The 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

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Tony Taylor

  • Oct 12, 2024
  • Club news

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
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Stan Duobinis

  • Jul 18, 2024
  • Member news

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.

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2024 Massanutten Trail Work Party

  • May 9, 2024
  • Trail work, MMT

Last Saturday, 18 volunteers coordinated by the VHTRC help clear trails in the Massanutten Mountains. Together, we cleared 29.6 miles of trail, removed 56(!) trees, and contributed 140.5 hours of labor to our public lands.

Read more

Upcoming 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.

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.

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.

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.

Sat Dec 14

50 km

Clifton, VA

Entry opens: Nov 11, 2024
Entry closes: Dec 11, 2024

The first event in the now-storied history of the club. Very low-key, a lot of fun, and a great after-party. Come ring in the holidays with Furbutt and the VHTRC! Registration is $20 for this fabulous event!

Entry is open

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 opens Dec 15

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.

Low-key runs with no formal sign-up. Just show up and run.

Sun Dec 15

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

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