⏵ Course guide · Volcanic trail race, Nottingham NH
Vulcan's Fury, put on by Six03 Endurance & Marathon Sports at Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham, New Hampshire, runs a Half Marathon and a 5 Miler across one of the most technical and scenic courses in the state: an ancient volcanic boulder field, dense forest, singletrack switchbacks, and a rocky climb called the Devil's Staircase, all at peak New Hampshire foliage. I will walk you through the course and the cutoffs, then give you a pacing plan and free tools to dial it in.
These facts come from the official Vulcan's Fury site. Total elevation gain and entry price are not published as of this writing, so confirm both before you register. Race logistics change year to year.
Both distances start and finish at the Pavilion in Pawtuckaway State Park, an ancient volcanic site whose terrain still shows it: a massive boulder field, dense forest, and rugged hiking trails mixed with genuine singletrack.
The course threads dense forest and singletrack switchbacks, with stream jumps and bridges keeping your feet busy well before you reach the boulder field itself. This is not a course you run on autopilot. The footing changes constantly, and staying alert through the early miles sets up how you handle the technical sections later.
The signature climb of the course, a rocky ascent that earns its name. Expect to hike this, not run it, and to use your hands in places. It rewards careful footwork on ancient volcanic rock more than raw climbing speed, and it is the section most people remember after the race.
The Half Marathon carries two aid-station cutoffs: 2.5 hours to reach the second aid station and 3.5 hours to reach the third. Given the technical terrain through the boulder field and the Devil's Staircase, these are not generous windows for a course this demanding underfoot, so keep moving through the early miles rather than banking on making up time later. Miss a cutoff and course transport brings you back to the start.
The 5 Miler is short enough to run mostly on feel, respecting the technical footing. The Half Marathon, with two hard cutoffs and a boulder-field-and-staircase profile, is worth an honest pace plan built around effort, not a flat mile split.
A flat half-marathon pace tells you almost nothing about a course like this. The boulder field and the Devil's Staircase demand a hike-run rhythm, and a grade-adjusted pace target helps you set an honest effort level for the climbs so you are not blowing up before the second aid-station cutoff at 2.5 hours.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
⏵ Train for it with Summit Line
Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness and this exact boulder-field, staircase-climb profile. Summit Line reads your real training and builds the technical-terrain strength this course demands, so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
Pawtuckaway State Park is genuinely technical terrain: a massive boulder field, dense forest, singletrack switchbacks, stream jumps, bridges, and a rocky climb the race calls the Devil's Staircase. Total elevation gain is not published, but the footing alone, an ancient volcanic site with real rock scrambling, makes this one of the more demanding half marathons in New Hampshire regardless of the vert number. Running it at peak foliage adds the payoff for the effort.
It's the signature technical climb on the course, a rocky ascent named for how it feels underfoot. Pawtuckaway is built on ancient volcanic rock, and this section is where that geology is most obvious: loose and solid rock mixed together, demanding careful footwork more than raw climbing fitness. Treat it as a hike, not a run.
There are two aid-station cutoffs on the Half Marathon course: 2.5 hours to reach the second aid station (the South Ridge connector) and 3.5 hours to reach the third (the Mountain Trail and Woronoco split). Miss either one and you are brought back to the start on course transport rather than continuing. Given the technical footing through the boulder field, budget real time and do not assume a flat-half-marathon pace will hold here.
Three aid stations on the Half Marathon course: Round Pond at mile 4.3, the South Ridge connector at mile 7.4, and the Mountain Trail and Woronoco split at mile 10.4. The 5 Miler is a shorter loop out of the Pavilion and does not cover the same ground.
No day-of registration. Register in advance through UltraSignup. There is also no early bib pickup; everyone picks up race morning, from 7:30 to 8:30 AM at the Pavilion, before the 9:00 AM Half Marathon and 9:15 AM 5 Miler starts.
Pawtuckaway State Park sits on the eroded remains of an ancient volcanic ring dike, one of the more distinctive geological features in New Hampshire, and the race takes its name from that history (Vulcan being the Roman god of fire). It is a fitting name for a course defined by volcanic boulder fields and a rocky staircase climb.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/vulcans-fury-trail-race">The Vulcan's Fury Trail Race course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/vulcans-fury-trail-race" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Vulcan's Fury Trail Race 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 Six03 Endurance & Marathon Sports before you register or run. The pacing advice is general and not medical advice.