⏵ Course guide · Minnesota costumed ultra
Surf the Murph sends its field around a 16.7-mile loop at Murphy-Hanrehan Park south of Minneapolis, rolling hills, wooded trails, prairie, and a beaver dam, repeated up to three times for the 50 Mile, all in Halloween costume. I will walk you through the course and loop math first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for a repeated late-October loop course, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official surfthemurph.org race site. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and aid stations before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
Every Surf the Murph distance is built from the same 16.7-mile loop at Murphy-Hanrehan Park. The 25K runs it once, the Marathon adds 9.5 miles of extra trail to one loop, the 50K runs it twice, and the 50 Mile runs it three times.
The official course notes describe a mixture of rolling hills, wooded trails, prairie, and even a beaver dam, calling it "very Minnesotan." About two miles of the loop are true single-track, and the southern stretch shared with horses runs like single-track in practice, with one mile split between gravel and asphalt.
You will cross a public gravel road twice per lap, and the race is explicit that no one is watching traffic for you. On a course you may be running two or three times, that crossing becomes a repeated moment to stay alert, especially as fatigue sets in on your final loop.
Each 16.7-mile loop passes four aid stations: Start/Finish at both ends of the loop, North at 2.9 miles, Horse Camp at 5.6 and 13 miles (crossed twice), and Natchez at 9.9 miles. Every aid station has firepits and portable restrooms, and drop bags are supported at Start/Finish and Horse Camp.
With every distance built from the same 16.7-mile loop, your first lap gives you real, usable data for every lap that follows, right up to the 3:00 PM final-loop cutoff.
A grade-adjusted pace target for the rolling hills and wooded single-track gives you a more honest number than flat-course pace, and comparing your actual loop-one split against it tells you immediately whether your effort is sustainable for two or three laps.
For 50 Mile runners starting at 6:00 AM, the 3:00 PM final-loop cutoff means you need to be entering your third loop with real margin. A vert-aware finish prediction, built off your first two loops, tells you honestly whether you have the buffer to start that final lap or need to push the pace before you get there.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
The race\'s own weather notes say it plainly: Surf has run in the 30s and in the 70s, with sun and with snow. Build a fueling plan flexible enough for whatever the day actually brings.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour. With aid at the Start/Finish, North, Horse Camp (twice), and Natchez every single loop, you have frequent, predictable chances to stay on schedule rather than rationing between long gaps.
Sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range covers most conditions, leaning higher if the day turns warm and humid. Because temperatures here have swung from the 30s to the 70s in past years, pack layers you can shed at Start/Finish or Horse Camp between loops rather than committing to one kit for the whole day.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a variable Minnesota October 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 exact 16.7-mile loop profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for repeated loop racing, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
Surf the Murph builds its 50 Mile from three laps of a 16.7-mile loop through Murphy-Hanrehan Park, rolling hills, wooded trails, and open prairie just south of Minneapolis. It is not a mountain race, but running the same loop three times in costume, often in cool or unpredictable late-October Minnesota weather, is its own kind of grind. The course crosses a public gravel road twice per lap and shares trail with horses on the south end, so footing and traffic awareness matter more than raw elevation.
The official race page does not publish a total elevation-gain figure, only a separate elevation map. What is confirmed is the terrain itself: a mixture of rolling hills, wooded trails, and prairie, with a course difficulty rating of 3 out of a scale the organizers do not further define. Expect steady rolling terrain rather than sustained mountain climbing, repeated two or three times depending on your distance.
A mid-October race in Minnesota can run anywhere from the 30s to the 70s, and the race has seen both, plus snow. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and keep sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, adjusting for whatever the forecast actually brings. Four aid stations per lap, at the Start/Finish, North, Horse Camp (crossed twice), and Natchez, give you frequent chances to reset your intake. Build your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
The published cutoff is 3:00 PM for the final (third) loop, which mainly governs the 50 Mile's last lap since it starts earliest at 6:00 AM. With four aid stations per 16.7-mile loop and the loop repeating up to three times for the 50 Mile, use your early-lap splits to gauge whether you have real margin against that 3:00 PM cutoff well before your final loop begins.
Murphy-Hanrehan Park mixes rolling hills, wooded single-track, and open prairie, plus a beaver dam crossing the official course notes call "very Minnesotan." About two miles of the loop run true single-track; the southern stretch is shared with horses and runs like single-track in practice, with one mile split between gravel and asphalt. You will also cross a public gravel road twice per lap, so watch for traffic since no one is monitoring it for you.
The loop format helps a lot here: you pass the Start/Finish aid station at the end of every 16.7-mile lap, so drop bags, crew access, and mental checkpoints are simple. Rolling park terrain (not mountains) and four aid stations per loop make this an approachable course for a first 50K or even a first 50 Mile, as long as you respect that Minnesota weather in mid-October can swing wide and dress, and fuel, accordingly.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/surf-the-murph">The Surf the Murph course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/surf-the-murph" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Surf the Murph 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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