This is a race in search of a home. After the RunTex 30K finished its seven-year run in Buda in 2005, this race has shuttled between Round Rock and San Marcos before settling in ’08 (at least for now) in the ritzy Barton Creek section of town.

If you’ve ever been to the beautiful Barton Creek Country Club and surrounding estates off Bee Cave, you’ll notice two things: opulence and hills. The homes won’t matter to the runners; the hills certainly will.

This race returns to the 30K distance (18.6 miles) after two years as a 20-miler, but the new course will make this race a true character test. This first-time course will make Distance Challenge veterans long for the relative ease of Buda or even the wind tunnel which was Round Rock in ’06.

Starting and finishing at Wiberly Lane and Barton Creek Blvd, the single 30K loop will head toward Southwest Parkway and cover some of the biggest, steepest climbs in Austin. Challenging doesn’t quite cover the nastiness of some of the mountains that must be conquered in Barton Creek and Lost Creek as well along a stretch of 360. Prepare for a grueling rite of passage where stamina, both physical and mental, will be  the order of the day.  

What the course lacks in flatness, it’ll make up for in uniqueness and beauty. There’s no getting around it: This 30K will be a true test of your fitness and ability to cope with hills.  

CHANGES: An entirely different race than last year’s countrified 20-miler in San Marcos. The new 30K course is all ups and downs. It’s as difficult a course as there has been for any conventional road race. Survivors will talk about it for years.

WHY YOU SHOULD RUN: If you can finish the ARA 30K, the marathon will seem like a breeze.

QUOTE: “Scenic, yet challenging, this year’s course will be the perfect preparation for the AT&T Austin Marathon.”