⏵ Course guide · Mount Sunapee mountain race, Newbury NH
The Sunapee Scramble, put on by Six03 Endurance & Marathon Sports at Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury, New Hampshire, sends you up and down the mountain twice, about 9.3 miles and 3,300 feet of climbing total. The June 2026 running hosted both the USATF Mountain Running Championships and the Collegiate Mountain Running National Championships, which tells you the field here is serious. I will walk you through both laps, then give you a pacing plan. The race typically lands in early June; check the official site for the confirmed next date before you plan around it.
These facts come from the official Sunapee Scramble site and reflect the June 2026 running. Cutoffs are not published. The site had not posted a confirmed next-edition date as of this writing, so check sunapeescramble.com before you register.
Both laps start and finish at the Base Lodge and share the same 1.75 mile descent, but the climbs that get you to the top are different each time, on ski slope, service road, and singletrack.
The first lap climbs about 2.3 miles on service road and trail, gaining roughly 1,500 feet to the summit. From there it is a 1.75 mile descent back to the Base Lodge, fast enough to be a genuine reward for the climb, and a preview of what you get to repeat at the end of lap two.
The second lap is the bigger test, about 3.5 miles up with roughly 1,800 feet of gain, this time via the Newbury Trail rather than lap one's service road. You are climbing on legs that already did lap one, and this is where the race is actually decided. The same 1.75 mile descent closes out the course back to the Base Lodge.
The June 2026 running hosted the USATF Mountain Running Championships, which selected the USATF Classic Mountain Running Team for the WMRA World Cup finale in Quebec, plus the Collegiate Mountain Running National Championships, with a $30,000 cash purse provided by Brooks. That draws a genuinely fast field at the front, though most runners are there for the mountain, not the podium.
With a shorter climb first and a longer, steeper one second, the temptation is to go out too hard on lap one because it feels manageable. Save something for lap two.
Your flat-ground pace tells you nothing useful about a course with 3,300 feet of climbing packed into two laps of different lengths and gradients. Use a grade-adjusted pace to hold an honest, repeatable effort on lap one, so lap two's longer, steeper climb does not fall apart on you.
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The most recent running was Sunday, June 7, 2026, and the race typically lands in early June, but the official site had not posted a confirmed next date as of this writing. Check sunapeescramble.com for the current calendar before you make travel plans.
It is a genuine mountain test packed into a short distance: about 9.3 miles with roughly 3,300 feet of climbing, run as two laps up and down Mount Sunapee. The first lap climbs about 1,500 feet over roughly 2.3 miles on service road and trail, then descends 1.75 fast miles back to the Base Lodge. The second lap is longer and steeper, about 3.5 miles up with roughly 1,800 feet of gain via the Newbury Trail, then the same descent. Doing that climb twice, with a genuine descent between them, is what makes this race hard.
About 3,300 feet of total gain across the two laps, per the official course description. Lap one contributes roughly 1,500 feet over about 2.3 miles, and lap two adds roughly 1,800 feet over about 3.5 miles on a different route up (the Newbury Trail rather than the lap-one service road), before both laps share the same 1.75 mile descent back to the Base Lodge.
It has real pedigree. The June 2026 running hosted the USATF Mountain Running Championships, selecting the USATF Classic Mountain Running Team for the WMRA World Cup finale, and also served as the Collegiate Mountain Running National Championships that year, with a $30,000 cash purse provided by Brooks. Whether a given future edition carries the same championship designation is set year to year by USATF and the collegiate governing bodies, so check the current race season for that detail.
It is a youth division that runs inside the Sunapee Scramble weekend, its own start time on the same morning as the adult race. It is built for high school teams rather than adult recreational or competitive trail runners, so most readers of this guide will be focused on the main Sunapee Scramble field.
Not published on the official race pages. Given the technical, steep nature of the second lap, budget real time for the climb and confirm any cutoff or time-limit details directly with Six03 Endurance before race day.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/sunapee-scramble">The Sunapee Scramble course guide</a>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details reflect the June 2026 running, and the next date was not yet posted at the time of writing, so confirm current specifics with Six03 Endurance & Marathon Sports before you register or run. The pacing advice is general and not medical advice.
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