⏵ Course guide · Statewide Connecticut trail traverse
The Connecticut Ultra Traverse follows the New England Trail's blue blazes the entire way across the state, from the Massachusetts border down to Long Island Sound in Guilford, over roughly 16,722 ft of vert on technical traprock singletrack. I will walk you through the course and the two distances first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for a genuinely demanding point-to-point crossing. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.
The official Shenipsit Striders event page was unreachable while researching this guide, so start times, cutoffs, and aid station details are not listed here. Confirm those specifics directly at Cultratrailrunning@gmail.com or the official race page before you commit.
This is not a loop or an out-and-back. CUT follows the New England Trail's blue blazes the full length of Connecticut, from the Massachusetts border to Long Island Sound in Guilford, over technical traprock terrain the whole way.
The full CUT112 covers roughly 112 miles of the New England Trail with about 16,722 ft of elevation gain, on technical traprock singletrack the entire distance. It starts Friday, June 5, 2026. A traverse of that length and terrain style is a genuine multi-day-caliber undertaking even for experienced hundred-mile finishers.
CUT50M runs a 50 mile section of the same New England Trail traprock terrain, starting Saturday, June 6, 2026, a day after the CUT112 field. It gives you the same technical singletrack character as the full traverse without the multi-day time commitment.
Roughly 16,722 ft of gain over the CUT112 distance is not extreme by pure elevation numbers alone, but traprock terrain is notoriously sharp and technical underfoot. Expect the footing itself, not just the climbing, to slow your pace well below what a similar vert total on smoother trail would suggest.
Technical traprock terrain rewards a conservative early pace and real respect for the footing over trying to hold a flat mile pace.
A grade-adjusted, effort-based approach fits this course far better than a fixed pace target, since both the climbing and the technical footing will slow you in ways a flat-terrain pace chart will not predict. Set a conservative early effort and bank the margin for the sections where the trail itself, not just the hill, dictates your speed.
Use a recent long trail race or long training effort to sanity-check what you can realistically hold across either CUT distance, since a road or smooth-trail personal best will not translate directly onto technical traprock singletrack.
⏵ Free tools to plan your effort
Without published aid station spacing, plan your own fueling and crew support as if you may go longer between resupply points than a typical loop-course ultra.
Point-to-point traverses like this one often mean longer stretches between aid than a looped or out-and-back race, so build your own carry capacity and crew plan around that possibility until you confirm the current aid station layout. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour while moving, and confirm sodium needs for early June New England conditions, which can swing from cool mornings to warm, humid afternoons.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight and either CUT distance 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 training plan built around YOUR fitness and the technical climbing this traverse demands. Summit Line reads your real training, builds the vert-ready durability CUT asks for, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
It is a point-to-point trail run following the New England Trail's blue blazes across Connecticut, starting at the Massachusetts border and finishing at Long Island Sound in Guilford. Run by Shenipsit Striders, it offers two distances: the full CUT112 at roughly 112 miles, starting Friday, June 5, 2026, and the CUT50M at 50 miles, starting the next day, Saturday, June 6, 2026.
With roughly 16,722 ft of elevation gain over technical traprock singletrack, this is a genuinely demanding point-to-point traverse, not a runnable rail-trail crossing. Traprock ridgelines are known for sharp, rocky footing, so expect the terrain itself, not just the mileage, to slow you down and test your ankles and focus over a long day (or two, for CUT112 entrants).
Specific cutoff times are not published in the sources available for this guide. Check the official Shenipsit Striders event page or email the race directly at Cultratrailrunning@gmail.com for current cutoff information before you commit to either distance.
Entry is structured as a donation to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA), the nonprofit that stewards the New England Trail the race runs on, rather than a standard flat entry fee. Reach out to Cultratrailrunning@gmail.com or check the official Shenipsit Striders page for the current process and donation guidance.
It is a serious undertaking for a first attempt at that distance, given the roughly 16,722 ft of vert on technical traprock singletrack, terrain that punishes inexperience more than flatter 100-mile courses do. If you are considering CUT112 as a first race past 100 miles, real time on technical New England singletrack in training matters more here than raw mileage volume. The CUT50M is a more approachable way to experience the same trail and terrain style at half the length.
Shenipsit Striders also puts on the NipMuck Trail Marathon, a shorter, single-day trail marathon in northeastern Connecticut. The Connecticut Ultra Traverse is a distinct, much longer event: a genuine statewide point-to-point crossing on the New England Trail rather than a loop or out-and-back course, with its own CUT112 and CUT50M distances and its own June date.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/connecticut-ultra-traverse">The Connecticut Ultra Traverse (CUT) course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/connecticut-ultra-traverse" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Connecticut Ultra Traverse (CUT) course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The official race page was unreachable while researching this guide, so several logistics, start times, cutoffs, and aid station details, are not covered here. Confirm all current specifics directly with Shenipsit Striders before you register or run. The pacing and fueling advice is general and not medical advice.
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