StumpJump 50k

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The StumpJump 50k is one of the most prestigious ultramarathons in the southeastern United States. The StumpJump offers a gruelling course filled with extreme elevation changes and technical trail sections. Located atop beautiful Signal Mountain, Tennessee, on the Cumberland Trail, the StumpJump always occurs the first weekend of October. With the weather turning cooler and the leaves starting to change color, the scenery definitely makes up for the difficulty of the course.

[edit] Course

The 50k course’s first and last 4 miles are on a jeep/dirt road. For the middle portion of the race, the trail is predominantly technical single track. The trail is packed dirt with your usual Tennessee mountain stone thrown in, which adds to the excitement, especially around mile 17, when the race enters the infamous Rock Garden.

On the course there is a totally elevation gain of 2200 ft. The course is shaped like a lollipop. You leave the stick of the lollipop at mile 10.3, then run a 10.2 mile loop and rejoin the stick at mile 20.5. This means that you will run the first 10 or so miles 2 times, which contains the most elevation change in the whole race! You will cross Suck Creek Road twice.

[edit] History and Records

The StumpJump 50k was started in 2002 by a local trail runner enthusiast Matt Sims. The godfather of the localized trail racing scene, Matt Sims started the StumpJump in an effort to get support for the Cumberland Trail Conference as well as promote local participation in trail running. The first year sparked a flame that has grown into a considerable fire as the StumpJump has grown in popularity ever sense. The first year a local runner named Tom Sell bested the field with a race record of 4:58:31. For the female division, Heather Stone won the first StumpJump. Today, the StumpJump receives some of trailrunning’s top athletes including Byran Dayton and Josh Beckham. Although getting lost and running an extra two miles, Byran Dayton currently holds the course record in a time of 4 hours 1 min. and 17 seconds set in 2005. Sarah Keller holds the women’s record with a time of 4:57:19 breaking Sally Brooking’s record in 2004.