By Alex Roberts

If you’re looking for some motivation to keep up your gravel training over the winter, signing up for the Land Run 100 in Stillwater next March might be just the thing. Registration opens this Saturday at 7 AM for the March 11th event, and with a massive increase in the events popularity over the last few years, the 1000 rider field limit will fill up quickly.

100 miles of Oklahoma dirt and gravel may not sound too tough, but the weather is the real deciding factor. Dry, the red dirt roads are packed and fast, but rain around the event, as has been the case the last two years, can turn the roads to slop and really test your mettle. Riding the wet clay is tempting fate with broken derailleurs commonplace. Be prepared to play it safe and walk long sections of clay/mud if you want to assure your equipment can take you to the end. And don’t make the mistake of assuming Oklahoma is flat either. My Garmin showed 7,000+ feet of gain over the 106 miles.

Though walking through miles of muck is brutal and the hills can take their toll, this event is really becoming a “can’t miss” on my yearly calendar. And being an easy three-hour drive from Northwest Arkansas, it’s one of our closest big gravel events.

Bobby Wintle has developed this race into a community event. Iron Monk brews a special beer for the event, food vendors and live entertainment are plenty at the finish line street party, and Bobby himself is there at the finish to welcome every rider with a hug no matter how dirty he or she may be.

So get online this weekend and get yourself registered, and let’s go play in the mud in Stillwater next March.