Description:

The Hone Quarry 40 Miler is a trail endurance race that begins and ends at Briery Branch in the scenic Shenandoah Valley. Along the way participants will experience towering cliff walls, open meadows, beautiful single-track, impressive vistas, the Hone Quarry Reservoir — and that’s just the first 20 miles!

The course is a large loop that takes place in the mountains surrounding the Hone Quarry Recreation Area. Runners will climb and descend several mountain ridges as they wind their way through the area’s amazing landmarks. Course highlights include the Hidden Rocks trail, “Lover’s Leap” overlook, a 15′ waterfall, and Flagpole Knob — which showcases a commanding view of the valley below.

Although there is a 13.5 hour cutoff time, we caution not to underestimate the course. This is a technical mountain race with ~8000′ of elevation gain and feels comparable to running a 50 miler. While there many runable sections (particularly the first and last 3 miles on roads), several steep climbs and technical descents make this race one of the more difficult 40 milers in the east.