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Ultras · US · VA

Grayson Highlands 50 Mile / 50k / 25k

2026 Grayson Highlands 50 Mile / 50K / 25K
25K · 25K
Ran · this year's race is done.
Held as scheduled May 2-3, 2026 (50 Mile and 50K on Saturday, 25K and 8 Mile on Sunday). 50 Mile: 125 finishers of 131 starters. 50K: 259 finishers of 266 starters. 25K: 170 finishers of 175 starters.
Race dateMay 3, 2026
Start8:30am
When111 days ago
First held2015
Free, and always will be. NavRun makes money from race-day planning for runners who want it, never from this. Ultras change constantly, sometimes the morning of. Always confirm with the race director and the official website before you rely on anything here.
Distance 25K
Climb 3,000 ft
Descent not checked yet
High point not checked yet
Time limit 6:00:00
Aid stations 2
Started 175
Finished 170
Finish rate 97%
The course

Where it goes loop · 2 aid stations

No official GPX on file yet. These are the aid station coordinates, not the trail. Have the GPX? Send us the link.

A 25K (about 15.5 mile) loop starting and finishing at the Grayson Highlands Visitor Center, the shortest ultra-adjacent distance offered at this race weekend (a non-ultra 8 Mile is also offered but is out of scope for this fill; see _meta.notes). Handbook FAQ ranks it 'Beginner Friendly.' Runs on the same park trail system and highland balds as the 50K and 50 Mile, though the exposure warning in the runners handbook is framed as hitting 'especially the ultras' hardest.

ATRA: '100% on un-paved trails,' 'more single track than you can imagine.' The aid-station chart and GPX currently published for this distance are dated/labeled as the 2027 (not 2026) course and were deliberately excluded from this fill; see _meta.notes for the full reasoning. Only the Start and Finish, both at the Visitor Center and unaffected by any mid-course change, are recorded below.

The race

What this one is

A 50 Mile, 50K and 25K trail race sharing one start/finish at the Grayson Highlands State Park Visitor Center in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, crossing the open, treeless highland balds where a managed herd of wild ponies roams. The course runs over Little Pinnacle / Haw Orchard Mountain at 5,089 feet, described by the American Trail Running Association as the highest race in Virginia, with views of Mount Rogers, the state's highest point.

Run Bum Tours' own registration page calls the 2027 edition the '13th annual Grayson Highlands trail races,' implying a 2015 first year, corroborated by ultrasignup.com's own results archive for this event listing back to 2015. The American Trail Running Association's event page separately states a first year of 2018, a conflict recorded here rather than resolved (see _meta.notes). The 50K-specific results on UltraSignup go back to 2016 and the 50 Mile distance's results only as far as 2020, consistent with the event having grown its distance lineup over time, though no source states this directly.

Getting in

Getting in Entry, lottery and what the race asks of you before race day.

Lottery
not checked yet
Lottery opens
not checked yet
Lottery draw
not checked yet
Field cap
not checked yet
Registration
UltraSignup ultrasignup.com
Qualifying
not checked yet
Minimum age
not checked yet
Transfers
No runbumtours.com
Deferrals
No runbumtours.com
Crew, pacers and drop bags

The rules that shape your day Anything marked "not checked yet" is a gap in what we hold, never a no from the race.

Crew allowed
not checked yet
Vehicles per runner
not checked yet
Pacers
not checked yet
Muling
not checked yet
Drop bags
No docs.google.com
Cupless
Yes runbumtours.com
Course marking
not checked yet
Night running
No docs.google.com
Dogs
Not allowed runbumtours.com
Headphones
not checked yet
Crew rules
not checked yet
Pacer rules
not checked yet
Drop bag rules
not checked yet
Cutoff philosophy
'ATTENTION 25K RUNNERS: You have 4.5 hours to get to the camp store, if you do not make this cutoff, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE.' Handbook FAQ ranks this course 'Beginner Friendly.' docs.google.com
Aid stations

Every stop, and what you get there ● yes   · no   ? nobody has checked

Mile Station Cutoff Crew Bag Pacer Med To next
0.00 Grayson Highlands Visitor Center ? ? ? ? 15.53
15.53 Grayson Highlands Visitor Center ? ? ? ? ?
Same race, other lines

Other distances and other years

Other distances
50 Mile (50.5M)
50K (30M)
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Where this came from. Every fact on this page records its source and when we last checked it: 74 sources for this race. Hover a source link to read the sentence it came from.
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