Heavy snow means change of course for The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB

Set to take place on April 28-29, The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB ultra running event has been forced to create alternative courses due to heavy snowfall.

Based in Auburn, northern California, the event takes in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. A release from the event organisers noted…

‘The Northern, Central and Southern Sierras and their surrounding foothills have experienced a historic amount of snowfall this past winter, and the snowpack is near all-time highs. Our teams and land partners have not to date been able to access significant portions of The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB course to perform required trail work that needs to be completed to open up the trail and receive the necessary permits for the race.

‘Happily, we used this winter to work with local partners and officials to create alternate courses for the 100km and 100-mile races that are not snow-affected. We are pleased that, despite the difficulties associated with too much snow in the Sierras, we will be able to deliver great running experiences on the western slope of the Sierras.

‘Much will be familiar: over 50% of the new 100-mile and 100K routes will run on the Western States Trail and provide beautiful views of the American River Canyons, lush foothills bursting with wildflowers and rushing waters of the Middle and North Forks of the American River.

‘In a first, this year all distances of The Canyons by UTMB will both start and finish in downtown Auburn. A Chamonix-style festival in downtown Auburn will now greet all runners as they finish their journey from Friday night through Saturday night. Family, friends, and our entire team will cheer as we welcome runners to The Canyons for our first ever UTMB World Series Major in the United States.’

• All distances (25K, 50K, 100K and 100-mile) of The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB will now start and finish in downtown, Auburn.
• The 100-mile courses will now have approximately 17,000’ of elevation gain and loss. With this update, the overall race cut-off time changes to 32 hours from 36 hours.
• The 100K course will now have approximately 10,500’ of elevation gain and loss. With this update, the overall race cut-off time changes to 19 hours from 20 hours.
• The 25K and 50K courses remain unchanged.
• Running Stones and Qualification for UTMB remains unchanged (100M = 8 Running Stones, 100K = 6 Running Stones, 50K = 4 Running Stones, 25K = 2 Running Stones).
• The Western States Endurance Runs officials have determined that the new qualifying time for the 100-mile is 32 hours and for the 100K is now 18 hours.

canyons.utmb.world