⏵ Course guide · Brooklyn park loop ultra
The PPTC Endurance Fest turns Prospect Park into a 50 Mile or 50K by repeating a 3.35 mile loop, cup-less and chip timed, with an aid station waiting every lap. I will walk you through the loop format, the 15 hour cutoff, and a pacing and fueling plan built for a course you will get to know very well by the end, with free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official Prospect Park Track Club event page. Elevation gain was not published there at the time of writing, so check the official page for current course notes before you commit.
Start and finish are near the Lincoln Road entrance on Prospect Park's east side, an easy walk from the Prospect Park Q/S subway stop. Every distance is built from the same 3.35 mile full loop of the park.
The 50 Mile is roughly 15 laps of the 3.35 mile loop. Knowing your course this intimately by lap 10 or 12 is a real advantage: you will know exactly where the small rises are, where to expect crowds later in the day, and how far you are from the next aid stop at all times.
The 50K covers 9 full loops of the park, then adds a short out-and-back to make up the remaining distance to 50 kilometers. Like the 50 Mile, it is a course you will see many times over, which keeps navigation and pacing simple.
This is explicitly a cup-less race, so bring your own hydration vessel. In exchange, Skratch Labs hydration mixes and a potluck-style aid station meet you at every single loop, backed by chip timing from Catskills Timing and Park Slope Volunteer EMS on site.
A 6:00 AM start and a 9:00 PM close give the 50 Mile 15 hours for roughly 15 loops, an average of about an hour per lap including aid station time. Use that math to check yourself in real time all day long.
Few ultras give you this clean a pacing signal. Time your first 2 or 3 loops and compare them directly to the roughly hour-per-loop target, then adjust deliberately rather than guessing how the back half will go. If early loops are running fast, bank a little time for a slower finish; if they are already slow, address it now rather than hoping it improves.
⏵ Free tools to plan your effort
With Skratch Labs mixes and a potluck-style aid station every single loop, this is one of the more forgiving ultras to fuel, provided you show up with your own hydration vessel.
Aim for roughly 40 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour and sodium in the 300 to 500 mg per liter range as a starting point, then dial it in against whatever the potluck aid stations are offering that lap. Early December in Brooklyn tends to run cold, so plan your layers and understand that fluid needs will likely be lower than a warm-weather ultra, while carbohydrate needs stay roughly the same.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight and a cold early-December Brooklyn 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 training plan built around YOUR fitness and 15 laps of Prospect Park. Summit Line reads your real training, builds the pacing consistency a repeating loop rewards, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
Every distance is built from a 3.35 mile loop of Prospect Park, starting and finishing near the Lincoln Road entrance on the east side. The 50 Mile is roughly 15 laps of that loop, while the 50K is 9 loops plus a short out-and-back to make up the remaining distance. You will see the same course repeatedly, which makes pacing and navigation about as simple as an ultra gets.
The race starts at 6:00 AM and closes at 9:00 PM, a 15 hour window. Spread across roughly 15 loops for the 50 Mile, that works out to an average of about an hour per loop including any stop time, so use your early laps to gauge whether your pace holds up over the full distance.
Yes. This is explicitly a cup-less race, so you need your own hydration vessel, a handheld bottle, hydration vest, or similar, to use at the aid stations. Skratch Labs mixes are provided along with a potluck-style aid station every loop, but there are no disposable cups on course.
A repeating 3.35 mile loop in a well-known Brooklyn park, with an aid station every lap and the Prospect Park Q/S subway stop right there, is about as forgiving a logistics setup as an ultra offers. If you are new to the distance, the park loop means you never have to navigate unfamiliar terrain or worry about being far from support, which lets you focus entirely on pacing and fueling.
As of this writing, the 50 Mile is $90 through September 30 and $110 after, while the 50K is $80 through September 30 and $100 after. Registration opens June 1 and closes once the event reaches capacity, with no race-day registration available, so register early if you want the lower price and a guaranteed spot.
Every runner who completes their distance receives a finisher buckle. The race is chip timed by Catskills Timing, supported by Skratch Labs hydration mixes and a potluck-style aid station every loop, and backed up by Park Slope Volunteer EMS on site.
Link this guide
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/pptc-endurance-fest">The PPTC Endurance Fest course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/pptc-endurance-fest" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="PPTC Endurance Fest course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. Dates, cutoffs, and pricing come from the official Prospect Park Track Club event page and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics before you register or run. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.
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