Gnar Runners' annual Quad Rock 50 and 25-mile trail race ran its 2026 edition on Saturday 9 May out of Lory State Park above Bellvue, the small unincorporated community west of Fort Collins that has long acted as the unofficial gateway to the Colorado Front Range trail scene. The course winds through Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park on a double-loop format that asks runners to climb roughly 11,000 feet across the 50-mile distance. Conditions on Saturday were textbook for early May at altitude — a clear pre-dawn start in the high 30s, mid-50s by midday, and a stiff westerly wind on the exposed Towers traverse — and both fields filled their wait-lists in the days before race day.
The 50-mile race remains the marquee event and has built a reputation as one of the toughest non-100 trail races in the lower 48, in large part because the second lap reverses the first and forces the steeper climbs onto already-tired legs. The course climbs Arthur's Rock, Westridge and Towers on the outbound loop and then sends runners back the same way for the inbound, with no easy section to coast through and aid stations spaced for self-reliance more than convenience. The 25-mile race takes a single loop and finishes in time for runners to head home and watch the 50-mile leaders come in late afternoon, a community ritual that the Bellvue venue does well.
The 2026 elite field skewed to regional names rather than national imports, in keeping with Quad Rock's tradition. Defending 50-mile champions came back in both fields, and a strong contingent from the Salomon and Brooks Trail teams filled out the top 20. The race's relatively early calendar slot — three weeks before the Memorial Day weekend that opens the bigger summer ultras — has made it a popular Western States and Hardrock build-up for athletes with lottery places in June and July, and several names with summer 100s on the calendar used Quad Rock as a controlled effort rather than a maximum push.
The Front Range trail community has built a particular attachment to Quad Rock because of its near-total volunteer-run organisation and the cap on field size, currently held at 250 in the 50 and 350 in the 25. Both fields sold out within hours of registration opening last December, and the wait-list churned to within a few entries of every dropped spot by race week. Race director Nick Clark — himself a four-time Hardrock 100 finisher — has resisted multiple offers to grow the field, citing trail wear and the no-pacer ethos that defines the event. The full timing splits are being processed by Sundog Endurance and will appear on RunSignup later in the day.
Beyond the pointy end, Saturday's results matter for a Front Range trail scene that has had a rough few months. Several local trail systems closed for short stretches in April after early-spring storms, and the bigger commercial calendar push out of Boulder and Denver has crowded the spring weekends. Quad Rock's stubborn community-first model — small field, no expo, finish-line beer in the Lory parking lot — keeps providing a reminder that the format still works, and the wait-list traffic suggests demand will only grow. The 2027 race is already provisionally scheduled for the second Saturday in May.