Big Cottonwood Canyon Classic

Big Cottonwood Canyon Classic - Brighton, UT

The event is a trail running race at Brighton Ski Resort, located at 8302 South Brighton Loop Road in Brighton, Utah. Two distances are offered:

• Half marathon (approximately 12 miles, ~3500 feet climb)
• 5K

The half marathon course begins near the Crest ski lift and follows resort access roads and trails to Twin Lakes, SolBright, Kruzer, and the Moonebeam base area. The route continues up Honeycomb Return Road, connects to Silver Fork Canyon trail, crosses into Little Cottonwood Canyon via Lazy Prince and Grizzley Gultch, traverses above Twin Lakes to the dam (an aid station), and then follows trails to Lake Mary and the finish. The course description notes a recent reroute that includes a longer section into Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The 5K starts at the same general location and proceeds up to the Twin Lakes dam, traverses Mount Milly to Lake Mary, circles the lake, and finishes on Brighton's Lake Mary/Catharine's Pass Trail.

There is one aid station on the half marathon route at the base of the Twin Lakes dam; runners pass it twice. Supplies include water, electrolyte drink, chips, Oreos, soda, grapes, oranges, bananas, and peanut butter and jelly.

Organizers offer paid training plans in 1-, 2-, and 3-month options with daily workouts, elevation goals, tracking sheets, recovery weeks, race simulations, and a taper. Entry benefits include a race shirt, a finisher magnet, and raffle entry. Prizes are awarded to the top five men and top five women in both the half marathon and the 5K. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.