New Off-Trail Foot Race Sends Runners Bushwhacking Across Blacktail Mountain
The inaugural Blacktail Balderdash adventure race, which doesn't reveal its course until one day before the Aug. 8 event, promises something for everyone. It also promises runners "you will get lost."
By Tristan Scott
Runners participating in the Blacktail Balderdash near Lakeside this weekend still do not know the course route because the inaugural foot race’s organizers refuse to reveal it.
That’s by design, race organizers say, “to keep your imaginations active and your creative juices alive.”
But even after participants receive the mysterious route beta for the sparsely marked course, which on Aug. 8 will send runners bushwhacking through dense woods, across grassy glades and up and down ski runs serving the Blacktail Mountain Ski Area, they aren’t guaranteed success.
“No beating around the bush, the Blacktail Balderdash is hard,” the race’s registration website states. “You will more than likely get lost, confused, frustrated, and may want to send us hate mail before the halfway point. Whether you believe it or not, you can push yourself harder than you think, and in that uncertainty lies the beauty of the challenge.”
The Blacktail Balderdash is the brainchild of Seth King, a Flathead Valley ultrarunner who drew inspiration for the local race from the Barkley Fall Classic, a spicy 50-kilometer trail race and lottery-bound event held annually at Frozen Head State Park in Wartburg, Tenn. Created in 2014 by Lazarus Lake, the founder of the notorious Barkley Marathons, the Barkley Fall Classic is widely considered the “Baby Barkley” — an antipasto to give runners a taste of the iconic full marathon’s gut-churning demands.
For King, a 27-year-old endurance junkie who grew up in South Carolina, the race experience was a revelation.
“I ran the Barkley Fall Classic last year,” King said. “I loved that race so much, and it was so different than anything I have ever done, I realized we needed something like it around here.”
After returning to northwest Montana, King began scouting for course venues. He reached out to Jessi Wood, general manager at Blacktail Mountain Ski Area, about hosting a race during the ski area’s summer operations season.
“She was stoked, and I immediately started designing the course,” King said.
A signature element of the Barkley Fall Classic and the Barkley Marathons is that the course remains a mystery until the eleventh hour, which helps ensure the race’s finishing rate remains at a single-digit quotient. King replicated that format at the Balderdash, but added a dash of intrigue by designing a course featuring two 5-mile loops that runners will tackle in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. Participants can register for one of three course options with ascending tiers of difficulty: A green course leads runners on a single 5-mile loop; a blue course “explores all corners and crevices” of Blacktail as it sends runners around both loops covering 10 miles and 5,000 feet of elevation gain; and a black course consisting of two loops of the blue course “as we challenge your psyche along with your body” over 20 miles and 10,000 feet of elevation gain.
“We’ve tried to be really transparent about what people should expect so they’re not blindsided,” King said, though he concedes that blindsiding runners is also kind of the point.
“It’s a challenging course, but runners don’t need prerequisite skills. It’s not an orienteering race and the course will be flagged all the way through,” King said.
The race is organized by the Floral Park Mountain Club, a nonprofit running and outdoor recreation club that King and local mountain runner Keegan Siebenaler founded in 2025. Along with local ultrarunner Alice Held, they host weekly “Dirt and Glitter” group runs and have worked to connect the Flathead Valley’s trail and ultrarunners in an inclusive setting tailored for runners of all abilities.
“One of the biggest pieces of positive feedback we’ve gotten is that people appreciate having a consistent group run that is welcoming to all pace ranges,” King said. “And we do silly things like the Bob Dylan Harmonica Mile where everyone runs a mile around the track with a harmonica in their mouth.”
Along those same lines, the Blacktail Balderdash (intimidating though its “get lost” caveats may be) is designed with the full spectrum of runners in mind, from beginner to advanced.
“This is definitely not a trail race, and it’s definitely not an orienteering race,” King said. “It’s a completely unique race and there are some secret surprises that runners will appreciate on race day. We want people to challenge themselves in ways that they maybe haven’t in other outdoor activities while providing the support of a race environment.”
Because the race starts and finishes at the summit lodge on Blacktail Mountain, the event will be spectator friendly. The course also features three aid stations stocked with a variety of nutrition and hydration options, including Skratch Labs, SaltStick and more.
Runners are required to carry bear spray, a liter of water and an emergency whistle. The list of recommended gear includes a GPS, phone or navigational device; compass; extra nutrition; sunscreen; bug spray; hiking poles; gaiters or pants.
Packet pickup is Aug. 7 at Sweet Peaks Ice Cream in Kalispell from 4-8 p.m. A post-race awards ceremony at Bias Brewing in Kalispell is on deck at 6:30 p.m.
“We want you to feel a little bit lost out there in the woods,” King said. “We want you to work with others or find it within yourself to navigate up and down very steep terrain. It’ll be a different kind of challenge for everyone.”
For more information and to register for the event, visit https://www.adventuresignup.com/Race/MT/Lakeside/BlacktailBalderdash