Cedro Peak Trail Runs
Tijeras, NM
- 50K, 25K
- Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
Held in the Cibola National Forest, and put together by volunteers, the trail race routes range from non-technical to very rocky but are friendly enough to be a good starter race for those new to ultra-running and challenging enough for seasoned ultra-runners. The Cedro Peak area is a labyrinth of … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Apr 18):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 63 | 69 | 77 | 75 | 75 |
| L (°F) | 33 | 41 | 50 | 49 | 42 |
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Outstanding Race!
Overall rating: Excellent Course Difficulty: This course is technical with some runnable portions. Lots of steep climbs with great views; about 3500 feet of gain. Plenty of rocks and roots, … MORE
Overall rating: Excellent
Course Difficulty: This course is technical with some runnable portions. Lots of steep climbs with great views; about 3500 feet of gain. Plenty of rocks and roots, and no creek crossings. The altitude is real for all of us low elevation flatlanders.
Course scenery: Absolutely gorgeous, was waiting for an elk to hop on the trail in front of me.
Race Production: Perfect!
Double lollipop that started and ended at a campground. Packet pickup was on Thursday, which we couldn’t make, but the RD was very accommodating and gave alternative pick up options , no issues. Aid stations were well stocked and had everything a person could want. Lots of experienced ultra runners working, so they k ew exactly what to do. The salted chocolate chip cookies have changed my opinion of cookies forever!!! Delicious.
Race Swag: Short sleeve tech shirt, wooden medal. All great.
My Performance: This race was really hard for me, I knew I was undertrained, and the altitude was tough. If I hadn’t taken a wrong turn, I would have finished 30 min better than anticipated.
Final notes: Not sure you’ll find a better trail race anywhere. It is outstanding in every aspect. The one issue with taking g a wrong turn confused me, as everything else was so well done. At the end of the race I found out that a marker sign had blown away in the wind, and that aid was real, and caused some confusion.
This is a fair race. Hard, but not excessive, and absolutely stunning scenery. I highly recommend.
Great New Mexico Race!
I ran the 2023 iteration of Cedro Peak 50K. I am running a marathon/ultra in every state and I am quite pleased with this pick. Here's the good: the course … MORE
I ran the 2023 iteration of Cedro Peak 50K. I am running a marathon/ultra in every state and I am quite pleased with this pick. Here’s the good: the course is beautiful. It’s hard, but fair. I have run races that were so hard they were absurd. This was challenging, but not excessively so. The first 10 miles actually are pretty mellow. I had visions of a PR. The last 20 miles are much more hilly. The scenery is spectacular. The course is probably 99% on trails, mostly single track with some jeep trails here and there. There are some rocks and roots, but overall the trails are smooth and fun to run on. The race director Val is awesome. She sends enough information that you feel prepared, but not so much your inbox is cluttered. I was traveling for the race and she accommodated me picking up my bib on race day since I wasn’t in town when everyone else picked theirs up. I am appreciative of that flexibility. The aid stations are great. Every volunteer was friendly. There is MORE than enough fuel and hydration to complete 31 miles. All I brought was a water bottle and that was plenty. The aid stations have great food, water/Tailwind/Gatorade, and are frequent enough that I never came close to bonking. The post game party was fun. There are tons of picnic tables to sit and eat/drink/rest. They have a grill with fabulous burgers to help with caloric replacement. I could smell the burgers cooking on the last mile of the race. What great motivation to finish! I also appreciated there were volunteers checking each runner at every aid station. That’s a nice safety feature that my family appreciates. Part of the run takes you to the top of a mountain. I recommend taking a moment when you summit and taking in the scenery. The medal is solid, a cool wood design of the mountain. The tech shirt is cool too. It’s not cluttered with a bunch of advertisements like so many. I will actually use this one (I keep ~25% of the shirts I get from races) . The April timing of the race is good. The sun rises early, it’s cool to start, but warms up without getting hot. 2023 weather was divine. It was upper 30s to start, got to the upper 50s by my finish. Quite pleasant!
One thing to consider: the altitude is no joke. If you live in NM, it’s probably no big deal. I came from sea level and definitely noticed. The entire race is above 7,000 feet in elevation. If you can prepare for that, the race will be more enjoyable.
Great race. Highly recommend!