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It’s an exciting weekend for all of us as the 21st Tamalpa Headlands 50k presented by UltraRunning Magazine headlines the North American calendar on Saturday, August 19. Other big races include the Leadville 100 in Colorado, the Marquette Trail 50/50 in Michigan and more.
After being dormant for a few years, the former two-time National Championship race, the Tamalpa Headlands 50k, is back at Santos Meadow in Muir Beach, California. The course features a looped route that runs through the Marin Headlands, the Dipsea Trail and parts of Mount Tamalpais State Park while collecting 6,500 feet of elevation gain. There will be a podium prize purse of $3,500 split evenly between the women and men, as well as plenty of other awards, along with a free kids race. The race is sold out, but listen to our UR Podcast on race details and check out the live tracking on race day.
On the same day in Leadville, Colorado, a city known for being the highest incorporated town in the United States, is one of the country’s largest 100-mile races: the Leadville Trail 100 Run. The course is 50 miles out-and-back, up and over the 12,600-foot Hope Pass and consists mostly of forest service roads and trails. Affectionately known as the “Race Across the Sky,” the majority of the Leadville 100 is spent at an altitude of 10,000 feet and higher.
Also on Saturday in Marquette, Michigan, is the Marquette Trail 50k/50m. The 50k is a single loop with the 50-miler course made of multiple loops, but both courses are primarily single track. Runners will climb four peaks: Sugarloaf, Top-of-the-World, Bareback and Hogback. Each peak has tremendous views of Lake Superior, and portions of the courses traverse the shoreline as well.
A slew of other races fill our calendar this weekend including, but not limited to, the Twisted Branch Trail Run 100k in Naples, New York, the Squamish 50k/50-miler in Squamish, British Columbia, the Bulldog 50k in Calabasas, California, the Lean Horse 50k/50-mile/100-mile in Custer, South Dakota, Southern Fried 50k/50-mile in Columbus, Georgia, the Vertigo Night Runs 52k Waddell, Arizona, and the Backcountry Rise Trail Run 50k/50-miler Toutle, Washington, all on Saturday, August 19.
If you’re racing the Tamalpa Headlands 50k this weekend, be sure to say ‘hello’ as many of the magazine’s team members will be out volunteering on the course. And if you’re racing somewhere else this weekend, enjoy the miles and let us know how it goes.