Update: Full race report now live: “Hills, Mud, Rain define tough 50-Mile Ultra Race.”

Monsoon-like rains are in the forecast. The hills will be muddy and steep. But this weekend, on Saturday, December 1, GearJunkie editor Stephen Regenold will toe the line to race with the best ultra-runners on the planet.

The venue is The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championships. The setting, the Marin Headlands of California north of San Francisco, promises both a beautiful and tough course.

The race — full name: The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championships presented by GORE-TEX — is the marquee event in a weekend of trail-running competitions, from 5 kilometers to 50 miles in length.

Top runners, including defending champ Mike Wolfe, will be back to attempt to crush the course in a bit over 6 hours. The 1st place prize for men and women is $10,000.

GearJunkie’s Regenold has a goal to finish strong. As an endurance athlete and founder of Team GearJunkie, Regenold is a nationally-ranked adventure racer, his team having won the U.S. National Championships in the sport earlier this fall.

Regenold is a late entry into The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile, having committed just this week. “It was a last-minute decision, but I am psyched,” he said. “I love this part of the country and am looking forward to pushing my limits on the hills and those 50 long miles of trail.”

Update: Full race report now live: “Hills, Mud, Rain define tough 50-Mile Ultra Race.”

—Monitor GearJunkie social media (Facebook and Twitter) this weekend for updates from the event. For live coverage, go to the special The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championships section on iRunfar.