Catsmacker

Lake Sylvia Day Use area, Perryville AR

Saturday, May 24th, 2025

🌟 Race Details

Distance: 20-ish miles for the Catsmacker, 12-ish miles for the Kitty Run option. You can choose your distance on the day of the event.
Start/Finish Area: The start is at the Lake Sylvia Day Use area (where you would go if you went swimming in the lake). NOT at Camp Ouachita (where the Full Moon and Traveller start).

Donation-Based: This is a donation-based run. That said, we need to cover costs for Forest Service permitting, insurance, aid station supplies, finish line cookout, and other race equipment/transportation/logistics.
Payment: Please make sure that we can cover those costs and continue offering low-cost events. You can make an online payment here, or a cash/check donation on race day.
Donation Note: Donations are non-refundable, and any proceeds will be donated to the non-profit AURA. A suggested donation to cover costs is $20. Thank you!

Location: You should be able to find Williams Junction, AR on most maps: it is approximately 30 miles west of Little Rock on Hwy 10, or 20 miles south of Morrilton on Hwy 9.
Race Site Access: To get to the race site from Williams Junction, go north on Hwy 10/9 for 1.5 miles, then take Hwy 324 west and follow for three and a half miles. The Lake Sylvia day use area will be on your left about 1/2 mile after Camp Ouachita.
Parking Details: Parking is limited in the Lake Sylvia Day Use Area. Once this area is full, parking will overflow along Highway 324. Please carpool if possible!

Course Terrain: The course will utilize Forest Service roads and a small portion of the Ouachita Trail. There will be a combination of pavement (just a little!), gravel (mostly), and single/double track trail (it’s poison ivy season!).
Markers: Course marking will consist of signs, colored ribbon flagging, and flour arrows drawn on the ground. In general, course marking is focused on marking turns and intersections.
Turn Directions: Detailed turn-by-turn directions are provided for both the Catsmacker and Kitty Run routes. (Maps are available at this link).

Event Type: This is a no-UTS-points fun run that is a season-closer and celebration of the end of an amazing year of Arkansas ultrarunning.
Awards Ceremony: The 2024-2025 UTS awards ceremony will be held after the run, with a cookout-style lunch. Celebrate with us!

Aid Stations: There will be at least 2 aid stations for the Catsmacker, and 1 aid station for the Kitty Run.
Food and Snacks: Please carry a water bottle and any snacks you want. Food choices at the aid stations will be basic.
Dog Policy: The park allows dogs on a leash. Please don’t assume that your dog is the exception that doesn’t need a leash.
Safety Tip: While this event is low-key, we need people to register themselves to ensure their safety.

Cut-off Time: Cut-off is 6 hours. For the full Catsmacker, that is a 16:30ish pace.
Early Start: There will be one early start option at 6:00am if you anticipate needing more time to finish.
Self-Sufficiency: Early starters will need to be self-sufficient with food/drink since aid stations will not be available.

Community Effort: This event is volunteer-based, and it takes effort from the entire community to put on a race.
Volunteer Roles: We need help in areas such as set-up and runner check-in, cookout helpers, course sweepers, aid stations, and finish time recorders.
Sign Up: Please consider volunteering so that we can continue to offer events such as this. Go to this VolunteerSignup link to sign up.

Course Map

Suggested Races