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Ultras · US · NC

Quest for the Crest

50K · 34.36 miles
Registration open
Registration is open on UltraSignup and closes the night before the race.
Race dateMay 15-16, 2027
Duration2 days
Start5:30am
Whenin 203 days

Who's going to Quest for the Crest?

I'm running itPlan your weeks and your aid station times I'm crewingWhen to leave, where to park, at every stop I'm pacing or cheeringAsk your runner for their Out Here link

Free. You can start with nothing.

Official website Entry Aid stations Crew access Notify me if this race changes
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
34.36 miles
Climb The race
12,000 ft
Descent The race
12,000 ft
High point
not checked yet
Time limit The race
15:00:00
Aid stations
9
Started
not checked yet
Finished
not checked yet
Finish rate
not checked yet
The course

Where it goes point to point · 9 aid stations · rust marks a stop your crew can reach

Course line from the race's own GPX. Source file. Year of this file not known.

A point-to-point 50K with four major climbs and 12,000 feet of gain. It climbs to Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, and finishes at Neals Creek Field. Every runner rides the mandatory shuttle to the start.

Four major climbs and 12,000 feet of gain. Runners filter water from springs between aid stations. The race says this should not be a first trail race.

The race

What this one is

A mountain trail race out of Burnsville, North Carolina, with a 50K, a 25K and an 11K, all point to point and all heading for Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. The 50K and 25K start by mandatory shuttle and finish at Neals Creek Field. The 11K climbs from the field to the summit and shuttles runners back down.

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 runbumtours.com
Qualifying
not checked yet
Minimum age
not checked yet
Transfers
No runbumtours.com
Deferrals
not checked yet
Crew access, 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
Yes docs.google.com
Vehicles per runner
not checked yet
Pacers
not checked yet
Muling
not checked yet
Drop bags
Yes docs.google.com
Cupless
Yes docs.google.com
Course marking
not checked yet
Night running
not checked yet
Dogs
Not allowed runbumtours.com
Headphones
not checked yet
Crew rules
Crew can reach two points: the Colberts Creek Road trailhead (aid station 2) by car, and Mt. Mitchell (aid station 4) by shuttle only, with a shuttle ticket for each crew person bought in advance through UltraSignup. Crews and spectators are not allowed at the start. docs.google.com
Pacer rules
not checked yet
Drop bag rules
Drop bags are accepted at Colbert's Creek Rd (aid station 2) only. docs.google.com
Cutoff philosophy
Cutoffs are not made with one pace set for the entire day. Each is based on the terrain and elevation of its own segment. runbumtours.com
Aid stations

Every stop, and what you get there ● yes   ○ no   ? nobody has checked   – does not apply to this race

Mile Station Cutoff Crew access Bag Pacer Med To next
? Start
NoneSignal wrong?
 ? ? ? ? ? ?
7.50 Bowlens Creek
NoneSignal wrong?
 8:15am ○ ○ ? ? 2.70
10.20 Spring #1
NoneSignal wrong?
 ? ○ ○ ? ? 7.80
18.00 Colbert's Creek Rd
NoneSignal wrong?
 1:00pm ● ● ? ? 1.50
19.50 Buncombe
NoneSignal wrong?
 2:20pm ○ ○ ? ? 2.80
22.30 Spring #2
NoneSignal wrong?
 ? ○ ○ ? ? 2.20
24.50 Spring #3
NoneSignal wrong?
 ? ○ ○ ? ? 2.50
27.00 Mt. Mitchell
NoneSignal wrong?
 5:30pm ● ○ ? ? ?
? Finish
NoneSignal wrong?
 8:30pm ? ? ? ? ?
Driving your crew

Getting your people there 1 stop with directions the race published.

Colbert's Creek Rd mile 18.00 cutoff 1:00pm

Search Colbert Ridge Trail Head in Google Maps, or use the GPS coordinates 35.80662, -82.20543. Watch for runners on the road. Do not block driveways; carpool if you can. Front runners are expected about 2.5 to 3.5 hours in, slower runners 5 hours or more.

docs.google.com
Same race, other lines

Other distances and other years

What it looks like out there

Somebody has been out there with a camera the tables say the climb is long. these say what long feels like.

3 people have been out there with a camera or a microphone.

Official channel

Run Bum Tours on YouTube

Official channel
Social account

Run Bum Races on Instagram

Social account
Social account

Run Bum Tours on Facebook

Social account
All (3) Official channel (1) Social account (2)

These are other people's work and we link straight to them. Watching costs nothing and needs no account. More of them: every race we hold, on film.

Add to this page

What you know every one of these is read by a person before it changes anything

Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know.

Nobody sees it until we have read it. No account, no sign-in.

Leave blank if it applies to the whole race.

Leave blank if it is not about one particular stop.

Optional. Something like “Cal Street, mile 62 to 78”.

Write it the way you would say it to someone at the start line.

Optional, and it decides nothing. It only tells the next runner where this is coming from.

Optional.

Optional, and never shown on the page. Only so we can ask you a question about this note.

Leave this field blank.

See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit.

This changes nothing on the page on its own. Somebody checks it against the race first.

Optional. Filled in for you when you start from a specific line on the page.

Copy it as it appears, so we can find it.

The corrected value.

Required. Where it came from: the race email, the runner manual, what you saw on the day.

Optional.

Optional. A screenshot or a photo of the sign works.

Optional, and it decides nothing.

Optional.

Optional, only so we can come back to you about this correction.

Leave blank if it is about the whole race.

Leave blank if it is not about one particular stop.

Leave this field blank.

Seen a course preview or a film of this one? Send it over.

Somebody watches it before it goes anywhere near this page. What we are after is footage of this course, on the ground. If it would be just as true of any other race, it is not this.

Required. A line is plenty. Where the climbs are, what the footing does, what the last twenty miles look like.

Optional, and it decides nothing.

Optional.

Optional, and never shown on the page. Only so we can ask you a question about this one.

A YouTube link, a race report, a photo gallery, whatever it is.

Optional, and we credit them on the page.

Leave this field blank.

Have the GPX? Send us the link.

We want the address of the file the race publishes, not the file. We download it from there so the page can say where the line came from.

The page or file on the race's own site.

Optional, and only so we can ask you a question about it.

Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.

We read every one of these and we write back. Every fact here carries the source it came from, and the way a wrong one gets fixed is a person checking it against what you tell us.

Required, because this is a conversation and we write back.

Tell us what is wrong, out of date, or missing on this page. We read every one of these and we will get back to you.

Optional.

So we know who we are writing back to.

Optional. Director, assistant, comms, whoever you are.

Leave this field blank.

Where this came from. Every fact on this page records its source and when we last checked it: 104 sources for this race. Hover a source link to read the sentence it came from.
36% of what we track for a course is filled in. The rest says "not checked yet" rather than guessing.
See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit
Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know
Were you out there? Say which stops a text got out from
Got footage of this course? Send us the link
Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.
Anything else: [email protected]

Ultras change. We will tell you when this one does.

Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.

No account, and nothing to cancel.

What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.

I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.

Ultras change. We will tell you when this one does.

Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.

No account, and nothing to cancel.

What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.

I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.