Foothills Fat Ass

This page complements the official Foothills Fat Ass page by providing four useful GPX files and a few tables.

The event starts at the Michael Emery Trailhead Parking lot and, depending on the distance one chooses, consists of one, two or three out-and-backs, known as the 10k, the 50k southern section and the 50k northern section, all three of which are done by the 50k participants. Here are the GPX files for each:

• Foothills Fat Ass 2024 10k
• Foothills Fat Ass 2024 50k Northern Section
• Foothills Fat Ass 2024 50k Southern Section

The entire 50k course (all three out-and-backs) is available as

• Foothills Fat Ass 2024 50k

AllTrails

These four routes can be seen in my AllTrails Maps collection, even without an AllTrails account, although you'll need an AllTrails account to download from their site.

Distance Descriptions

5k

Head half-way (i.e., 1.55 miles) up the 10k route, turn around, come back.

10k

Head up the 10k route, return.

Half Marathon

Do the 10k route, then head down the 50k Southern Section to the Menaul Parking Lot, return.

This route includes 2.6 miles of asphalt, which is kind of a lot for a half marathon, but it's there to encourage you to do the marathon or 50k next year. There's no guarantee there will even be a next year, much less that we'll have the same course, but that stretch of asphalt has been with us since the beginning (2012), I think.

Marathon

Do the 10k and the Southern Section, then run a total of four miles that brings you back to the Finish (e.g., run two miles out and then two miles back).

This route includes 2.6 miles of asphalt, which is an unavoidable tax. If you want to pay less than a 10% asphalt tax, step up to the 50k next (or this!) year.

Alternate—Less Social—Marathon

Do only the Southern Section and Northern Sections (i.e., skip the 10k), but do them in entirety. The downside is that you don't get to run with all the other runners who start with the same 10k out-and-back. On the other hand, you get to do the southern loop at the end of the Southern Section (you get to run almost to I-40).

50k

This route includes 2.6 miles of unavoidable asphalt, but it's still much better than 2023, when we had something like twelve miles of asphalt.

Do the 10k, the Southern Section and then the Northern Section. The Northern Section is basically Trail 365, although there's a minor short-cut in the south that prevents a little backtracking and another minor short-cut that takes you into the Wilderness area as you get close to the tram. If you choose to though, you can take Trail 365 the entire way and it won't add much more than a mile or two.