Marmot Dark Mountains™ takes the classic two-day mountain marathon format and gives it a new… darker twist. Rather than two days of running with an overnight camp in between, Marmot Dark Mountains™ packs everything into one winter’s night!

This challenging event takes place on the last weekend of January (25th and 26th in 2014) and like most regular mountain marathons, Marmot Dark Mountains™ is a pair’s event.

Marmot Dark Mountains™ is based on the usual mountain marathon format with Elite, A, B, C, Long and Short Score classes for competitors to choose from. Usually at a mountain marathon the nature of the terrain dictates the distance of each course with the planners designing a course with a certain winning time. We are sticking with this principle but allowing for the added difficulty of navigating and running at night. Therefore although the winning time for your chosen class will be similar to a normal mountain marathon, the overall distance will be significantly less.

The event kicks-off on the Saturday evening with the longest classes setting off first for dusk-to-dawn racing. The shorter classes will set off later in the evening with the aim of most competitors finishing within an hour or so of each other the following Sunday morning. This makes for an exciting finale as all the courses and most of the competitors converge on the finish as dawn breaks.

Marmot Dark Mountains™ is meant to be challenging but with the courses remaining open until 1200 on the Sunday there will be sufficient time for everyone to complete their course and share in the success.

It goes without saying that there will a hearty breakfast and hot drinks available to everyone as they finish. Competitors may also sleep at the Event Centre, which we recommend, before traveling home.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Shane Ohly
Race Director