What’s Up in Ultra This Weekend — October 7

Welcome to the first full weekend of October on our UltraRunning Calendar. Fall is in the air, but there are still some hot pockets around the continent. We’ve got races in Arizona, Southern California, Illinois and loads more than we could possibly list. 

In Flagstaff, Arizona, the Flagstaff Sky Peaks Mountain Runs 50k/50m races are on Saturday, October 7. These high-altitude, lollipop-shaped mountain races start and finish at the Flagstaff Hotshots Ranch and include a visit to the top of the Arizona Snowbowl with views of Mt. Humphreys and Agassiz Peak. Both courses feature combinations of single-track trail running along the renowned Arizona Trail, steep terrain and views of the San Francisco Peaks. Live tracking is available here.

Nearly 300 runners are registered for the Cuyamaca 100k, held about one hour east of San Diego, California. The majority of the course lies within the boundaries of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and consists of three distinct loops, all of which start and end at Camp Cuyamaca. Racers will summit the 6,500-foot Cuyamaca Peak on the first loop and the final loop takes athletes onto the historic Pacific Crest Trail. Last year, a new men’s course record was set, and conditions look to be cool enough that it could happen again in either field on Saturday. Check back on Sunday to find the results in our Ultra Weekend Recap.

Traveling northeast, we find the Hennepin Hundred in Sterling, Illinois, on Saturday and Sunday, October 8. There are also accompanying 50k and 50-mile races. Touted as Illinois’s only point-to-point trail ultra, athletes will start in Sterling on the Rock River and run along the historic Hennepin Canal before finishing in Colona near the mighty Mississippi River. The 50-mile and 100-mile races are flat and fast, cross historic locks and lift bridges, past autumn corn, picturesque farms and postcard towns of northwest Illinois. The Hennepin Hundred is the perfect place to run a PR to close out the year, but unfortunately, that will have to wait until 2024 unless you’re already registered, as all the races are currently sold out.

Also on our calendar is the Hudson River 50 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the Arkansas Traveller 100-miler in Perryville, Arkansas, the StumpJump 50k in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Bromont Ultra 55k/80k/100-miler in Bromont, Québec, the Midstate Massive Ultra Trail 30/50/100-milers in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, the Whitefish Trail Legacy Run 50k Whitefish, Montana, and the DC Peaks 50-miler Kaysville, Utah.

If you’re racing elsewhere this weekend let us know What’s Up In Ultra in your world by leaving a link below, and be sure to come back on Sunday for our weekend recap. If you don’t get our Thursday newsletter, subscribe here to get all things ultrarunning from the “voice of the sport” each week.