⏵ Course guide · Family trail day, Ruidoso NM
Quick note before we start: this is not Virginia's Grindstone 100. The Ruidoso Grindstone Trail Runs is a small, family-friendly New Mexico trail-race day put on by Wanderlust Running, with a 13.8 mile Half Marathon Heavy, an 8.5 mile, and a 4 mile option, all starting and finishing at Wingfield Park in Midtown Ruidoso. I will walk you through the course and what to expect on race day, then point you at free pacing tools for the 13.8 mile distance.
These facts come from the official Race Roster listing. Total elevation gain and aid-station cutoffs are not published, so confirm both directly with Wanderlust Running before race day.
All three distances start and finish at Wingfield Park in downtown/Midtown Ruidoso, around 6,900 feet, on a loop-style trail format that has been supported since 2014 by the Village of Ruidoso, Lincoln County, and the US Forest Service.
The Half Marathon Heavy goes off first at 7:00 AM at 13.8 miles, followed by the 8.5 Miler at 7:15 AM and the 4 Miler at 7:30 AM. Starting them in that order, longest first, is a small but useful detail: it spreads the field out on the singletrack and gives the longer distance a head start on the day before the shorter races catch up on the same trails.
This is not built to be a brutal mountain ultra. It is a family-friendly loop-style event in downtown Ruidoso, with the community backing to match: the Village of Ruidoso, Lincoln County, and the US Forest Service have supported it since 2014. If you are bringing family or friends of mixed ability, the 4 mile and 8.5 mile options give everyone a real trail-race experience without needing ultra-distance training.
The race does not publish a total elevation gain figure, but the start sits around 6,900 feet, which is a genuine factor if you are coming from low elevation. Treat the thin air as the thing to respect here more than any single climb, especially on the 13.8 mile Half Marathon Heavy where you are out on the trail longest.
The 4 Miler and 8.5 Miler are short enough to run mostly on feel. The 13.8 mile Half Marathon Heavy is long enough, and high enough in altitude, to be worth an actual pace plan.
At 6,900 feet, your flat, sea-level pace will not hold, and neither will a road half marathon pace plan. Use a grade-adjusted pace target so you are pacing the actual terrain and altitude instead of a number from a different course, and build a mile-by-mile plan around it so you know what a smart 13.8 mile effort looks like before the gun goes off.
⏵ Free tools to pace the 13.8
⏵ Train for it with Summit Line
Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness and this exact Midtown Ruidoso trail profile. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan that accounts for the altitude, and helps you dial in your race-day pacing for the 13.8 mile distance.
No, they are two completely different races that happen to share a name. Grindstone 100 (formally the Grindstone Trail Running Festival by UTMB) is a 100 mile mountain race in Mount Solon, Virginia. The Ruidoso Grindstone Trail Runs is a small, family-friendly New Mexico trail-race day with a 13.8 mile Half Marathon Heavy, an 8.5 mile, and a 4 mile option, starting and finishing at Wingfield Park in Midtown Ruidoso. If you were looking for the Virginia hundred-miler, that guide lives at a separate page; this one covers the New Mexico race.
Three options on the same morning: a Half Marathon Heavy at 13.8 miles starting at 7:00 AM, an 8.5 Miler starting at 7:15 AM, and a 4 Miler starting at 7:30 AM. All three start and finish at Wingfield Park in Midtown Ruidoso, so it works well as a family event where different runners in your group can pick a distance that fits them.
The race does not publish a total elevation gain figure, so I am not going to invent a number. What is confirmed is the start altitude, around 6,900 feet in Midtown Ruidoso, and a loop-style trail format built to be approachable for a family crowd rather than a brutal mountain test. If you are coming from low elevation, respect the altitude more than the terrain, and check the current course map on Race Roster for the specifics.
A distinctive finisher award: an engraved granite stone coaster instead of a typical medal, plus a custom soft shirt, your bib, and free race photos. Register by August 13 to guarantee your shirt size. Proceeds from the race go to the All-Season Adaptive Sports program, which has received more than $60,000 in donations over 11 years of this event.
Yes. New for 2026, a Trail Running Film Fest runs the same day at Downshift Brewing Riverside, with doors at 2 PM and the film at 3 PM, alongside the usual post-race party and Downshift Brewing after-party. It makes the whole day, not just the morning race, worth building your Ruidoso trip around.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/ruidoso-grindstone-trail-runs">The Ruidoso Grindstone Trail Runs course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/ruidoso-grindstone-trail-runs" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Ruidoso Grindstone Trail Runs course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, and entry rules 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 pacing advice is general and not medical advice.