Description of Race Events

The Wahsatch Steeplechase is equivalent to a marathon, but run on a mountain trail with a vertical gain and loss of approximately 9000 feet in 17.5 miles. The course favors the up- hill runner right from the start, gaining 4500 vertical feet in the first 6 miles. After recovering from the seemingly endless vertical treadmill, you’ll find yourself at the top of a false summit. A greeting by the resident rattlesnake here is common, but your attention will quickly shift to negotiating “the crags” that sport a difficulty rating of 5.4 (Yosemite Decimal System) before reaching the actual summit of Black Mountain.

While the first part of the course favors the uphill runner, the rest of the course is quite the opposite--it’s all down-hill from here! As you descend from the summit to Smuggler’s Notch you’ll find a fully equipped aid station, a picture or item tacked on a tree (to insure you’re on the right trail and to verify that you’ve run the entire course) and 2.5 miles of quad-burning, gut-wrenching, knee-breaking downhill on an overgrown, root-infested single-track trail that leads to Rotary Park at the head of City Creek Canyon.

Now you’ll follow the road for 2 or 3 miles (who’s counting anyway) before moving back to the trail. The trail parallels the City Creek Canyon Road for approximately 3 miles before a short distance of pavement leads to the head of Memory Grove Canyon. Then it’s back to the trail for about 1.5 miles to the finish.

Additional Race Information