Glacier Hills Ultra 50k

Event

Glacier Hills Ultra is a trail race held at Newton Hills State Park near Canton, South Dakota. The event offers three distance options:

• 20 km
• 30 km
• 50 km

Each race is made up of repeated loops of a 10 km trail. The event enforces time cutoffs by distance (durations), and participants must complete their chosen race within the published cutoffs.

Course and logistics

The course is a roughly 10 km loop with about 850 ft of elevation gain per loop. Typical race distances require 2, 3, or 5 loops to reach 20 km, 30 km, or 50 km respectively. The start/finish area and the main aid station are located near a picnic shelter; a water station is placed at about mile 4 of each loop and a full aid station is available at the loop start/finish. The route uses multi-use and single-track trails, shares some sections with horse trails, and is marked with signage, pin flags with reflective strips, and tape. Trail hazards may include sticks, rocks, tree roots, dust, mud, and horse manure. Drop bags may be left on a tarp by the aid station but must be labeled and are not actively monitored. Horse camp parking is recommended for 50K runners to access a vehicle for additional aid. Several vault toilets are available at the horse camp; there is one vault toilet at the start/finish area. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.