2024 Collegiate Mountain Running National Championships Coming to Utah

The Collegiate Running Association has announced the 2024 Collegiate Mountain Running National Championships will take place on July 13 at the Snowbird Race, hosted by the Cirque Series in Snowbird, Utah.
 

For the sixth year, prize money will be distributed to the top college finishers in the men’s and women’s collegiate championships. This marks the first time the Cirque Series Snowbird Race will host the Collegiate National Championships and the first time the event will host the U.S. and Collegiate National Championships concurrently.
 

The Snowbird Race will also serve as the USATF Mountain Running Championships, a selection race for the 2024 Senior Men’s and Women’s U.S. Mountain Running Team. The top two U.S. men and women overall finishers in the men’s and women’s races will automatically qualify to represent Team USA at the NACAC Mountain Running Championships to be held August 3rd-4, 2024, in Villa del Carbon, Mexico.
 

In the fast-growing sport of mountain running, this tough 8.7-mile race will force participants to climb over 3,566 feet. The race course is located in the Salt Lake Ranger District, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, with the fun starting at the Creekside base area located at 7,760 feet in elevation. At the start, competitors will run up towards Mid-Gad, and then participants will head east onto Rothman Way, connecting to the steep Peruvian service road on the Peruvian Gulch Trail. From there, runners will turn onto the Ridge trail, where they will feel the legs burn with large sweeping views of Snowbird’s Cirque and Mt. Baldy, ending up on Hidden Peak with expansive views of the entire Wasatch Range.

The beautiful, dramatic views will provide an opportunity to catch your breath as participants loop around the backside of Hidden Peak and make their way down to Gorilla Pass and head straight up to the Summit of Mt. Baldy, the highest point in the race at an eye-popping 11,068 feet elevation. From the high point, runners will make their way down a steep and technical section of trail, being sure to save enough energy for one more uphill section to the cool, refreshing shade and air of Snowbird’s Ski through Tunnel. From this iconic spot on the course, it will be a final mix of dirt roads and single track for the final 3-mile stretch down Peruvian Gulch, passing by Oktoberfest plaza & the Mountain coaster, then into the Finish Line back in Creekside.
 

“We are excited to head to Utah for the first time with our mountain running championships,” said Steve Taylor, co-founder of the Collegiate Running Association. “Utah is one of the premier mountain and trail running destinations in the U.S., and the Cirques Series Snowbird Race delivers a great destination event with a course that will challenge athletes at every level. Add many professional and top collegians train during the summer months in nearby Park City, Utah makes it even more intriguing. I’m sure participants will be truly inspired by the course, the people, and the scenery. To be able to partner with the Cirque Series for the Snowbird Race is a win-win for the athletes, community, and the sport of mountain running. Prize money reserved specifically for college students, plus prize money for the top U.S. runners, coupled with the opportunity to qualify for the USA Mountain Running Team, all within the same event, is exciting.”
 

“When we created the Collegiate Running Association in 2013, one of our objectives was to promote and open opportunities in mountain and trail running to college students,” said Jon Molz, co-founder of the Collegiate Running Association. “To date, all of our mountain running championships have been held alongside the U.S. championships. Since our first collegiate mountain running championship in 2014, 12 college students have qualified for the U.S. Mountain Running Team through their performance at the U.S. and Collegiate Championships. We believed introducing competitive championship opportunities in mountain running for college students would ultimately help Team USA grow even stronger at the international level. It’s exciting to see that become a reality.”
 

Cirque Series Director Julian Carr expressed similar enthusiasm over the partnership with the Collegiate Running Association, saying, “We are thrilled to have the Collegiate Mountain Running National Championship as part of our Snowbird Race this year. This race is such a fun event and is located in a great venue. Hosting this and the USATF Mountain Championship at the same time will certainly up the excitement level for all the athletes and spectators. We are especially eager to see these college runners competing against some of the best-known trail and mountain racers around. And, of course, we are elated to introduce more people to the Cirque Series as destination events.”
 

Julian founded the Cirque Series, which is in its sixth season. Widely recognized for the biggest airs in skiing, Carr has been featured in seven Warren Miller films, developing a reputation not only for big airs but for all-around skiing. He’s been recognized and received the 2021 George Mallory Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also received the ‘Photo of the Year’ award from Powder Magazine, won the prestigious Sickbird Award on the Freeskiing World Tour, X-Games GOLD Medalist, 3rd Place in esteemed Powder Magazine Reader Poll, and he holds two world records in cliff jump height. Julian serves as an ambassador for Protect Our Winters (POW) and is a board member of the Conservation Lands Foundation. He’s the founder of Discrete Clothing, along with Blake Broncos – a classic Ford Bronco restoration business.
 

A Cirque Series event, the Snowbird Race is open to the public and one to place on your summer schedule as a destination event. Top runners will compete for prize money in the USATF Championships and separate prize money for the Collegiate Championships. To be eligible to compete in the Collegiate Mountain Running Championships, participants must either be enrolled in a college course at the time of the race or have completed at least one course between January 1 and July 13, 2024. Collegiate participants must also be free members of the Collegiate Running Association to be eligible for the collegiate prize money. To qualify for the US Mountain Running Team, participants must be current members of USATF and finish in the top two in the U.S. Championship.
 

The Cirque Series, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, produces premiere max elevation gain, short distance, mountain adventure races in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Alaska. The races are held on scenic mountain trails in destination locations.
 

“Our U.S. mountain running program has greatly benefited from the work that Steve Taylor and Jon Molz have accomplished with the Collegiate Running Association. Fostering competitive opportunities for our nation’s collegiate runners has been instrumental in attracting and retaining these same athletes well into their future in our sport. It’s the perfect fit for our US Championship program and enhances the appeal to media, sponsors, and fans of our sport,” said Nancy Hobbs, USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Council chairperson.

Registration for the Snowbird Race is now open…Hurry, the race is limited to 500 participants and has sold out early in the past: