The Quest for the Crest Trail Races are held in the Black Mountains of Western North Carolina, about 60-90 minutes outside of Asheville, NC. It’s an easy drive to Burnsville or fly into Asheville and rent a car. Quest for the Crest comes from the fact that during the 50K …
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The Quest for the Crest Trail Races are held in the Black Mountains of Western North Carolina, about 60-90 minutes outside of Asheville, NC. It’s an easy drive to Burnsville or fly into Asheville and rent a car.
Quest for the Crest comes from the fact that during the 50K you go from the valley floor to the top of the Black Mountain Crest Trail three separate times. Each time you are doing massive vertical gains to get to the top! Reaching the CREST becomes harder and harder thus more of a QUEST. I think the word QUEST is a great way to describe the 50k course. On a QUEST one will experience a sense of happiness, failure, redemption, and ultimately success if they stay course. When I did the course myself I experienced all of these things and then some. The remoteness of the course only adds to the beauty and the depth at which you appreciate the QUEST. When one embarks on a QUEST they are searching for something.
Quest for the Crest 50k has 11,300 ft of gain, 11,700 ft of loss on this insane point to point race! It’s very simple… THIS IS THE HARDEST 50K IN THE WORLD! While this race may not go to 11,000 ft in altitude like those hard western races, it makes this up in technical difficulty. 98% single track.
You have 3 big climbs and 3 big downhills that will give you 3,000 + ft of change per climb/descent. This race tops out at 6,684 ft at the summit of Mt. Mitchell, the HIGHEST point East of the Mississippi! The first climb is a vertical k. Within the first 11 miles you have done close to 10,000 ft of elevation change!!!
50% of this race occurs above 5,000 ft. You will crest 6 peaks above 6,000 ft along the Black Mountain Crest, aka the highest mountain chain East of the Mississippi! The views are insane. All of the trails we use are EXTREMELY technical. You will be climbing up on all fours and down on all fours in MULTIPLE locations. There are fixed ropes in sections where it is very steep.
Straight Up Kilometer/10k overview: Run two races in one. The Straight Up Kilometer to the top of the climb and the 10k which is from the bottom to the top and back down the other side! The prize money is for the Straight Up K only. You can run the Straight Up K and then just walk down the other side. You don’t have to race both but we will give you a time for both. Runners take on a 2.8 mile climb that goes from 2,900 ft up to 6,200 ft! You will be on all 4 fours and climbing what is without a doubt one of the hardest trails in the world! Unlike other SUK events, you will have to run down the other side from the top. This is two races in one race! We call it the world’s hardest 10k for how crazy it is. TEST YOURSELF! Course Record is 1:02.
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Hardest & Most Scenic 50k in America
Incredibly challenging race that is closer to 36 miles than 31 miles and has 24,000feet of elevation change. You climb 3 peaks of over 6000 feet including the highest peak … MORE
Incredibly challenging race that is closer to 36 miles than 31 miles and has 24,000feet of elevation change. You climb 3 peaks of over 6000 feet including the highest peak east of the Mississippi Mount Mitchell at almost 6700 feet. The trail is extremely technical with few “runnable” sections. It is much harder than most 50 mile ultras and has a 14.5 hour cutoff. You will need it. Definitely a bucket list race for hardcore ultra trail runners.