⏵ Course guide · Alabama fixed-time race
The Endless Mile hands you a clock, 6, 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours, and a certified 1.00203-mile loop at Veteran’s Park in Alabaster, Alabama, then asks how far you can go before time runs out. I will walk you through how the fixed-time format actually works, then give you a loop-banking and fueling plan built for hours or days on the same short loop, plus free calculators to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official race registration page. Check the current year details and registration deadlines before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
There is no set distance to cover here. You choose a time window, the clock starts, and you circle the loop for as long as your body and your head allow, or until the format’s hours run out.
The 72 hour runners go out first, Thursday at 9:00 AM, followed by the 48 hour field on Friday at the same time. Saturday morning brings everyone else out together: the Marathon category and the 24, 12, and 6 hour races all start at 9:00 AM. That staggering means the park has a rolling population of runners at very different stages of fatigue for most of the event, which is part of what makes the atmosphere here work.
The course is a paved and lighted path a fraction over a mile, 1.00203 miles to be USATF-certified-exact, circled as many times as you can manage in your chosen window. There is no technical footing, no navigation, and no elevation to manage, which strips the race down to a single variable: can you keep moving.
There is no official relay category, but the race is upfront that you are welcome to run it with a few friends and split the work informally. However you approach it, every finisher gets a medal, and reaching 100 miles earns a dedicated buckle, with an even bigger one for 200 miles.
When the finish line is a clock instead of a distance, the question flips: instead of asking how fast you can cover a set mileage, you are asking how many loops you can bank before your legs, stomach, or sleep debt force you to slow down.
A fast early pace does not earn you a shorter course later, it just spends fitness you will want in hour 10, 20, or 40. Set an honest, sustainable per-loop pace using a grade-adjusted pace target as your baseline, then hold it well past the point where holding back feels unnecessary.
A race-time estimate built from your actual training gives you a defensible loop-count target for your chosen window, whether that is 6 hours or 72. Check that projection honestly against your history with long efforts before you commit to a format, since the jump from a strong 24 hour showing to a real 48 or 72 is bigger than the number of extra hours suggests.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
A short lit loop with your own crew tent nearby is about the easiest possible logistics for fueling, so the challenge shifts from access to consistency: getting real calories in, hour after hour, without your stomach revolting.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour of moving time, and use the constant loop access to feed in small, steady doses rather than large infrequent meals. For the 24, 48, and 72 hour formats, plan on real food entering the rotation as the event goes on, not just gels and drink mix.
Sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range covers most runners, and central Alabama in late October can still run warm during the day even with cool nights, especially for the 72 hour field out through three full days. Adjust upward if you are sweating heavily and downward overnight.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your chosen format, and a multi-day effort 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 your chosen Endless Mile format, whether that is a fast 6 hour push or a first attempt at 48 or 72. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for sustained multi-hour effort, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
You pick a fixed-time format, 6, 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours, and cover as much of a certified, paved, lighted 1.00203-mile loop at Veteran’s Park as you can before time runs out. There is also a Marathon category that starts alongside the 6, 12, and 24 hour races on Saturday. It is electronically chip timed, so your exact distance is tracked lap by lap rather than you having to count laps yourself.
The 72 hour race starts Thursday, October 22 at 9:00 AM. The 48 hour starts Friday, October 23 at 9:00 AM. The Marathon and the 24, 12, and 6 hour races all start Saturday, October 24 at 9:00 AM. Each clock runs for its own fixed duration from that start, so a 6 hour runner finishes Saturday afternoon while a 72 hour runner is still out there into Sunday.
Yes, though there is no separate 50K registration category. The race’s own site notes that "most age group records and many overall state records, 50K and above, were set at Endless Mile," and finishers who reach 100 miles receive a dedicated 100-mile buckle, with an "even more awesome" 200-mile buckle for those who go further. Pick the timed format (24, 48, or 72 hour) that gives you a realistic window to reach the distance you are chasing.
On a flat, looped, aid-adjacent course like this one, the constraint is rarely carrying capacity, it is getting enough calories and sodium in hour after hour without your stomach shutting down. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour for the portion of the race you are actually moving, and keep sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, adjusting up if October in central Alabama runs warm. Build your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before you show up.
The loop is a paved, lighted path at Veteran’s Park in Alabaster, about 26 miles south of downtown Birmingham and 16 miles south of I-459. It is flat, USATF certified at 1.00203 miles, and built for exactly this kind of race, meaning no technical footing to manage, just the accumulating fatigue of running the same short loop for hours or days.
The race itself frames the 48 hour as good practice for a 100, and the 72 hour as practice for all three challenges of a 200: staying hydrated, staying fueled, and managing sleep. A flat, lit, aid-adjacent loop removes navigation and technical terrain from the equation, which is exactly what you want when the real test is pacing your body and your head through a distance you have never covered before.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/the-endless-mile">The The Endless Mile course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/the-endless-mile" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="The Endless Mile course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The event details, dates, and formats 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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