Welcome to what runners everywhere have deemed “hands down the hardest 10K, 25K and 50K in North America”! Boasting 12,000 ft of vertical gain in the 50k, 4,500 gain in the 25k and 3,300 ft in the 10k, this route will leave you breathless yet high on life as you …
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Welcome to what runners everywhere have deemed “hands down the hardest 10K, 25K and 50K in North America”! Boasting 12,000 ft of vertical gain in the 50k, 4,500 gain in the 25k and 3,300 ft in the 10k, this route will leave you breathless yet high on life as you take on the ridiculously technical trails and soak up the incredible views from Mt. Mitchell and the surrounding peaks. There is not one view, but several wide-open views along the highest mountain chain East of the Mississippi! The juice is worth the squeeze for this one!
Quick Facts: -ALL courses are point to point and include insane amounts of vertical climbing -Each race will put participants on all fours briefly to climb up sections. There are sections that utilize a rope. We’re not joking…IT IS STEEP! -First climb for both races is a 2.5 mile climb with 3300 ft gain -50k tackles 3 peaks including Mt. Mitchell -10k is one major climb See if you’ve got what it takes to finish this beautiful, competitive, and ridiculously challenging gem of a course!
THIS CAN NOT BE YOUR FIRST TRAIL RACE FOR ANY DISTANCE! This is a ruggedly extreme deep end of the pool race. If you can not be set sufficient in the mountains, be on all fours for brief periods where you could fall and get seriously injured, filter water at times for the 25k and 50k, then you have ZERO business being out there. IF you are winging it, not training or not an athlete then you should not run. Every year we have people who should not be out there EVEN AND ESPECIALLY FOR THE 10K! Please we ask that you take the training seriously and enjoy the process. This is a beautiful HIKE up and jog down over boulders kind of “run”. Whatever your PR is for said distance… double it and then some.
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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.