Laurel Highlands Ultra

Race Details:

What This Race Counts Toward:

Western States 100: Yes

UTMB Index: No

Laurel Highlands Ultra Description

Since the late 1970s, when two brothers set out to run the length of a brand-new Pennsylvania hiking trail in a single day, the Laurel Highlands Ultra has tested trail runners against one of the East Coast’s toughest point-to-point courses. Starting in Ohiopyle and finishing 70.5 rugged miles later in Seward, runners climb nearly 9,000 feet through rock gardens, root-tangled singletrack, and remote ridgeline forest, a proven Western States qualifier that rewards grit over speed. Toe the line at dawn, chase the yellow blazes, and earn your spot among nearly five decades of Laurel Highlands finishers.

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Laurel Highlands Ultra Additional Details:

Running the Laurel Highlands isn’t about rhythm. It’s about survival on your feet. The first 19 miles hit hardest, a relentless, rock-strewn climb that separates the prepared from the hopeful before the trail even settles into its long middle stretch of rolling, root-tangled ridgeline past Seven Springs and Hidden Valley. Aid stations are sparse by design, spaced miles apart, so every runner learns self-reliance fast. As afternoon fades, headlamps click on for the technical push toward Seward, and the last ten miles finally offer a downhill reprieve, if you’re lucky enough to reach it before dark swallows the trail completely. Crews trade stories at road crossings, pacers join at mile 46, and a tight-knit community of “Laurel people” reappears every June, drawn back by a course that never gets easier, only more familiar.

Course Information

Profile: Very Hilly

Type: Point to Point

Surface: Trails

Pace Groups: No

Time Limit: 22 hr

# of Finishers

50K: 118 finishers (2026)

100K: 123 finishers - 70.5 mile distance (2026)

Elevation Details

Elevation Gain: 8,760 ft

Elevation Loss: 8,620 ft

Average Temperature

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