The Mountain Laurel Marathon is the newest event in the Cloudsplitter Race Series. The inaugural race will take place in May, when the beautiful flowering shrub known as the mountain laurel puts on a spectacular show of its white and pink flowers in far Eastern Kentucky and Southwest Virginia each spring.
The out and back course will follow the trail run on Pine Mountain in the Cloudsplitter, from Elkhorn City along the Russell Fork River in Breaks Interstate Park to Turnip Patch Gap and back. This section of trail starts out on rugged old pioneer roads flanked by numerous pine species and Eastern hemlock, cascading ferns and enormous sandstone boulders, and then ascends to high and dry ridge lines with vast rock outcroppings, upland bogs, and remnants of abandoned homesteads from the 1800s. With over 7,000 feet of elevation gain this race will rank as one of the most difficult trail marathons in the United States, and is an excellent opportunity to train for any of the distances offered during Cloudsplitter weekend later in the fall.
The Mountain Laurel Marathon will start on May 21, 2016 at 8:00 a.m.