Mammoth Cave 50K/25K

Join us for the 3rd running of Mammoth Cave 50K/25K trail race on Saturday, October 28, 2023, in beautiful Mammoth Cave National Park! 

Named after the historic railroad that once roared through Mammoth Cave National Park from 1886 through 1931, the Bike & Hike Trail provides a scenic, wooded experience within the Park on a crushed gravel surface. The out-and-back trail offers some challenging ascents/descents along its scenic crushed stone route, and is perfect for the first-time trail runner or racers looking to set a lightening fast PR!

The race will start at 7:00 AM (Central), for both distances, from the Bell's Tavern Pavilion in Park City, KY.

New for 2023:

Updated Pricing. The goal of this race is to benefit the Mammoth Cave National Park, but with the establishment of a permanent “home” for the start/finish area, we want to also share some love to Park City, KY. In order to provide benefit to both Mammoth Cave and Park City, plus provide you with a great race experience, we are making a small price increase to the registration fees.

For the past 2 years, the 50K registration fee has been $85 and the 25K fee was $65, with NO price increases as the race date neared. Beginning with the 2023 race, we will be implementing 3 different levels of pricing, based on registration dates as follows:

• Those who register on opening day (March 15th) will receive last year’s pricing ($85 for the 50K, $65 for the 25K).

• The very next day (March 16th), pricing will increase to $95 for the 50K and $75 for the 25K.

• Fees will then increase to $105 (50K) and $85 (25K) on September 1st for any remaining spots.

We feel that this pricing structure is fair and will still provide a great value for our runners, especially considering some of the additional benefits we are planning. If you’ve been paying attention to our Facebook page, you have seen that we are bringing in the astounding photographic talents of Jenny El Tee, who is a highly sought after race photographer who has worked the Kettle Moraine, Midwest States, Barkley Fall Classic and many others. She will be shooting pictures along the course which will be available to you free for digital downloads.

Due to National Park restrictions, registration will be capped. At present, we are opening registration to the same 2022 level of 100 runners, with the hopes of increasing pending permit approval. We will open the initial registration to 50 entries for the 50K and 50 entries for the 25K. Based on demand, we may open additional spots in the 50K distance by eliminating open spots in the 25K, or vice versa and adjust as needed. 

With the cap of 100 runners, we expect this event to sell out quickly!

Understand this is a trail race. We are limited based on where the trail goes. So unlike a road race, the distance is never exact. This is common knowledge to most everyone who has run trail races in the past but it never fails and there is always one who is upset that their GPS watch showed 16.5 miles when the race said it was a 25K. Everyone is racing the same course, therefore it's an even playing field. 

This will be a "cupless" race. Runners will need to provide their own collapsible cups, bottles or hydration packs for refill at the aid stations.

COVID precautions & safeguards may be enforced based on CDC guidelines at time of the event.

For lodging options within the Park, please visit https://www.nps.gov/maca/planyourvisit/lodging.htm. Camping reservations are available at https://www.nps.gov/maca/planyourvisit/camping.htm.

Please note that NO REFUNDS will be provided for cancellations. You can, however, defer your entry to the following year.

UPDATE: We just secured an environmentally sustainable t-shirt manufacturer, so new this year will (finally!) be race shirts that we can feel good about and will look amazing! Note that all sizes are Unisex . . . I have samples coming so that I can report back on how true to size they are. Go ahead and make your size selection, and we can adjust once I receive the samples.

Course Map can be located at https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/map-august-22-2022-5a7b238?u=i&sh=d9ndg3