Under Armour Mountain Running Series Returning to Copper Mountain Resort

The Under Armour Mountain Running Series will return to Copper Mountain Resort this summer, but in its second go-around the three-race series will begin at Copper rather than conclude there.

This year's event will consist of 50K, 25K, 10K and 5K trail races for running professionals and enthusiasts and will take place at Copper on Saturday, July 14. The series will continue onto Killington Resort in Vermont on Aug. 25 and conclude at Mount Bachelor Ski Resort near Bend, Oregon, on Sept. 15.

A $5,000 prize purse will be distributed across the men's and women's podium for the top three 50K finishers at each race in the series — $1,500 to the first-place male and female, $750 to second place and $250 for third place.

Registration is currently open for each race, and course details, elevation maps and training plans can be found at UAMountainRunning.com. Admission to the 50K race is $99, $79 for the 25K race, $59 for the 10K and $39 for the 5K. With registration, racers will receive a commemorative package featuring a finisher medal and an Under Armour long sleeve technical running t-shirt.

"The inaugural series last year provided an inspired experience for all our mountain and trail runners across the country who participated," said Topher Gaylord, Under Armour's general manager of outdoors. "We were energized to amplify the experience for runners in 2018, with distances for first-time trail runners to the world's elite mountain runners."

At the 2017 Copper race that concluded the series on Sept. 9, Mario Mendoza won the 50K men's race with a time of 4 hours, 20 minutes 13 seconds, while Ryan Phebus and Brett Hales also finished on the podium with times of 4:26:51 and 4:30:06 respectively.

In the women's 50K, Taylor Nowlin took the championship with a time of 5:05:12 while Brandy Erholtz and Margaret Lane also finished on the podium with times of 5:26:31 and 6:06:22 respectively. Last year's event also feature marathon, marathon relay and vertical challenge races.

"The really gnarly singletrack that you get to run through is absolutely beautiful," Adam Gerrit, Under Armour's Director of Outdoor Footwear, said of the Copper course.

Under Armour Outdoor athletes YiOu Wang, Kelly Wolf, Kyle Dietz, Bryan Tolbert, Cameron Hanes and 2017 UA 50K defending champion, Cody Reed, are expected to compete this summer.

The Copper race's 50K, 25K, 10K and 5K race courses are currently pending permit approval.

When race weekend arrives on Friday, July 13, racers will be able to pick up their race packets from 2-8 p.m. at Burning Stones Plaza. They'll also be able to pick up their packets at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday before the 50K race kicks off at 7 a.m.

The subsequent races will then begin in 30-minute intervals beginning with the 25K race start at 7:30 a.m., the 10K race start at 8 a.m. and the 5K race start at 8:30 a.m. The award ceremony will then take place at 2:30 p.m.