Glacier Hills Ultra 50k

Glacier Hills Ultra 50K

Glacier Hills Ultra is a trail event held at Newton Hills State Park near Canton, SD. The event offers three distances: 50K, 30K, and 20K, each made up of repeated 10k loops through the park trail system. Each loop has roughly 850 ft of elevation gain; the races require running 2, 3, or 5 loops to reach the selected distance.

The start and finish are located near a picnic shelter where the main aid station is placed. Runners pass the aid station at the end of each 10k loop and a water point is available at about mile 4 of each loop. The course shares about 4 miles with multi use horse trails; organizers ask to be notified if horses are spotted on the trail outside expected use windows. Course marking includes signage, pin flags with reflective strips, and tape.

Drop bags may be left on a tarp beside the aid station and must be labeled by the runner; organizers do not actively monitor bag contents. For 50K entrants the horse camp parking area is recommended because it is about half a mile from the start and can serve as an additional aid or personal drop area. Vault toilets are available at the horse camp and one vault toilet is located at the start area.

Swag for the event includes a Bella Canvas hoodie; swag orders are placed by October 1 using entrant counts to limit excess production. The event maintains time cutoffs by total allowed hours per distance. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.