⏵ Course guide · Catskills High Peaks
The Cat's Tail Trail Marathon is about 26 miles and nearly 7,000 feet of climbing through the Slide Mountain Wilderness, summiting four Catskill High Peaks, Panther, Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg, on rolling ridgeline and technical rock. It is qualifier-gated, and for good reason. I will walk you through the course, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for repeated climbing at altitude, with free tools to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official race site, confirmed live against catstailmarathon.com. Check the current date, cutoffs, and qualifier terms in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year, and the field is capped by wilderness-area regulation.
From the Fox Hollow trailhead, the route climbs and descends rolling ridgeline and technical rock across four named High Peaks, Panther, Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg, plus Giant Ledge, Cross, Pleasant, and Romer along the way, for about 26 miles and nearly 7,000 feet of gain.
There is no easing into this race. The 11:30 AM cutoff at Winisook, around mile 9.5, means you need to already be climbing well in the first quarter of the course, not warming into it. Go out at an effort you can sustain, not a pace that feels fast on fresh legs, because the terrain does not let up enough later to make up lost time cheaply.
Slide Mountain is the Catskills’ highest point at 4,180 feet, and the middle of the course strings it together with Panther, Cornell, and Wittenberg on rolling, technical ridgeline. This is the heart of the race. Repeated climbing and descending on rock, not one summit and a long recovery, so pace each climb by effort and treat the descents with the same respect, since tired legs on technical rock is where races come apart.
By the time you are working through the final named high points, Cross, Pleasant, and Romer, on the way to the finish, your legs have already climbed and descended most of the course’s nearly 7,000 feet. The runners who finish strong are the ones who managed the Winisook cutoff without panicking and paced the middle peaks by effort instead of racing the clock the whole way.
Nearly 7,000 feet of gain over four named summits means Cat's Tail rewards even effort across the whole day, not a fast start or a heroic finish. The Winisook cutoff makes the early pacing decision for you: climb well from the gun.
A marathon finish time from flat ground or even a moderate trail race does not translate here. What matters is grade-adjusted effort on each of the four summits, held steady rather than surging on the ones that feel easier. Use a grade-adjusted pace to set honest per-climb targets so Slide Mountain does not blow up a pace you set on Panther.
A vert-aware finish prediction built for nearly 7,000 feet of climbing gives you a realistic overall window and, more importantly, tells you what pace gets you through Winisook by 11:30 AM with margin. That intermediate cutoff sits early enough in the course that finding out you are close to it in the moment is too late to fix.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
Most prepared finishers are out there somewhere in the 5 to 10 hour range given the technical, repeated climbing. Treat this as a mountain effort with real duration, not a fast trail marathon.
Aim for 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and start early rather than waiting until you feel depleted on the Slide Mountain climb. Technical, high-effort terrain slows digestion, so keep your intake steady and easy to manage instead of gambling on catching up later. Practice your exact rate on hilly, technical training runs so it feels normal by the time you are climbing your third summit of the day.
Sodium in the 300 to 700 milligram per liter range, scaled to the forecast and your own sweat rate, covers most conditions on this course. Carry enough fluid between aid to get through the long climbing stretches, since the ridgeline sections between summits offer little in the way of shortcuts if you misjudge your needs.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and Cat's Tail's climbing with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.
⏵ Getting in: the qualifier chain
Cat's Tail is not open entry. You need a trail marathon-or-longer finish within twice the winning time in the past two years, or a sub-6-hour finish at the Escarpment Trail Run within the same window. The Escarpment path exists because that race shares the same rugged, technical Catskills terrain, so a strong Escarpment result is the race's own proof that you belong on this start line. If a sub-6 Escarpment finish fits your season better than hunting down another trail marathon, read the full Escarpment Trail Run course guide to see what that qualifying run actually demands.
⏵ Train for it with Summit Line
Get a plan built around YOUR fitness and this exact four-summit profile, not a generic marathon template. Summit Line reads your real training, builds the repeated-climb strength Cat's Tail demands, and projects your split through the Winisook cutoff so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
It is one of the hardest marathon-distance trail races in the Northeast, and the organizers gate entry accordingly. About 26 miles with nearly 7,000 feet of climbing, summiting four Catskill High Peaks, Panther, Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg, plus Giant Ledge, Cross, Pleasant, and Romer along the way. The terrain is rolling ridgeline mixed with technical rock, and the tight 11:30 AM cutoff at Winisook, roughly mile 9.5, tells you the early miles already demand real climbing fitness.
You need one of two things to register: a finish at a trail marathon or longer within the past two years, completed within twice the winning time, or a sub-6-hour finish at the Escarpment Trail Run within the last two years. The Escarpment path exists because that race shares the same technical, unrunnable-in-places Catskills terrain, so a strong Escarpment finish is treated as proof you can handle Cat's Tail. If you are chasing this race, read the Escarpment Trail Run course guide and see whether a qualifying run there fits your season better than a generic trail marathon.
Nearly 7,000 feet over about 26 miles, spread across four named High Peaks summits, Panther, Slide, Cornell, and Wittenberg, with several more named high points along the ridgeline. Slide Mountain is the Catskills' highest point at 4,180 feet. This is sustained, repeated climbing and descending on rolling ridgeline and technical rock, not one big climb and done.
There is an intermediate cutoff at Winisook, around mile 9.5, at 11:30 AM, and a final cutoff at 5:30 PM. The early intermediate cutoff matters more than it looks: with nearly 7,000 feet of climbing ahead of you at that point, you need real climbing fitness in the first 9.5 miles, not just enough to survive the back half.
Plan for a multi-hour mountain effort with real vertical, likely somewhere in the 5 to 10 hour range depending on your fitness and the technical terrain. Aim for 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, adjusting down if your stomach struggles on the technical, high-effort climbing sections. Sodium in the 300 to 700 milligram per liter range, scaled to the weather and your sweat rate. Dial in your exact numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
The course runs through the Slide Mountain Wilderness Area, and the field is restricted by New York State DEC regulation for that reason as much as difficulty. Combined with nearly 7,000 feet of climbing over technical, sometimes unrunnable terrain and a tight early cutoff, the qualifier keeps the field to runners who have already shown they can handle terrain like this, which keeps the race manageable in a wilderness area with real access constraints.
This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and qualifier terms 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.