Grit & Grace Trail Race

12-Hour Trail Race

Are you ready to push yourself for 12 hours of trail running? The 12-hour race will start at 7 AM sharp on Saturday, February 27th 2027. Runners will complete as many loops as they are able during the duration of the event. Total mileage will be updated at the completion of each loop. There will be one aid station at the start line area, which will be well stocked and will include Tailwind and LMNT and water. Runners who wish to bring additional nutrition items are welcome to do so. The Course: The race will be at Camp GuilRock (531 Belville Rd. Reidsville NC 27320) which is about 30 minutes north of Greensboro. It is approximately a 3 mile loop consisting of grassy trail, gravel road, single track, and forest road. This course is great course for the runner or hiker. Gentle rolling terrain plus lots of flat will give everyone the opportunity to rack up a lot of miles. Every 3 hours, participants entering the transition area will reverse course-- a direction dubbed "the asshole loop" by one of the 2026 runners. As this race takes place during the short days of February, a light source (headlamp, chest lamp, flashlight) is required. A backup battery or a 2nd light source is highly encouraged. The Venue: Camp Guilrock is a 210-acre camp located in Reidsville, North Carolina. It was incorporated in January of 1970 and has been a beautiful retreat ever since. Camping will be available for any participant who wishes to set up off course. Our check-in/check-out will take place under cover and we will have a firepit going the duration of the race for spectators and participants alike... bring your s'more making materials! The Nitty-Gritty: Race starts at 7am Saturday morning and ends at 7pm Saturday night. Racers run as many laps as they can. Most mileage at the end of 12 hours wins. In the event of a tie, the first runner to reach the distance places above the 2nd and so forth. Each lap must be finished to be recorded. Runners will check in with race staff upon finishing each lap and will check out upon departing for the next (so we know who's on the course). If 7pm happens before a lap is finished, that lap WILL NOT COUNT. ALL COMPETITORS can, if they desire, "tap out" WHENEVER they want. All they need to do is report to the race staff at check-in/out and tell them they are done. Be aware that tapping out officially ends your race. There are no take-backs. Once you are done, you are DONE. All competitors will receive a finisher's award upon ending their race. The 12-hour award will say what distance the competitor achieved (based on common race formats 5k, 10k, 10 miles, 13.1 miles, 26.2 miles, 50k, 100k, 75 miles, etc...) Overall awards for 1st and 2nd male and female for individuals.

6-Hour Ruck

Are you ready for a 6-Hour weighted race event... with a twist? This 6-Hour Ruck will take place on the same course as the 12-hour run. It will start at 9 AM on Saturday, February 28th. There will be one aid station at the start line area, which will be well stocked and will include Tailwind and LMNT and hydrogen hydroxide (water). Participants who wish to bring additional nutrition items are welcome to do so. So, what's the twist? Dirty Soles Adventures is utilizing a format created by Human Powered Endurance of Massachusetts that introduces more strategy to an already challenging race. Each participant will be scored by how much weight they carry for each lap's distance. If you load 10 pounds into your ruck/vest/plate carrier/etc... and carry it for a lap (approximately 3 miles a lap), then your score will be 10 lbs x 3 miles = 30 Kz. Weight can be added, subtracted, or unchanged for the next lap. Total number of Kz will be added for a final result at the end of the 12 hours. (What exactly is a Kz? The creater of this race format decided that pound-miles was a mouthful and decided to honor himself by calling it a "Koz" or Kz for short.) The Course: The race will be at Camp GuilRock (531 Belville Rd. Reidsville NC 27320) which is about 30 minutes north of Greensboro. It is approximately a 3 mile loop consisting of grassy trail, gravel road, single track, and forest road. This course is great course for the runner or hiker. Gentle rolling terrain plus lots of flat will give everyone the opportunity to rack up a lot of miles. After 3 hours, participants entering the transition area will reverse course-- just to keep things interesting. As this race takes place during the short days of February, a light source (headlamp, chest lamp, flashlight) is highly encouraged. The Venue: Camp Guilrock is a 210-acre camp located in Reidsville, North Carolina. It was incorporated in January of 1970 and has been a beautiful retreat ever since. Camping will be available for any participant who wishes to set up off course. Our check-in/check-out will take place in the indoor pavilion and we will have a firepit going the duration of the race for spectators and participants alike... we may even have s'mores! The Nitty-Gritty: Race starts at 9 am Saturday and ends at 3 pm. Racers collect as many Kz as they can in that six hour span. Packs will be weighed prior to the start of the race, upon finishing each lap, and upon heading out for a new lap. The official weight for each lap will the be lesser of the weigh-ins for that lap. (Say you leave transition with a pack weighing 28 lbs. But you end that lap with a pack weighing 25 lbs-- because you drank a lot of water or something. Your official weight for that lap is 25 lbs.) ALL COMPETITORS can, if they desire, "tap out" whenever they want. All they need to do is report to the race staff at check-in/out and tell them they are done. Be aware that tapping out officially ends your race. There are no take-backs. Once you are done, you are DONE. All competitors will recieve a finisher's award upon ending their race. Each finisher will receive an award with their total Kz listed. Overall awards for 1st and 2nd male and female.

More Stuff!

In our 2026 event we tried a few things that are going to stay-- only modified slightly for improvement. First, we used a Race Passport that received a stamp every time a competitor checked in at the completion of a lap. This turned out to be a valuable tool for race staff and the racers seemed to really like it after the initial disbelief wore off. How it works: Racers will present their Race Passport at the check-in for each lap opened and ready for its stamp. Race Staff will then Scan the bar code on the passport and stamp the box on the right with a "completed lap stamp". The Race Passport is then handed back to the Racer who may continue. (Weighted Racers may have the lesser of their check-in/out weight written beside their stamp.) We're also going to keep the FLAP and SLAP format! FLAPs, short for "Full Lap", will be run during the first 11 hours of the 12-hour event and the first 5 hours of the 6-hour event. When the final hour of your event occurs, all incoming Racers from their last FLAP will do SLAPs (Short Laps). 2026's SLAPS were 1.25 miles and did not include the area of the course with mud or elevation. They're a great way to get that little extra in before the event ends-- especially if your pace is such that a FLAP would be impossible. (Our Weighted Racing Champion from 2026 used the SLAP to take his score over 1000-- he even pulled out his calculator to figure out how much he needed to carry for it!) And while we're not "officially" a canicross race (yet) this is a course where we welcome our canine partners who race! We had three lovely ladies and their canine companions join us in 2026 and we hope to see more in 2027! (12-hour event only)