Watch: The Ginger Runner Takes on the Sean O'Brien 50K

There aren’t too many mountain ranges in the country that are dry and warm enough in February to hold an ultradistance trail race. The Sean O’Brien 50-mile, 50K and 26.2-mile, held this coming Saturday, takes advantage of one of them, the scrubby Santa Monica mountains in southern California.

For a sense of what this race is all about, check out this video by filmmaker Ethan Newberry, a.k.a. The Ginger Runner, from the 2014 running. In it, he documents his own experience at the race, as well as the trials and tribulations of the elite runners who take on the marquee 50-mile distance (with 11,000 feet of gain, truly an “SOB”).