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⏵ Course guide · Wyoming ultra

The Hunt Trail Race Course Guide

The Hunt is Cody, Wyoming’s first and only ultramarathon, a late-winter foothill 50K (with 16, 6, and 1 mile options) on marked singletrack just east of town. It is built around two sections, a hilly first 16 miles and a more mellow second loop, and the real story is the season: late February in Wyoming can throw snow and cold at you, or hand you a dry, fast day. I will walk you through the course first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan that fits the rollers and the conditions. There are free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

The Hunt Trail Race quick facts

Date
Late February (Saturday, February 28, 2026)
Location
Cody Archery Range, about 10 minutes east of Cody, Wyoming, off the Greybull Highway
Distances
50K (about 31 mi), 16 mile, 6 mile, and 1 mile
Elevation gain
Hilly, rolling foothill terrain; the race does not publish an official vert figure
Start
50K 7:00 AM, 16 mile 8:00 AM, 6 mile 9:00 AM, 1 mile 10:00 AM (MST)
Cutoff
50K: 10 hours overall · 16 mile: 4 hours (with a 1:00 PM cutoff at the 16 mile aid station)
Qualifier
No Western States, Hardrock, or UTMB Running Stones status listed by the race

These facts come from the official race site and RunSignup. Check the current date, cutoffs, and aid stations in the race-day details before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.

The course: where The Hunt is won and lost

The 50K runs in two distinct sections out of the Cody Archery Range, about 10 minutes east of town. You take on the hilly 16 mile course first, then head out on a more mellow second loop of rolling singletrack to fill out the full distance. Courses are marked with colored flagging, aid is cupless, and you are out in open Absaroka foothill country the whole way.

The first 16 miles: the hilly half that sets up your day

The opening 16 miles are the part with teeth. This loop shares the 16 mile course and stacks up most of the climbing, so it is where you bank or blow your race. The hills are the rolling foothill kind, repeated rollers rather than one giant climb, and the trap is treating them like flat ground because none of them looks huge on its own. Hike the steeper pitches, keep your effort even, and get through the first half feeling like you are working but not redlining.

There is a checkpoint cutoff at the 16 mile aid station at 1:00 PM, so this section is not just a fitness test, it is a clock you have to beat. If footing is slow that day, that cutoff matters more than your watch does. Run the rollers honestly and you arrive at the start of the second loop with legs to spare.

The second loop: more mellow, but the day is not over

After the hilly opening, the back half runs more mellow on rolling singletrack, and this is where a well-paced runner makes up time. It is more runnable, but mellow does not mean easy after you already have 16 hilly miles in your legs. If you crushed the first loop too hard, the gentle rollers of the second half turn into a long grind to the finish.

This is the section to settle into a rhythm and just keep moving. Late in a winter ultra, with cold creeping in and the early hills behind you, the runners who finish strong are the ones who held something back and can still turn their legs over here.

The season is the real opponent

More than the hills, the weather defines The Hunt. The organizers say it plainly: it might be snowy and frigid, or it could be mild and dry. Plan for the cold, snowy version and treat a warm day as a gift. Snow and mud slow everyone down and can turn the rollers into real work, so do not assume your usual trail pace will hold if the ground is soft or icy.

Aid stations are spaced fairly evenly and are cupless, with water, Skratch drink, and snacks, so you carry your own bottle or flasks. In the cold, plan how you will keep fluid from freezing and how you will actually eat with cold hands, because a fueling plan that only works in shirtsleeves is not a plan for late February in Wyoming.

Pacing strategy for a rolling, cold-weather 50K

The Hunt is about managing effort over rolling hills and uncertain footing, not chasing a pace chart. Run the hilly first 16 by feel, save your legs for the mellow back half, and keep the 16 mile checkpoint cutoff in mind the whole way.

Pace the rollers by grade, not by the watch

On a foothill course like this, your flat-ground pace is a lie. The repeated rollers in the first 16 miles ask for grade-adjusted effort: hold a steady output you can keep up the grade, hike the steep bits without guilt, and let the downhills come to you. The classic mistake is running every little climb hard because none of them looks big, then arriving at the mellow second loop with nothing left. Use a grade-adjusted pace to turn your real fitness into honest climbing and cruising targets so you do not torch the hilly half.

Build a finish prediction that respects the conditions

Do not guess your Hunt finish off a flat road 50K time. The rollers add time, and if there is snow or mud, the footing adds a lot more. A finish prediction that accounts for this course gives you a realistic window and lets you work back into the 10 hour overall cutoff and the 1:00 PM checkpoint, so you know how much buffer you actually have rather than guessing on the fly. On a slow-footing year, give yourself extra margin and start more conservatively than the math suggests.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

Fueling strategy for the cold and the duration

Most runners are out on the 50K for several hours, and in late-winter cold, eating and drinking get harder, not easier. That makes a rehearsed carbohydrate, sodium, and fluid plan just as important as fitness, with a few cold-weather tweaks.

Carbs: steady, trained, and easy to get down cold

Aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, leaning higher only if your gut is trained for it. The catch in the cold is that you are less likely to feel hungry and more likely to skip fuel, which is exactly how people bonk in winter races. Keep your intake steady and on a schedule rather than waiting until you feel like eating. Practice your race-day carb rate on cold long runs, and favor things you can actually chew or swallow when your hands and your gels are stiff.

Fluid and sodium: do not let cold trick you into under-drinking

It is easy to drink too little in the cold because you do not feel thirsty, but you are still sweating under your layers and losing fluid to dry winter air. Keep sipping on a schedule, and plan for how you will stop bottles or a hydration bladder from freezing, since cupless aid means you carry your own. Match sodium to your sweat rate, and if it is a warmer, faster year, treat it more like a normal spring ultra and push fluid and salt a little higher. Weigh yourself before and after a long run to learn your real sweat rate, then build the plan around your own number.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and the conditions 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 Hunt course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the rolling hills, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

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The Hunt Trail Race FAQ

How hard is The Hunt Trail Race?

The 50K is a genuine challenge, but it is more about the conditions and the hills than any one brutal climb. You cover about 31 miles on marked foothill singletrack east of Cody, and the first 16 miles are the hilly part with the back half running more mellow. The real difficulty is the calendar: this is a late-February race in Wyoming, so it can be snowy, frigid, and slow underfoot one year and dry and fast the next. The overall cutoff is a generous 10 hours, so if you are trained for the hills and dressed for the weather, most committed runners have plenty of room to finish.

How much climbing is in The Hunt Trail Race 50K?

The race does not publish an official elevation-gain number, so I am not going to make one up. What the organizers do say is that the course is hilly, especially the first 16 miles, which share the 16 mile course and stack up most of the climbing. The second loop is described as more mellow rolling singletrack. Treat it as a foothill 50K with real, repeated rollers rather than one big mountain climb, and check the current CalTopo course map for the up-to-date profile before race day.

What is the cutoff for The Hunt Trail Race?

The 50K has a 10 hour overall cutoff, which is roomy for the distance. The 16 mile race has a 4 hour limit, and there is a checkpoint cutoff at the 16 mile aid station at 1:00 PM that applies to runners on the longer course as well. Winter footing can slow everyone down, so do not assume you will move at your usual trail pace if there is snow or mud. Always confirm the current cutoffs in the race-day details before you start.

What is the weather like at The Hunt Trail Race?

This is the wild card, and it is the whole reason the race is interesting. The Hunt runs in late February near Cody, so the organizers flat-out tell you it might be snowy and frigid or it could be mild and dry. You should plan for the cold end of that range and be pleasantly surprised if it is warm. That means layers you can shed, traction if there is snow or ice, and a fueling plan that still works when your hands are cold and your gels are stiff.

What is the course like at The Hunt Trail Race?

It is a two-section foothill course on marked singletrack at the Cody Archery Range, roughly 10 minutes east of town. The 50K runs the hilly 16 mile course first, then heads out on a more mellow second section of rolling singletrack to make up the full distance. Aid stations are spaced fairly evenly and are cupless, with water, Skratch hydration drink, and snacks, so you carry your own bottle or flasks. This is open foothill country in the Absaroka front, so it is exposed to wind and you are sharing the land with wildlife.

Is The Hunt Trail Race a good first 50K?

It can be, and the 10 hour cutoff and rolling (rather than mountainous) terrain make it more forgiving than a lot of summer ultras. The catch is the season. A late-winter Wyoming race asks you to handle cold, wind, and possibly snow or mud, which is a lot to manage on a debut. If you train the hills, rehearse running and fueling in the cold, and respect that the conditions can swing hard, it is a fair and rewarding place to run your first ultra. Many locals use it exactly that way, as an early-season tune-up before the region’s bigger summer mountain races.

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.