⏵ Course guide · Vermont ultra

Bloodroot Ultra Course Guide

The Bloodroot Ultra is a loop race in Pittsfield, Vermont, the original Spartan Trail event (it used to be the Peak Ultra), and it has a real reputation for being one of the most savage ultras in the country. You run a roughly 10-mile loop with about 1,500 feet of climbing each time, on rocky, rooty, often off-trail Green Mountain terrain, and you do it self-supported with no pacer. I will walk you through the loop and the format first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan that fits the repeat-climb math and the weather. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Bloodroot Ultra quick facts

Date: Typically early-to-mid May, run over several days by distance (the date has shifted year to year, so confirm the current one)
Location: Pittsfield, Vermont, in the Green Mountains (Amee Farm / Riverside Farm, near Green Mountain National Forest)
Distances: 10 miler, 50K, 50 miler, 100 miler, and the 200 miler
Elevation gain: Roughly 1,500 ft of climbing per 10-mile loop, so the 100 miler stacks up over 25,000 ft, rated one of the toughest 100s in the country
Start: Morning starts (around 7 to 8 AM), staggered by distance across the event days
Cutoff: Course closes 9:00 PM sharp; you must start the final 10-mile loop from Riverside Farm by 6:00 PM, and a headlamp is mandatory for the long distances
Format: Self-supported loop race (water, electrolytes, limited nutrition at aid); pacers are not allowed
Qualifier: No Western States, Hardrock, or UTMB qualifier status listed (this is a Spartan Trail race)

These facts come from the official race pages and UltraSignup. The date, distances, cutoffs, and aid setup have moved around year to year, so confirm the current specifics in the official race details before you commit. Race logistics change.

The course: where Bloodroot is won and lost

Almost everything here runs on a roughly 10-mile loop behind Riverside Farm in Pittsfield, with about 1,500 feet of climbing per lap on single track and forest road through steep Green Mountain woods. The 10 miler is one lap. The 100 miler is ten of them. The 200 is twenty. That loop structure is the whole game, so understanding it is how you race this.

The loop: respect it early, because you will see it again

The single biggest mistake at Bloodroot is treating the first loop like a hike with friends and the second like a race. Every loop costs you about 1,500 feet of up and the same back down on footing that does not forgive a tired ankle. The runners who finish well bank an honest, almost boring effort on lap one, walk the steep stuff on purpose, and keep something in reserve, because the loop does not get shorter and the rocks do not get softer.

Learn the loop on your first time around. Note where the real climbs are, where you can actually run, where the footing turns evil, and where the stream crossings hit. By lap three you should know the loop cold and be able to break it into chunks in your head. On the long distances that mental map is worth more than fitness.

The climbs and the descents, on repeat

There is no single signature climb to fear here. The terror is repetition. You climb hard, you drop hard, and then you do it again, lap after lap, on loose and jagged rock with slick roots mixed in. The descents are where Bloodroot quietly destroys people: long, rough downhill on dead legs shreds your quads, and by the back half of a 100 the downs hurt worse than the ups.

Train both directions. Get strong at power-hiking steep grades without redlining, and spend real time descending technical trail so your legs and your brain both know how to move fast over rock when you are tired. If you only train the climbs you will hemorrhage time and confidence going down, every single loop.

Off-trail, stream beds, and Vermont mud

This race is famous for the directors treating trails as optional. Do not be shocked to get sent off into thick woods, through thorns, and up rocky stream beds. That is part of the deal, and it means GPS pacing is a fantasy: you go by effort and by what is in front of you, not by your watch. Early May in Vermont adds cold rain, snowmelt, and mud, so expect wet feet from the start and manage your skin and shoes for it.

Plan your feet like it is a discipline. Choose shoes with real grip and drainage, think hard about socks, and put dry layers and a foot kit in your start/finish drop bag. Staying functional when you are soaked and cold is a skill you can prepare, and at Bloodroot it is half the race.

The night, drop bags, and the self-supported head game

For the 100 and the 200 you are out into the dark, and the rule is you must start your final 10-mile loop from Riverside Farm by 6:00 PM with a headlamp. There are no pacers, so the night is yours alone. The lows come, usually late, usually on a climb in the cold when the novelty is long gone, and the runners who make it are the ones who decided in advance that the lows are normal and that you just keep moving through them.

Because it loops, your start/finish drop bag is your whole crew. Set it up like a pit stop: spare headlamp and batteries, dry socks and layers, your real food, caffeine for the night, anything you might want at 2 AM. Get in and out fast and with a plan, because loop races punish people who melt into a chair. The aid is limited and self-supported by design, so what is in that bag is what you have.

Pacing strategy for a brutal loop ultra

With about 1,500 feet of gain stacked into every 10-mile loop and rough footing the whole way, Bloodroot is about managing effort and lap time, not chasing a flat pace. You pace by feel and by the clock at the start/finish, loop after loop.

Pace by grade and effort, never by flat splits

Your road pace is meaningless on this loop. What matters is grade-adjusted effort: hold a steady output you can repeat for hours, hike the steep pitches without guilt, and run the runnable bits in control. The fastest way to blow up here is to run the early loops by feel-good pace and pay for it when the climbs stack and the footing gets you. Use a grade-adjusted pace to turn your real flat fitness into honest climbing and descending targets, then hold that same effort every lap.

Build a vert-aware finish prediction and a per-loop plan

Do not guess your Bloodroot finish off a road time. The 1,500 feet per loop, the technical and off-trail footing, the wet, and the dark all add real hours. A vert-aware finish prediction that accounts for this kind of climbing gives you a realistic window, and on a loop course you can divide it into a target lap time. Knowing roughly how long a loop should take when fresh, and how much it is allowed to slow late, is exactly how you stay ahead of the 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM deadlines instead of panicking against them.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

Grade-adjusted pace calculator to turn your flat fitness into honest targets for the repeated climbs and the rough descents.
Race-time calculator for a vert-aware finish prediction on this kind of climbing, so you can set a target loop time and plan against the cutoffs.
Race-equivalent calculator to turn a recent race result into a Bloodroot goal you can actually hold over the distance.

Fueling strategy for a long, cold, self-supported day

Bloodroot is a long effort with limited, self-supported aid, so you are on the hook for most of your own calories. The 50K runs many hours; the 100 and 200 run into a day or more. Carbohydrate, sodium, and fluid carry the day as much as fitness does.

Carbs: steady, trained, and carried

Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and only push the high end if your gut is trained for it. The aid here is limited and self-supported, so you cannot count on a buffet at every stop: carry your own gels, chews, or drink mix and use your start/finish drop bag to restock real food each loop. Cold weather and a long clock both kill your appetite, so keep intake steady and easy to swallow, and practice your exact race-day carb rate on long days so it feels automatic, not like an experiment at hour ten.

Sodium, fluid, and staying warm enough to eat

Match your sodium to your sweat and the conditions, often somewhere around 300 to 700 milligrams per liter of fluid, more if you are a heavy or salty sweater, even in cool weather where you sweat more than you think on the climbs. Carry enough fluid to cover the gaps between aid rather than rationing to empty. The wrinkle at Bloodroot is the cold: if you get chilled, your stomach shuts down and you stop eating, so warmth and fueling are linked. Keep layers handy, keep moving, and weigh yourself before and after a long training day to learn your real sweat rate, then build the plan around your own number.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and the Bloodroot conditions with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.

⏵ Train for it with Summit Line

Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this loop’s relentless climbing, and your projected lap times. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the repeated vert and the long day, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

Bloodroot Ultra FAQ

How hard is the Bloodroot Ultra?

It is one of the hardest ultras in the country, and that is not marketing fluff. The race lives in Pittsfield, Vermont on a roughly 10-mile loop that packs in around 1,500 feet of climbing each time, so the 100 miler racks up more than 25,000 feet of vert, which is approaching Everest from sea level. The footing is loose, jagged rock and slick roots, the directors are known for sending you off-trail through brush and stream beds, and the May weather can be cold, wet, and muddy. It is self-supported with limited aid and no pacers allowed, so you carry your own race in your head as much as in your pack.

How much climbing is in the Bloodroot Ultra?

Plan on roughly 1,500 feet of gain per 10-mile loop, which is the figure the race uses across the distances. That means the 50K is around 4,500 feet, the 50 miler is in the 7,000 to 8,000 foot range, and the 100 miler clears 25,000 feet of total climbing. The 200 miler doubles that into genuinely rare territory. None of it is gentle: it is steep, repeated, and on bad footing, so the elevation number undersells how much it takes out of you.

What distances does the Bloodroot Ultra offer?

The official lineup is a 10 miler, a 50K, a 50 miler, a 100 miler, and a 200 miler, all built on the same roughly 10-mile loop behind Riverside Farm in Pittsfield. The longer distances are just more laps of that loop, plus extra trail systems for the 50K and up. If you have seen a 100K listed somewhere, double-check it against the current official race page before you plan around it, because the standard run distances are the five above.

What are the cutoff times for the Bloodroot Ultra?

The course closes at 9:00 PM sharp, and you have to begin your final 10-mile loop from Riverside Farm by 6:00 PM, with a headlamp required once you are out late. Because the race is run in loops, your real cutoffs are effectively per lap: you need to keep clicking off loops fast enough to be allowed back out before those deadlines. Confirm the exact day-by-day and lap timing in the current race details, since the schedule changes year to year.

Is the Bloodroot Ultra self-supported, and can I have a pacer?

Yes, it is run as a self-supported race, and no, pacers are not allowed at any distance. There are aid stations at intervals with water, electrolytes, and limited nutrition, and drop bags are available for the 50, 100, and 200 milers, but you should not count on a full spread. The whole point is self-reliance, so come ready to manage your own fuel, gear, and head. Because it is loop-based, your drop bag at the start/finish is your real lifeline, which is actually a gift if you set it up well.

What is the terrain and weather like at the Bloodroot Ultra?

The loop runs single track and forest roads through steep Green Mountain terrain, and the trail surface is rough: loose rock, jagged sections, slick roots, and stream crossings, with the directors known for routing you off-trail into the woods. Early May in central Vermont is unpredictable, so you can get cold rain, mud, snowmelt, and raw wind, sometimes all in one day. Waterproof your feet plan, expect to be wet, and treat warmth and dry layers in your drop bag as part of the race, not a luxury.

This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, distances, cutoffs, and aid stations come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.