Runners participating in the Whitefish Trail Legacy Run 50k over the last few years have dealt with a physically hard end to a 31-mile event. The final miles into downtown Whitefish were run on pavement, a painful surface to pound along after hours climbing and descending singletrack trails.
That’s no longer the case, as the rebranded Whitefish Trail Blazer 50k is relocating to start and finish at Whitefish Mountain Resort (WMR). The new course comprises entirely of dirt trails and roads, cutting out several miles of pavement that bookended the climb up Big Mountain.
However, that isn’t to say the race, the brainchild of the nonprofit Whitefish Legacy Partners (WLP), is easy. If anything, it’s now a more difficult run, with an additional 2,500 vertical feet of climbing on deck for competitors.
“It’s really a legit mountain ultra now,” Whitefish Legacy Partners Program Manager Jedd Sankar-Gorton said. “We really had some great opportunities with the course changing and we’re ramping up everything in terms of spectacle.”
The new ultramarathon course begins outside Hellroaring Saloon and ascends to the summit of Big Mountain along portions of the Summit Trail, a quad-burning 2,000-foot climb right out of the gate. Runners will loop over to Flower Point and descend the Danny On Trail back towards the starting line, before continuing down another 1,500 feet to the Reservoir Trailhead. Runners will then turnaround and climb all the way back up, past the Whitefish Mountain Resort base lodge, past the finish line along Russ’s Street to the base of Chair 5 before hitting a final descent to the finish.
All told, runners will cover more than 6,300 vertical feet in just over 30 miles. Passing through the start/finish area four separate times will offer an opportunity for friends and family to maximize their spectating, which race director Cody Moore said was an important part of the redesign.
“The old course made it hard to get from one spot to another to cheer on friends. Now, you can see runners four times without ever moving, which really makes this unique in the ultrarunning world,” Moore said. “It also gives us the opportunity to turn that start/finish area into an all-day party.”
A local musician will be on hand to play throughout the afternoon as participants begin filtering through the finish line and food, beer and non-alcoholic drinks will be available for purchase. Numerous local businesses and organizations will have booths on site as well.
“I think over the years we identified that we weren’t focusing on the non-racing parts of the event enough,” Sankar-Gorton said. “We’re turning this into a celebration we want people to enjoy coming out to even if they don’t know anyone competing.”
When WLP staff first hosted the trail run in 2010, there was only a single 10-kilometer course option, meant to showcase years of work done by WLP to bring sustainable recreation options to the Whitefish community in the form of the Whitefish Trail.
The two-day Whitefish Trail Blazer weekend has since expanded to offer five races ranging from the 50k ultramarathon to a two-mile fun run. In 2023 the five races drew nearly 500 participants, including 123 finishers in the 50k.
While Saturday’s 50k run has a lot of new offerings this year, Sunday’s races near Beaver Lakes will be mostly unchanged, though with better parking, food and prizes. All four distances start and finish at the Whitefish Bike Retreat and “highlight some of the best parts of the Whitefish Trail,” Moore said.
With runners and walkers now covering more than 40 miles of singletrack among the different courses, the Trail Blazer continues WLP’s goal of showcasing its flagship project.
The Whitefish Trail currently includes 47 miles of natural trail surface and 15 different trailheads scattered in and around town, on Big Mountain and in Haskill Basin. The multi-partner project leverages land managed by the City of Whitefish, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, U.S. Forest Service, Montana State Parks and multiple private conservation easements to provide interconnected non-motorized recreational access around Whitefish Lake.
The master plan for the Whitefish Legacy Partners is to “close the loop,” ultimately allowing recreational users to circumnavigate Whitefish Lake along more than 55 miles of trail. Earlier this year, a partnership between the Flathead National Forest, Flathead Area Mountain Bikers (FAMB), WLP and WMR began trail work in the Taylor Hellroaring Project adjacent to the resort which will add more than 20 miles of non-motorized trails that will eventually connect to the Holbrook Overlook Trail, the Whitefish Trail’s most recent addition.
The future trails in the area could offer even more possibilities for the WLP to alter the Whitefish Trail Blazer 50k course, or even offer longer options in the future, but for now the goal is to continue building excitement for the homegrown community event.
“Our race partners including Flathead National Forest, the City of Whitefish, Stoltze Land and Lumber Co., and WMR, have been extremely helpful with the course and event changes. We’re excited to relaunch the event with its new name and make it as much a celebration of this great community we live in as the great trails we get to play on,” Sankar-Gorton said. “All the little pieces we keep tweaking continue to make it a more well-rounded event, and one we hope everyone wants to circle on their calendar.”
The Whitefish Trail Blazer runs take place on Oct. 5-6. To find out more or to sign up, visit https://runsignup.com/Race/MT/Whitefish/WhitefishTrailBlazer.