Course map, elevation profile & surface
Fly the course
Follow the route over 3D terrain, mile by mile.
Race-day light
For a 7:00 finish (an estimate) · starting 7:00 AM Oct 24. Dark means the sun below civil twilight.
Climbs
5 climbs · 1,260 ft totalbiggest firstElevation gain, measured two ways
| Source | Gain | vs lidar |
|---|---|---|
| Course file (GPX) | 5,044ft | +30% |
| USGS lidar, 1 m | 3,867ft | reference |
They differ because a GPS file picks up noise on every wiggle and often takes its heights from a coarse terrain model, while lidar maps the ground itself to about a metre. We sampled this route every 98 ft against USGS 3DEP and counted each rise of 10 ft or more, on Oct 30, 2026. The planner still uses the course file.
Conditions typical race-day weather for Oct 24 at the start
Typical = the median of 2016–2025 for Oct 24 ±3 days at the start line; a wet day has 1 mm of rain or more. Historical weather from Open-Meteo.
Race almanac 1 year of this race
Past editions
On race day it reached 61°F at the start, with a low of 38°.
| Year | Start °F | Rain | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Oct 24 | 61°/38° | dry | 5mph |
race-day weather from the Open-Meteo historical archive (ERA5) at the start line.
Reviews what runners who have been there say
No reviews yet — be the first to run it and tell other runners what to expect.
About this course
Patapsco Valley 50K — 2026 covers 32.5 mi (52.3 km) with 5,044 ft of elevation gain. That is about 155 ft per mile of climbing, and 5,073 ft of descent. The course tops out at 384 ft and bottoms out at 31 ft. The profile has 5 sustained climbs; the biggest is the climb from mi 1.7, +268 ft over 0.9 mi at 5.5% on average (steepest stretch 15%). Race day is October 24, 2026, starting at 7:00 AM; the sun rises at 7:27 AM and sets at 6:17 PM. Typical race-day weather at the start: a high of 64°F and a low of 49°F, with a 31% chance of a wet day. The interactive map above shows the full route with its elevation profile and aid stations, built from the course's GPS file.
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Course history
- Oct 29, 2026Added to the catalog
Races like this one close in distance, climbing, terrain, altitude, weather and season
- Tecumseh Trail Challenge — 2025Oct · 31 mi · 133 ft/miSimilar weather · Same distance · Same month
- Tecumseh Trail Challenge 50K — 2026Oct · 31 mi · 133 ft/miSimilar weather · Same distance · Same month
- Shawnee Trail Runs 50K — 2026Oct · 32 mi · 149 ft/mi · OHSame distance · Similar climbing · Same month
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