Races
The Mammoth 200
A loop around the caldera. Start and finish in Mammoth Lakes. Summit the mountain twice. Two hundred eighteen miles.
The mountain
Eastern Sierra. A loop around a seven-hundred-sixty-thousand-year-old caldera. Alpine lakes, mines, Jeffery pine, Glass Mountains, sage, volcanic rock, Mono Lake tufa. Bookended by Mammoth Mountain at eleven thousand fifty-three feet, twice. Low six thousand four hundred twenty-four. Average about eight thousand. Mix of single-track, double-track, seven percent road.
The work
October at altitude. Thirty-one thousand feet of gain. Twenty-one aid stations and four water-only. You train big mountain days and a second summit when you are already cooked. One hundred nine hours.
Race morning
Mammoth Lakes. One loop. Route pending Forest Service each year. Sheepdogs may be on course. Read the etiquette sheet. Do not invent a line off the GPX.
Watch outs
The second summit. Night freeze at eight thousand. Volcanic rock. Working dogs you do not get cute with. Fall storms that still think it is winter.