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Kentucky · Elkhorn City
Cloudsplitter
Oct 7, 2026
Founded in 2014, Cloudsplitter runs out-and-back on High Knob in the Jefferson National Forest outside Norton, Virginia — the highest point in the Cumberland Mountains at 4,223 feet. The trail is rugged and rocky throughout: cliffs, waterfalls, rhododendron thickets, caves, and sandstone boulders across roughly 18,400 feet of gain. The 40-hour cutoff acknowledges terrain that averages about 185 feet of gain per mile. 100-mile finishers earn 6 UTMB points; in 2023, 45 runners finished. The 2024 running was the eleventh edition.
The numbers
Race statistics
- Distance
- 100 mi
- Vertical gain
- 18,500 ft
- Course
- Out & back
- Unique miles
- 43 mi
- Lottery
- No
- Avg finishers
- 37
185 ft / mi
per year
The course
Course line from published GPX · source · approximate — always follow official markings
◈ From the runners