⏵ Course guide · San Juan Islands June weekend
Orcas Island 50K & 25K turns a June weekend at Moran State Park into old-growth forest climbing, roughly 7,200 feet of gain for the Saturday 50K and 4,300 for the Sunday 25K, run out of the seaside Doe Bay Resort. I will walk you through the course first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for rooty, rocky island singletrack. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.
Dates come from Rainshadow Running\'s official events calendar. Elevation, aid, and cutoff figures reflect the most recently run edition. Check the current year details before you commit; race logistics change year to year.
Both races run through Moran State Park, with trails that vary from smooth and fast to rooty, rocky, and steep, and about a half mile of pavement bookending the start and finish.
From 2006 through 2024, this race started and finished at Camp Moran. As of 2025 it moved to the seaside Doe Bay Resort, which sits on the edge of the park and gives runners access to soaking tubs, a sauna, and a cafe that grows much of its own food, a genuinely different race-weekend experience from the old Camp Moran base.
The 50K runs Saturday and the 25K runs Sunday, each a standalone race with its own finish time and awards. Runners who complete both under their individual cutoffs earn a combined "Double" time and finisher status for the full 75K weekend.
Because parking is limited around the park, there is no crew access to the race course itself, though friends and family are welcome at Doe Bay for the weekend and at the finish line party. Plan your support crew around the start/finish, not aid stations along the way.
With roughly 7,200 feet of gain on the 50K and technical footing throughout, this course punishes a flat-ground pace plan.
Trails here range from smooth to genuinely rocky and rooty, so a grade-adjusted pace target gives you a far more honest number than a flat trail-race pace, especially heading into the steeper sections around Mt Constitution and Cascade Lake.
Both races carry intermediate aid-station cutoffs rather than a single overall deadline. A vert-aware finish prediction, built off the roughly 7,200-foot (50K) or 4,300-foot (25K) profile, is a better guide than a flat time, and checking it against each aid-station cutoff keeps a slow early section from ending your race before the final miles.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
June on Orcas typically runs mild, highs around 65 degrees and lows around 50, so this is a friendlier fueling environment than a hot summer ultra, though the climbing still demands a real plan.
Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Mild weather does not reduce the glycogen cost of 7,200 feet of climbing, so keep your intake steady through both the 50K and, if you are doing The Double, the 25K the next day.
Sodium in the 300 to 500 mg per liter range is a reasonable starting point given the mild June temperatures, adjusting upward only if the day runs warmer than typical for the date. Aid stations carry Gnarly electrolyte drink alongside real food like PB&J and fresh fruit.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a mild San Juan Islands June day 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 exact island climbing profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for rocky, rooty singletrack, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
In its most recent edition, the 50K carried about 7,200 feet of gain and 7,200 feet of loss on old-growth, rooty, rocky, and sometimes muddy singletrack around Moran State Park. Combined with the logistics of reaching an island by ferry and a 12 hour cutoff, this is a genuine mountain 50K, not a flat or fast course.
In the most recently run edition, the 50K carried about 7,200 feet of both gain and loss, and the 25K about 4,300 feet of each. Trails vary from smooth and fast to rooty, rocky, and steep, running through old-growth forest around Moran State Park.
June temperatures on Orcas typically run mild, highs around 65 degrees Fahrenheit and lows around 50, so heat is less of a factor than on many summer ultras. Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and sodium in the 300 to 700 mg per liter range. Aid stations stock water, Gnarly electrolyte drink, PB&J, fresh fruit, chips, pickles, and cookies or candy, with GU gels available as a supplement rather than your primary source. Build your numbers with the free ultra fueling calculator before race day.
In the most recently run edition, the 50K carried a 12 hour cutoff and the 25K an 8 hour cutoff, each with intermediate aid-station cutoffs along the way rather than a single overall deadline. Runners doing The Double, both races across the weekend, get a combined 20 hour cutoff for the full 75K.
The Double lets you run the 50K on Saturday and the 25K on Sunday, for a combined 75 kilometers and roughly 11,500 feet of elevation gain across the weekend. If you complete both races under their individual cutoffs, your Double time is the sum of your 50K and 25K finish times, with a 20 hour combined cutoff.
The 25K, at roughly 4,300 feet of gain in the most recent edition, is a reasonable first-ultra-adjacent distance if you have solid trail fitness and some hill training, especially since the course logistics (Doe Bay Resort as a home base, an 8 hour cutoff) are more forgiving than the 50K or the winter 100. The rooty, rocky, sometimes muddy footing still rewards trail experience over road speed.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/orcas-island-50k">The Orcas Island 50K & 25K course guide</a>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, 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.