Please join us for a two-day trail running event in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This trail running weekend will feature two races, one on Saturday and another on Sunday, both beginning from the Cheticamp Campground.
We are hoping that the Highland Trail Series will become an annual event in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, featuring two races on one weekend each year. We hope to be able to move around the park, running different trails each year. We will also be producing t-shirts each year highlighting the trails run and some cool graphics inspired by the area. Our graphics this year were created by the talented Nathan Kaarsgard.
This year's races:
Race #1 - Salmon Pools Trail - This race will begin on Saturday, June 14, at 3 pm. It will be an out-and-back on the Salmon Pools Trail, running just over 9kms. This is a relatively flat course and quite a smooth trail for most of the route.
Race #2 - Acadian Trail - This race will begin on Sunday, June 15, at 9 am. It will be a loop on the Acadian Trail. This route will also be approximately 9kms but involves 350+m elevation gain (and loss). The trail is often quite smooth but has a few sections that are a riverbed and can be rocky and uneven.
Cost:
We hope that many people will join us for both races! A single race of your choice will cost $40. The second race will only cost $10 more, a deal that we hope will be hard to turn down. This price includes a t-shirt (see pic below; Bella + Canvas preshunk cotton, unisex) and, we hope, some post-race surprises. Runners who sign up for two races will also receive a buff from Folk and Wild (https://www.folkandwild.com/).
After registering on webscorer, please etransfer payment to jeffreymacleod@gmail.com.
Camping:
We have reserved approximately 40 campsites at the Cheticamp campground. They are not included in the race price, but we can ask that they be held for you, so please let us know if you require a campsite when registering on Webscorer. If you don't know whether you need a campsite while registering, you will have until May 18th to inform us before the sites we have reserved are released back to the general public.
Campsite prices, which can be paid upon arrival to the campground:
$28.50 for tent site with no firepit, $30.50 with firepit
$39.50 trailer site with 3-way hookup and no firepit, $42.50 with firepit. (Only a few trailer sites are reserved).
Please note that participants will also be required to have a park entry permit (see Parks Canada website for more info on cost).
While dogs can stay with you in the campground and even walk the trails (on-leash), we ask that there are no dogs accompanying runners during the race.
Organization/Volunteers:
More information about race organization will be sent to race participants closer to the time of the event. We will not have water stops on the course, given that they are quite short. We are going to have volunteers posted along the course in case of emergencies. On a related note, we are going to need a few volunteers for the event, so if you are willing to volunteer for one race, we can give you free registration for the other. Please email jeffreymacleod@gmail.com about volunteering.
