12+min/mile

I'm Brian Donaldson. This is my first trail marathon. I'm looking to take it easy. I've averaged ~12:30 on the two training runs so far. That's including walking up some hills and a few stops for food and water.

This is my first long trail event as well. I think 12min/miles should be just fine if you're looking to finish with a pretty decent time. I've been training for a while and found that walking some doesn't affect total time that much and helps to keep your legs fresh for the duration of your long runs. I really haven't worried about pace in my training. I concentrate more on distance and length of time on my feet. Hence, just be vigilant about doing long runs and pace will take care of itself.

For this race time is not an issue for me I just want to finish not in total agony. And if this snow doesn't melt just finishing will be a big enough accomplishment.

My first trail and first ultra as well. I am having difficulty keeping a slower pace. I am walking up the bigger hills, but when its flat or down hill, I am running 9-10/mile. How do you keep your pace around 12 min/mi in training?

It's not too hard during the second half of the long runs

Starting out you just have to run a pace that feels uncomfortably slow. Just keep reminding yourself it will get tougher towards the end and fight the urge to sprint off in the woods.