Discussion: Ultra trail runs - first 50m/100k - recommendations??

I am hunting for a good ultra for my first 50m/100k.

I will be doing a couple of Ontario ultra races[50k] this year but looking for longer ones to finish off this year.

I would prefer out & back/point to point races than loops & the more the climbing the better !!!.

Any recommendations??

The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship in San Francisco was my first 50-miler in December. Gorgeous scenery overlooking the Pacific Ocean and running past huge trees in the John Muir Forest. Much of the route you only run once but there are a couple of out-and-back sections.

Some of the top ultrarunners in the world do this race - not that I saw any of them since they were long gone by the time I reached the finish! :) http://www.thenorthface.com/en_US/endurance-challe...

Note: It will sell out - probably this summer.

I still haven't even done a marathon, but based on doing the relay once at this event (five person 100k), if I ever did a 50k I would try this one. They offer a 50M.

http://www.dwdhell.com/packet11/2011MI_ultramap.pd...

Not as epic as Bash's, but only five hours from Toronto by car. No monster hills. Lots of small ones (a few too steep to run), and lots of mud, river crossings, etc. Not a repeated loop or out and back, although a few sections are reused as you route around. It looks like sections are on southeast Michigan's finest mountain bike trail. Half of our good o maps are either this park or adjacent to it.