On Saturday August 16, 2025, Tamalpa Headlands 50K will host the USATF 50K Trail Championships for the second year in a row. Taking place in Marin County, California, across the Golden Gate Bridge northwest of San Francisco, the race features flowy single track and huge climbs. A decorated elite field, among over 300 runners, are entered with sights set on a national 50 kilometer trail title.
Read our article about the 2024 race.
Headlands 50K course.
Last year’s winner, Lindsay Allison won’t race this year’s edition as she prepares for the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships 45k short trail event in September. But, we asked the Marin County native to tell us more about the course. Allison explains, “The headlands course is the perfect mix of super fast fire roads and beautiful singletrack. The course gets progressively harder, and more technical, as the day goes on.” Allison suggests, “It’s a great course to save some for the back half.”
Sylvie Abel races Big Alta 28k. Photo: Tony DiPasquale
Top Runners to Follow
Sylvie Abel is a pre-race favorite. The Bay Area resident placed second last year, and is the top returning female in the field. Abel told us why she is excited to race. “I love this race because it’s a classic old school race on trails that are absolute Bay Area gems, it’s close to home and the competition is always fierce!”
Sarah Biehl, with a third place finish in 2024, will surely be another top contender for the national title. Other notable women include Brooks runner, Anna Louden and Trail Team standout, Caroline Alcorta.
Alcorta comments, “I’m really looking forward to this weekend for a lot of reasons! Headlands seemed like a great opportunity to test myself on a challenging course and among a competitive field of women. Racing on the trails has meant seeing what’s the most I can get out of myself, while valuing the joy and growth that comes with the process of training. This race feels like new territory for me to be curious and do just that.”
Eddie Owens (white singlet) races Big Alta 50k this spring. Photo: Tony DiPasquale
For the men, last year’s winner, Cole Campbell will return to defend his title. Cole placed 9th in the Broken Arrow 46k in June proving fitness in a strong field.
“I really enjoyed the course and community out there last year. It’s an important race to me with a title on the line and I am eager to see where the fitness is compared to last year. I’m feeling confident in my preparations and looking forward to seeing how deep I can go,” said Campbell.
Ready to challenge the defending champion is Bay Area local Eddie Owens who placed second in the Big Alta 50k this past March.
Nike Trail runner Liam Meirow may be fairly new to the 50k, but he is certainly someone ready to make a statement at the distance. Meirow recently won the Wy’east 28k, and placed 12th in the Broken Arrow 46k.
“I’ve raced a variety of distances this year – everything from a 100m dash to 50k,” said Meirow. “The driving force for the second half of this year has been races that excite me, with the distance being secondary to that. So, this happens to be my third 50k of the year and I still have a couple more planned!”
Tamalpa Headlands 50K hosting the USATF 50K Trail Championships.
Course records: Andy Wacker 3:37:20 set in 2015 and Megan Roche 4:20:51 set in 2016.
Of the 322 entrants, over a third are USATF members and eligible for awards in the championships division. A total of 46 women and 84 will vie for USATF honors. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are represented among the USATF entrants. The top 10 overall men and the top ten women will receive USATF medals and the top 3 in age groups 40 and over in five year increments will be awarded age-group championship medals.
See full entry list here
