from Thursday 9 AM through Sunday morning, with a full kitchen for hot and cold food
Facilities
Heated bathrooms with showers, tent and RV camping available for an added fee

These facts come from the official RunSignup event and registration page. Start windows, pricing, and event details can shift year to year, so confirm the current specifics before you commit.

The format: pick your clock, then pick your day

There is no single race here. NJ Trail Series One Day is a menu: a 72, 48, 24, 12, or 6 hour timed race, or a certified Marathon or 50K, each one startable on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday so the whole festival runs continuously across four days at the fairgrounds.

Seven clocks, one loop

The 72 and 48 hour races start Thursday. The 24 hour race can start Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. The 12 and 6 hour races each have day and night start options across the same three days. The certified Marathon and 50K also run on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, on the exact same loop as the timed races, just with a defined finish distance instead of a defined finish time. Pick the option that matches the goal you actually have, a new distance PR on the certified courses, or a new time-on-feet PR on the open clock.

A flat, certified mile, lit all night

The loop itself is 1.000 mile, certified, and split between pavement and crushed gravel with essentially no climbing. It is lit at night, so the 12 and 6 hour night options and any overnight hours in the longer races are never run in the dark. The Marathon course (NJ24029JLW) is a certified Boston Qualifier and the 50K course (NJ24028JLW) is separately certified, both on this same loop, which is an unusual combination for a trail-series event: road-honest certification inside a laid-back festival atmosphere.

Lap counting runs through a MYLaps ProChip mat, so every crossing is recorded automatically as one completed lap, and certified 50 mile and 100 mile times are captured at exactly 50 and 100 laps for anyone racing those specific distances inside a longer time window. Because the course is so easy to follow, pacers are not allowed, though any two registered runners can run together as much as they like.

A kitchen, heated bathrooms, and showers on course

This is where NJ Trail Series One Day earns its reputation. One aid station runs continuously from Thursday morning through Sunday morning, staffed by an experienced ultra kitchen crew serving hot and cold food, with dedicated vegetarian and vegan options and access to a walk-in refrigerator if you want to stage your own supplies. The fairgrounds also have heated bathrooms with shower facilities a few steps off the course. If you are debating a multi-day option, know that you will have real food, a hot shower, and a warm bathroom available the entire time, not just at scheduled crew stops.

Pacing strategy for a race measured in laps, not miles

When the finish line is a clock instead of a distance, the whole pacing question flips: instead of asking how fast you can cover a fixed distance, you are asking how many laps you can bank without breaking down before time runs out.

Run the flattest loop you will ever race, honestly

A flat, certified mile invites you to go out too fast, because nothing about the terrain slows you down. Set an even per-lap pace you can actually hold for the full length of your chosen clock, whether that is 6 hours or 72, and treat every early lap that beats that pace as borrowed time you will pay back later. A steady, boring rhythm on a course this forgiving beats a fast start every single time.

For the certified Marathon or 50K, run it like the road race it is

Because the Marathon and 50K courses are certified and flat, they reward standard road-race pacing far more than trail intuition. A grade-adjusted pace target barely matters here since there is almost no grade to adjust for, so lean on a straightforward even-split plan and treat the certified Boston Qualifier status as a real opportunity if that is your goal.

⏵ Free tools to plan your laps

Fueling strategy with a kitchen at your disposal

With one aid station open the entire time and full kitchen access, this is one of the easier races anywhere to eat properly rather than surviving on gels alone, especially in the longer fixed-time options.

For the Marathon or 50K, keep it simple and consistent

Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and use the fact that you pass the aid station every single mile to stay consistent rather than front-loading. There is no reason to carry excess on a course this short and this well supported.

For the timed races, treat the kitchen as your fuel plan

Once you are running 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours, gels stop being a realistic sole fuel source and your stomach will thank you for real food. Use the continuous kitchen access to rotate in hot food, broth, and simple carbohydrates on a schedule rather than only eating when you feel low, and keep sodium intake steady throughout, especially through any overnight hours. The heated bathrooms and showers are also a legitimate part of your fueling and recovery plan on the longer options: a warm reset can do as much for your next few laps as another gel.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight and your chosen distance or clock 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 training plan built around YOUR fitness and the exact distance or clock you pick at NJ Trail Series One Day. Summit Line reads your real training, builds the durability a flat, repeated loop demands, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

NJ Trail Series One Day FAQ

What is the NJ Trail Series One Day?

It is a fixed-time festival at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, New Jersey, run by the same NJ Trail Series team behind Febapple Frozen Fifty. Instead of one set distance, you pick a clock, 72, 48, 24, 12, or 6 hours, or a certified Marathon or 50K, and you run a flat, certified 1.000 mile loop of pavement and crushed gravel for as long as your event lasts. There is no single finish line time. The only question is how many laps you can bank before your clock runs out.

How does the timed-race format work?

Each option has its own start, spread across Thursday, Friday, or Saturday depending on which day you register for, so the whole festival runs continuously from Thursday morning through Sunday morning. Once your clock starts, you run the 1-mile loop as many times as you can before time expires, tracked automatically by a MYLaps ProChip mat, every crossing of the mat counts as a completed lap. Certified 50 mile and 100 mile finish times are recorded at exactly 50 and 100 laps for anyone chasing those specific distances inside the longer time windows.

Is the NJ Trail Series One Day course hard?

Not technically. The loop is flat, certified, and split between pavement and crushed gravel, with no real climbing to speak of, and pacers are not allowed because the course is easy enough to navigate on your own. The challenge here is entirely about repetition and time on feet, not terrain. Running the same mile over and over for 6, 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours is a mental and physical grind that has nothing to do with technical footing and everything to do with pacing discipline and fueling.

What are the aid stations and facilities like at the NJ Trail Series One Day?

Better than most fixed-time races. There is a single aid station open continuously from Thursday morning through Sunday morning, staffed by an ultra-running kitchen crew that cooks hot and cold food around the clock, including dedicated vegetarian and vegan options, plus access to a walk-in refrigerator if you want to stage your own food. The fairgrounds also have heated bathrooms with shower facilities right off the course, and tent or RV camping is available for an added fee if you want a place to crash between loops.

Is the Marathon or 50K at the NJ Trail Series One Day a Boston qualifier?

The Marathon course (certification number NJ24029JLW) is a certified Boston Qualifier, run on the same flat 1-mile loop as the timed races. The 50K course (NJ24028JLW) is separately certified as well. Both give you a fast, flat, and honest surface if you are chasing a specific road time inside a trail-series event, which is a rare combination.

Is the NJ Trail Series One Day a good first fixed-time race?

Yes. The flat, well-lit, looped course removes the two biggest unknowns of a first ultra, technical terrain and getting lost, and lets you focus entirely on pacing and fueling. The shorter options (6 or 12 hour day races) are a manageable entry point if you have never raced by the clock before, and the continuous aid station and heated bathrooms mean you are never far from real support. If you are coming from road racing and curious about time-based ultras, this is about as low-friction a first attempt as you will find.

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This guide is independent and for planning only. The format, dates, course, and aid station details 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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