Trail Running · Montana

🇺🇸The Rut 50 km:
Course Analysis & Race Readiness

Fifty kilometers with 2,826 m of gain and 2,831 m of loss across nine climbs and eight descents, topping out at 3,375 m. A high-altitude course defined by relentless steep climbing and even steeper descending.

CourseRecon scores your own training against the descending and durability demands that define The Rut 50 km — the sample analysis below shows exactly how.

50.0 km

Distance

+2,820 m

Vertical Gain

−2,820 m

Total Descent

Sep 13, 2026

Next Edition · 55 days out

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The Course · GPS-Measured

What 48.1 km / 29.9 mi and 2,820 m / 9,240 ft of vertical gain actually look like

Measured from the GPS track: 48.1 km / 29.9 mi and 2,820 m / 9,240 ft of vertical gain. This is the terrain you're signing up for: read it before it reads you.

Course Profile

Segments

Daylight

Terrain summary

Claimed vs GPS-Measured

Claimed · Organizer

50.0km

Distance

+3,200m

Gain

−2.0 km−380 m

GPS-Measured

48.1km

Distance

+2,820m

Gain

Climb & Gradient

+2,820 mTotal Gain

−2,820 mTotal Loss

Gradient Distribution

15%

Flat

≤3% grade

30%

Run-Climb

3–15% up

12%

Steep Climb

>15% up

43%

Descent

downhill

Steepest Sustained Sections

Descent

KM 31.3–34.0 · −767 m

-29%

Climb

KM 29.2–31.3 · +608 m

+28.7%

Climb

KM 21.7–25.1 · +444 m

+13.1%

Climb

KM 0.0–3.9 · +441 m

+11.3%

Finish & Cutoff Times

What it takes to finish

Reference finish times from past results — use them to set a realistic goal pace.

5h 01m

Winning time

5h 25m

Top 5

5h 46m

Top 10

8h 50m

Median finisher

12h 45m

Back of pack

What This Race Demands

Four things this course asks of your body

Every course weights the four pillars of mountain-ultra fitness differently. Descending carries 52% of the scoring weight on this course — the terrain makes that the deciding factor.

Weighting shows where readiness is won or lost at this distance — not whether you need each pillar. An aerobic base is a given for a race this long, so it carries little deciding weight even though it's essential — the gaps open on the climbs, descents and the back half.

AerobicSustained engine

Foundational

Sustained effort at altitude from 2,304 m start to a 3,375 m high point across 50 km.

ClimbingVertical power

22%

Nine climbs totaling 2,826 m, including a 608 m ascent at 28.7% grade.

DescendingEccentric / braking

52%

Eight descents totaling 2,831 m, including a 767 m drop at -29% over 2.6 km.

DurabilityLate-race resilience

26%

Repeated steep climb-descent cycles over 50 km, with the crux pairing arriving near km 29-34.

The Profile in One Line

A steep, high-altitude 50 km where descending dominates and every meter climbed must be given back.

Aerobic FoundationalClimbing 22%Descending 52%Durability 26%

Here's how CourseRecon reads a course and an athlete

Sample Readiness Analysis

What a readiness result looks like for this course

This is a worked example for a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete — not your score. Connect your own training and the same analysis runs on you.

Sample

OUT OF 100

READY

For a representative strong mountain-ultra athlete

This is a sample — connect your Strava to see your own result.

Pillar Breakdown

Aerobic

The course runs entirely above 2,300 m and peaks at 3,375 m, so oxygen delivery is taxed throughout every one of the nine climbs.

Climbing

100

With 2,826 m of gain across nine climbs and grades reaching 28.7%, sustained steep uphill power is essential; 27% of the course exceeds 10% up.

Descending

Descending is the dominant demand at 48% of the course and 2,831 m of loss, with grades as steep as -29% pounding the legs over long, technical drops.

Durability

Nine climbs and eight descents demand structural resilience, especially through the back-half crux where a 608 m climb feeds directly into a 767 m plunge.

km 29–34

The Peak Climb-and-Plunge

A 608 m climb at 28.7% grade over km 29.2-31.3 leads straight into a 767 m descent at -29% over km 31.3-34, the decisive back-to-back effort of the day.

km 0–3.9

Early Altitude Climb

The race opens with a 441 m climb at 11.3% grade, forcing hard uphill work above 2,300 m before the legs are warm.

km 21.7–25.1

The Sustained Mid-Race Ascent

A 444 m climb at 13.1% grade over 3.4 km sets up the fatigue that makes the later crux climb and plunge so punishing.

That was a sample