Alpine Running

Alpine Solstice is a first-of-the-season celebration of the Cascades, timed to one of the longest days of the year. The course opens with smooth, flowy Bend single track and a steady climb toward the high country, where the 55K rolls past Tumalo Falls before dropping back to the start. Expect dusty pine duff under foot, big views of the Deschutes high country, and a finish line that feels more like a neighborhood block party than a race expo. Burrito bar, local beer, volunteers cheering every name. A great "first mountain race of the year" for athletes stepping up, and a strong training day for longer goals later in the summer.

Oregon Cascades is a point-to-point ultra that runs the distance between Bend and Sisters, two of Oregon's most loved mountain towns. You start in the shadow of Mount Bachelor on buttery Cascade single track and finish at Sisters Middle School on the eastern side of the range. The 100 miler is a Western States qualifier, with the elevation concentrated in the first 100K. It looks friendly on paper and runs significantly harder. The 50 miler shares the eastern half of the course, rolling from Swampy Lakes down into Sisters country on a mix of single track and dirt road. Full crew access, 12 aid stations on the 100, and a catered finish line with coffee from Backporch and a burrito bar that has rescued many a tired runner.

Three Sisters Skyline lives up to its name. Every turn opens onto the Three Sisters and the high Cascade peaks to the north and south. The 50K runs right up to the edge of the Three Sisters Wilderness through ponderosa forest, burn scar regrowth, alpine meadows, and a mountain stream or two. The half marathon is a net-downhill point to point. Fast, flowy, and a great target for anyone chasing a trail PR or moving from road to dirt for the first time. Both races shuttle to their respective starts so you never have to stress parking. Finish in Sisters with burritos, Backporch Coffee, and the kind of small-town trail community that makes central Oregon feel like home.

Run The Rock is a weekend of loop-style trail racing inside Smith Rock State Park and the Crooked River National Grasslands. Yes, that Smith Rock. The rust-red canyon walls, the climbers clinging to Monkey Face, the horizon lined with Cascades from Mount Hood to Mount Bachelor. Saturday is the 50K and the new-for-2026 25K. The 50K pieces together nearly every trail in the park, including a stout climb up Misery Ridge and a swing past the flanks of Monkey Face, before looping out around Gray Butte. The 25K grinds up Burma Road to the Gray Butte aid station, summits, and flies back down. Sunday is the half marathon, a compact 13.1 with roughly 2,500 ft of climbing and Cascade views the whole way. Parking is at the DD Ranch shuttle lot, so the morning is calm and simple. Finish line has Cascade Lakes Brewing, Athletic, and another burrito bar because Alpine knows its audience.