⏵ Course guide · Cascade foothills vertical festival
North Bend Trail Fest is a two-day mountain running celebration near Mount Si: a true vertical kilometer on Saturday, then the Skyline 30K, the Vert Running Series championship with over 6,500 feet of climbing, on Sunday. I will walk you through the events and the double-day format first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for concentrated vertical effort, with free calculators along the way.
These facts come from the official Mountain Running Races event page. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and schedule before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
North Bend Trail Fest is built as a menu of vertical challenges rather than a single race: pick the event that matches your climbing fitness, or take on the North Bend Double and do two of them across the weekend.
Saturday opens with the Mt Si VK, a true vertical kilometer up one of the Puget Sound region’s most iconic trail climbs. This is a short, concentrated test of pure climbing power rather than a distance race, and it sets up the North Bend Double for anyone tackling both days.
Sunday’s centerpiece is the Skyline 30K, run as the Vert Running Series championship with over 6,500 feet of elevation gain and, per the organizers, jaw-dropping Cascade views to go with it. Runners who earned Vert Running Series points at Leavenworth Trail Fest’s 25K take aim at the championship here. This is the weekend’s marquee test of sustained mountain climbing.
The Little Si 10K is built for runners new to vert racing, a chance to feel the format on Sunday without committing to the VK or the 30K. It runs alongside the full festival, including the Mountain Adventure Expo, a kids race, and other weekend activities.
Over 6,500 feet of gain packed into 30 kilometers is a steep ratio by any measure, so this is a race where climbing economy matters more than flat-ground speed.
A 30K with this much vert behaves more like a much longer race in terms of time on feet. A grade-adjusted pace target for the sustained climbing sections gives you an honest number for what effort you can hold, rather than pacing off a flat 30K time that has nothing to do with this course.
Attempting both the Mt Si VK and the Skyline 30K means Sunday’s legs start the day already carrying Saturday’s vertical kilometer. Treat the VK as a hard effort you recover from, not an all-out race, if the 30K the next morning is your real goal. A race-time prediction that accounts for accumulated fatigue across the weekend is more honest than treating each day as a fresh start.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
An 8:00 AM start in the Cascade foothills usually means a cool opening that warms through the morning as the sustained climb builds heat.
Aim for roughly 50 to 70 grams of carbohydrate per hour on the Skyline 30K, scaled for the intensity of steep sustained climbing rather than the raw 30K distance. Start fueling early, before the climbing effort makes eating feel harder than it needs to.
Sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range covers most runners here, leaning higher if the day turns warm on exposed climbing sections. Hard, sustained vertical effort raises sweat rate even on a cool morning, so do not assume October temperatures mean you can skip electrolyte planning.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a steep Cascade foothills morning 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 and this exact vertical profile, whether you are running the Skyline 30K alone or attempting the North Bend Double. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for concentrated climbing, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
The Skyline 30K, run as the Vert Running Series championship, carries over 6,500 feet of climbing in 30 kilometers, a genuinely steep ratio that puts it in serious vertical-kilometer territory rather than a typical rolling trail race. Add the Mt Si VK the day before if you are attempting the North Bend Double, and you are asking your legs to climb hard on back-to-back days.
The North Bend Double pairs Saturday’s Mt Si VK, a true vertical kilometer straight up the legendary Mount Si ascent, with Sunday’s Skyline 30K and its 6,500-plus feet of climbing. It is built for runners who want to test their endurance across two demanding, vert-heavy days rather than just one, and it is explicitly framed by the organizers as the toughest option on the weekend.
The headline number is the Skyline 30K’s over 6,500 feet of gain, run as a Vert Running Series championship event with jaw-dropping Cascade views to match. The Mt Si VK adds its own concentrated vertical kilometer of climbing on Saturday for anyone doing the North Bend Double. The Little Si 10K, by contrast, is built as an approachable on-ramp for runners new to vert racing.
Early bib pickup runs Friday, 3 to 6 PM. Saturday is Mt Si VK day: bib pickup opens at 8:30 AM at the Little Si Overflow Parking Area, the VK starts at 10 AM, and awards follow at 1 PM, with a blues walk in downtown North Bend that evening. Sunday centers on Torguson Park: bib pickup opens at 6:30 AM, the Skyline 30K starts at 8:00 AM after a 7:55 AM pre-race meeting, the Mountain Adventure Expo and kids race open around 8:30 AM, and the Little Si 10K starts at 9:30 AM.
Early October in the Cascade foothills can run cool at an 8 AM start and warm up through the morning as you climb into open terrain. Aim for roughly 50 to 70 grams of carbohydrate per hour given the 30K distance and steep vertical demand, and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range, leaning higher on the exposed climbing sections. Build your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
The Little Si 10K is explicitly built as an entry point, described by the organizers as the race for runners new to vert running who want to feel the thrill without going all-in. The Mt Si VK and Skyline 30K, by contrast, are serious vertical tests meant for runners who already have real climbing fitness. Start with the Little Si 10K if steep vertical racing is new to you, then work up to the VK or the 30K in a future year.
Link this guide
Race directors and clubs: link or embed this guide anywhere. It stays current.
<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/north-bend-trail-fest">The North Bend Trail Fest course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/north-bend-trail-fest" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="North Bend Trail Fest course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and schedule 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.
The timeline
Get the week-by-week countdown for this race: when to build, when to peak, when to taper.
One email with the timeline, plus training notes for this race. Unsubscribe any time.