Russ Evans
Russ Evans passed away Wednesday, December 18, after a lengthy and valiant fight with cancer. He was 65. Most people in today’s VHTRC may never have met Russ, or know his name, but his legacy has impacted us all.
Read moreThe Virginia Happy Trails Running Club
Promoting trail running in the D.C. area for three decades.
Welcome to the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club
We are a fun group of trail runners of all abilities centered in northern Virginia. Many but not all of us run ultramarathons. Come play with us at our races and training runs!
Latest news
Tony Taylor
Tony Taylor — 1970-2024. Taken from us very unexpectedly and entirely too soon in the early morning hours of Monday October 7th. Two of his closest trail running friends, Kate Moga and Guy Towler, have drafted short remembrances of Tony, with some help from other friends.
Read more
Stan Duobinis
Stan Duobinis passed away on July 9. Stan and his wife, Margie Schlunt, were fixtures of the VHTRC from the earliest days of the club. They were avid participants of all club events and races — as runners, volunteers, and race directors.
Read moreUpcoming stuff
Here’s what we have coming up. See our calendar for a full list of our (and others’) events
The VHTRC was founded to put on races. We are mighty proud of our courses and hospitality.
Entry opens Jan 1
Sat Feb 22
50 km
Westminster, MD
Entry opens: Jan 1, 2025
31 miles of trails, old woods roads, open fields, and plenty of hills with a couple of stream crossings thrown in just for fun.
Entry is open
Sat Apr 5
50.2 miles
Clifton, VA
Entry opens: Oct 1, 2024
A 50 mile trail run that parallels the Bull Run and the Occoquan River in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC. The course traverses forested, rolling terrain during the height of Virginia’s spring beauty. The run’s unique character includes a Civil War theme that honors the battles that occurred here over 150 years ago. The 13 hour time limit makes Bull Run Run an excellent first 50 miler.
Entry is open
Sat May 17
100.6 miles
Fort Valley, VA
Entry opens: Oct 31, 2024
A challenging, rocky 100 miler on the trails of the Massanutten Mountains in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. The course includes short but rugged mountain climbs with more than 18,000 feet of total ascent. There is a 36-hour cutoff.
Sat Sep 13
13.6 miles
Fairfax Station, VA
Entry opens: Aug 1, 2024
A challenging yet chill race for women only … built for new trail runners and veterans alike.
Events are open to the public and free to enter, but do require prior registration and many have entry limits.
Didn’t get in? Consider volunteering.
Entry is closed
Sat Dec 28
40.3 miles
Luray, VA
Entry opens: Nov 18, 2024
Entry closes: Dec 26, 2024
This classic holiday fat ass includes a nice mix of Massanutten Trail sections and dirt roads, with miles of spectacular views of the Fort Valley, Page Valley and Shenandoah Valley.
Entry is open
Wed Jan 1
31.7 miles
Quantico, VA
Entry opens: Dec 2, 2024
Entry closes: Dec 30, 2024
Start out the new year with some cold miles at Prince William Forest Park and clear your head of any lingering hangover.
Sat Jan 18
32 miles
Fort Valley, VA
Entry opens: Dec 18, 2024
Day #1 of the MLK weekend of mountain training runs, this year hosted by Larry Huffman. This is a roughly 50 km section of the MMT 100 course along the western ridge of the Massanuttens, starting at the Caroline Furnace Lutheran Camp and ending at Signal Knob.
Entry is open
Sun Jan 19
31.2 miles
Luray, VA
Entry opens: Dec 15, 2024
Entry closes: Jan 16, 2025
The traditional Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend kick-off to Massanutten 100 training, with two long supported runs on portions of the MMT course. Day 2 is the Waterfall 50km race (Bur’s Death March).
Sat Jan 25
17.25 miles
Clifton, VA
Come out and get some easy rolling miles on the Bull Run-Occoquan Trail! Starting at the Hemlock Overlook Regional Park trailhead at the end of Yates Ford Road at 8 am, this run will cover the northern section of the course that makes up the first 17 miles of the BRR 50 Miler.
Entry opens Jan 1
Sat Feb 1
Cabin John, MD
Entry opens: Jan 1, 2025
A party for all VHTRC members, to announce and honor the winners of the VHTRC awards for the previous calendar year. RSVP will open for the party right after the New Year.
Sat Feb 15
7 miles
Fairfax Station, VA
Since it can be easy for the uninitiated to get lost, “Death by Do Loop” is a chance to become familiar with this section of the Bull Run Run 50 mile course, while seeing how many laps you can do.
Entry opens Jan 6
Sat Feb 15
30.3 miles
Fort Valley, VA
Entry opens: Jan 6, 2025
This MMT training run covers the middle third of MMT, from Elizabeth Furnace to Camp Roosevelt.
Low-key runs with no formal sign-up. Just show up and run.
Sun Dec 22
7-10 miles
Washington, DC
Explore the trails of Rock Creek Park on these low-key runs. We leave at 8:00 am from either Peirce Mill or Theodore Roosevelt Island and the runs are roughly 7–10 miles long.
View our available SWAG More information
Featured run
Vicki’s Death March
Now that Shenandoah National Park is largely reopened, we can recommend Vicki’s Death March! Often referred to as “Shenandoah National Park’s greatest hits,” this 25-mile loop’s highlights include White Oak Canyon, Hawksbill, Stony Man, all connected by beautiful ridge running on the Appalachian Trail. Just be sure to get an early start, as Old Rag is an especially popular trailhead… especially now.
On top of the world on Little Stony Man during the 2011 Vicki’s Death March.