This past weekend I ran the 2025 Mammoth Trail Fest 26K and it has officially taken the spot as my favorite race of all time!
This race couldn’t have come at a better time for me mentally. After chasing the Boston Marathon (on and off) for 13 years now, qualifying twice and being rejected from the race twice, I recently released myself from the goal (for the time being). I love to run and I have made so much progress in my fitness, strength and running in the last few years, but putting a qualification time on my goal for my December marathon was adding more pressure and stealing more joy than it was motivating me.
The Mammoth Trail Fest 26K was a chance for me to do something purely for the sake of enjoyment and challenge, without ANY expectation of pace.
Why We Chose Mammoth Trail Fest
In January 2024, my husband Mike, a group of my (road) running club friends and I did our first ultra marathon – the Catalina Avalon 50K – to celebrate my 40th birthday. We had such an amazing time together & we all enjoyed the laid back vibe of trail racing and lower pressure environment.
After the race, we immediately started to plan our next group trail race. After some research and brainstorming, we decided to go with the Mammoth Trail Fest – it sounded like a fun weekend getaway at the perfect time of year (if we were fall marathon training, it would be early enough), and many of us had never been to Mammoth before.
The Mammoth Trail Fest weekend has 5 events – a “tenkay” Friday night , a hill climb Friday morning (the summit only) , a 50K (Saturday) , a kids race (Saturday) and a 26K (Sunday). Between the races there are various events (which ultimately we didn’t participate in at all) – things like yoga, elite speaker panels, trivia night, and dance parties.
We chose the 26K because it felt like challenging yet do-able without a lot of additional specific training (most of us consistently train for marathons/half marathons year-round). Honestly, we didn’t even consider the altitude or elevation gain of the race before signing up. For reference, the 26K race is advertised as 16.1 miles with 3,900+ feet of climbing.
Overall, it was incredibly an well run, organized and fun event that I’d highly recommend. To sign up, be sure to get on the race email list ahead of time and look for the exact registration date. We all signed up as soon as registration opened to make sure we got a spot.
Pre-Race Adventures
We arrived on Friday, 2 days before the race. 4 couples stayed together in a house in Mammoth, and another friend, Megan camped at the Twin Lakes campground with her family (including her 2 kids!). The 8 of us at the house arrived on Friday afternoon (after an 8 hour drive, with 2 charging stops in the Tesla) and walked into town to pick up our bibs and have a yummy dinner and a couple beers at Mammoth Brewing afterward.
The weather on Friday was tricky – it rained on and off and was gloomy and cold, however the forecast was showing clear skies for race day. The thing I was most anticipating about this race was the altitude. I have not spent a lot of time in the mountains and I believer the highest attitude I’ve ever been at was Big Bear, which is just 6,700 feet. Mammoth is over 8,000 feet at village and the summit, which we’d be climbing on Sunday, is over 11,000 feet. I knew not only would it feel significantly harder to run, but that I could potentially get symptoms of attitude sickness.
In the end, it seemed like the altitude had the most impact on my sleep. All 3 nights in Mammoth I didn’t sleep well (couldn’t fall asleep, would wake up in the night, HRV was low). After a restless night of sleep Friday, we took the national park bus shuttle to Devils Post Pile on Saturday morning.
We hiked 5 miles, past Devil’s Post Pile national monument and to a water fall and back. 2 hours is definitely longer than I’d normally want to spend on my feet the day before a big race, but since this felt more like an adventure than a race, we didn’t care.
I am so glad we did this hike and it was well worth the energy and time! It as beautiful and the weather ended up being gorgeous – we quickly realized that it would feel really warm on race day because even though temps were in the 60s, the sun felt MUCH warmer at this attitude.
The rest of Saturday was spent relaxing and prepping for race day. I didn’t do a full carb load like I would before a marathon, but I tried to eat a higher ratio of carbs and more food in general on Saturday. That night, one of our friends’ wife, who was not doing the race, cooked us all a really good pasta and garlic bread dinner and afterward we foam rolled, stretched & watched a helpful YouTube video of a guy who did the race last year – it made us all more relaxed about the course and much more excited because it looked absolutely gorgeous!!!
Mammoth Trail Fest 26K – The Race
I slept terribly on the night before the race – I swear I did not fall asleep until 2 AM and slept very fitfully all night. This seems to be my new pre-race ritual, but in this case I really wasn’t nervous! I think it was mostly the altitude. The race didn’t start til 10 AM , so we “slept in” til 7 AM and then started eating & prepping.
We left the house at 9:30 AM to make it to the 10 AM start. I thought I’d need a jacket to start, but it was so warm that I took it off as soon as we arrived and gave it to my friend’s girlfriend who wasn’t running. The start area felt like a party and was really lively. With about 5 min to go, we lined up – we all guessed we could finish between 4:30-5 hours so we stood right in front of the person with the 5 hour sign.
My race goals were to finish the race, to have fun, and to NOT go all out. I did not taper for this race (it was a 50 mile week and I did a big workout on Tuesday and strength trained all week), and I was told by my coach not to try to keep up with my faster friend Megan. I was supposed to keep the effort easy/moderate, well as “easy” as it can be considering the climbing and elevation.
When the race started, we ran through the main village and onto the road for about a mile. Mike had said “I’ll see you guys at the first aid station if we get split up”. At Catalina, most of us stayed together through the first big climb, but this time, it was so crowded (only 700 runners but felt crowded) and narrow that we pretty much split up immediately. I found myself running with my friend Jen with Brian and Jen’s husband Christian behind us and everyone else ahead. I knew better than to try to push ahead to find Megan – she would be long gone, and I figured we wouldn’t see her again at all.
Once we got off the road, we were on a fairly narrow trail, mostly single file. Within the next mile, we reached a river crossing with a small bridge, and everyone literally stopped and lined up so each person could cross one by one. Unlike in a road race where this would stress me out, I didn’t stress at all and enjoyed the break.
The next section was really fun – single track, easy paced running through beautiful trails with trees all around us. Around mile 3, we popped out onto the base of the Mammoth Mountain ski area and started climbing a pretty steep hill, right next to the chair lift.
At this point, I had been running a very “easy” pace with Jen, though my body had just been warming up and we were feeling the impact of the altitude, so it was slower than our usual easy pace.
We had all talked about trying to stay togehter or at least breaking into small groups and at thi spoint I asumed I’d stay with jen. But as we were going up the hill, there was. aflat section and I encouraged her to join me to jog up it instead of hike. She said “haha no!” and that was the last I saw of her til the 1st aid station.
Since the next portion was all single track, there was no way for anyone to really catch up to one another and we wouldn’t have been able to talk to each other anyway. I was do distracted by where to put my feet and the views and I started to warm up and feel better – this was one of my favorite parts of the race. I remember thinking “I LOVE TRAIL RUNNING” and wondering if I should convert.
After one of the best views of the entire race, where we could see Mammoth Lake ahead, we dropped down into the first aid station. Mike had said to the group “I’ll see you at the first aid station” or so I thought, but he was gone already! But, the two women in our group who were spectating, not racing, Brooke and Katja were there, which I did NOT expect! It was so great to see them and I started spewing off about being in love with trail running and how I may convert.
Jacquallyn was also there, and I said we should wait for Brian and Jen. I used this as a chance to use the restroom & take a photo next to the lake, but I didn’t end up grabbing anything from the aid station as I didn’t need it yet. I’d started fueling at 30 minutes using Huma Gels and I had 2 scoops of Tailwind in my front bottle, and I didn’t want any solid food yet.
When Brian and Jen arrived, we all started running together. But soon it was me and Jacquallyn running together and Brian and Jen behind. At this point I was starting to realize that if we waited every time, we’d end up caught behind slower people on the single track. Jacquallyn and I went ahead.
The next highlight was running through the Twin Lakes campground and seeing our friend Megan’s family, including her 2 cute daughters, who were handing out orange slices. We returned to the single track after that and it started to get more and more steep. Jacquallyn and I were making conversation at times and at one point I said “we’re doing pretty well for sea level road runners” .
The woman in front of us started talking to us, and we had a conversation with her over the next mile or so up the mountain. The pace felt really easy and manageable – which was exactly what I was supposed to be doing, though I did feel a tiny bit antsy, I really didn’t care – I was having so much fun!
Eventually we got to the point that we were scrambling up the rocks, with epic views of the lake on our right and behind us. Again, we were moving slower than I would have on my own, but it didn’t bother me too much. Just before we got past the hardest part of the scramble , a guy in front of us pulled a little bit off the trail and stopped – he didn’t look good.
The trail got a little more runnable after that, but again, we were limited by the people in front of us. Some people had poles and the trail was mostly along the cliff, which made it hard to pass. Right around this point we heard shouting from behind that someone had passed out (i’m guessing the guy we saw!) and people were calling for a medic. Soon a guy ahead of us came running back to try to help.
This is when we saw Jen’s husband Christian again – he asked where Jen was and looked like he was going to wait. The whole “running together” thing wasn’t as easy as it as in Catalina, when the trails were mostly dirt service roads.
The next section was the final, steepest portion of the race and the big climb to the top. I was feeling pretty energized and we started passing people on teh way up. Mor e and more people were stopping on the side of the trail to catch their breath and take breaks, or were happy to wave us past.
I made a goal to NOT stop at all – I could walk but I would not stop walking. My legs felt good and while I was breathing heavy, my lugs felt good too. I was invigorated by the challenge and absolutely loving it. This as the hardest part of the race and my favorite part.
Even the final portion of the summit which was completely clear of trees, straight up and on sand was “Type 2 Fun” . My calves were burning and I was breathing hard, but I kept powering on.
As we approached the summit, we could hear the spectators and see what looked like a finish line at the top. Obviously, not a finish line, as e were only 7 .5 miles into a 16.5 mile race. People at the top were calling my name ‘Nice work Nicole! Way to go” and I was smiling ear to ear – or at least I thought I was until I saw this photo of myself (I’m usually good about catching the photographers but totally missed this one).
After this portion, we ran past the gondola/ski lift and to the actual aid station, which was BUMPING. I was so surprised and happy to see both Mike AND Megan there at the top – Mike had been waiting about 5 minute sand Megan, the billy goat of the group, had waited 25 minutes! If I had to bet money on whether Megan would just push ahead and finish the race on her own, I would have lost.
There was a band playing and although I didnt see the promised pancakes, the aid station was pretty incredible. However, I’d been doing gels and Tailwind at this point and solid food still didn’t sound that great. I refilled my Tailwind bottle (which I’d emptied) and put 2 more scoops of Tailwind in. I ate several small slices of watermelon dipped in salt and maybe 1-2 other things, and then we left. Jaquallyn said she was going to wait for Brian, so Megan, Mike and I started running.
However, it was SUPER steep and we immediately started to split up – i’m a fast downhill runner, and megan was just behind me, but Mike was being more cautious and by the time we got down the first hill, he was quite a ways back. I waited for Megan to catch me and then we started running again. The trail was now single track but it was more desert like than the single track from the beginning of the race . The first mile down was fast, but after that it felt harder – the attitude and pounding on our legs was making our bodies feel heavier and HR way higher than it should have been. The people in front of us kept running and then walking, and instead of passing most of them, I just stopped and walked too.
We kept this up until the next aid station, at mile 11.5, where we saw Brooke and Katja again . Megan and I went to the bathroom, and for the first time, I really started to eat at the aid station. I had some coke, chips, and a gummy peach ring, which all tasted amazing. I planned to wait for Mike, but when I looked him up on Find My Friends, he was quite a ways back. Megan told me she didn’t’ want to wait and was going to go ahead, and I made the decision to stick with her instead of waiting for Mike. Mike and I rarely run together and I was feeling good and knew I would be able to keep up a better pace with Megan.
The aid station was right next to a lake, and as we started running, a spectator shouted that we should not run so fast and take in the view. I looked at the lake and then I tripped – so that didn’t work out so well ( I didn’t go down though, just stumbled).
After the aid station, we started running more but we also came across several more technical decents with loose rock and gravel- meaning we had to kind of walk down them instead or running to avoid tripping. There were fewer people on the course now – sometimes we saw no one at all. But, it started to feel harder. We chatted a bit to keep ourselves distracted, but were were definitely ready to be done.
Once we passed the Mammoth Ski Area again, I expected to go on a similar route that we took on the way out, but we didn’t. We ran on an single track path, with a nice slight decline, all the way back to the start. There was another aid station along the way, at mile 14.2, which had a sign that said “2.3 miles left” . We briefly stopped for water but kept going – our quickest stop yet. I just wanted to be done. We were running what felt like a moderate effort and I asked Megan if she planned to gun it at the end. I wanted to be mentally prepared if I needed to sprint. But she said no, and we stuck together.
I started to feel it more, and realized I probably didn’t take in enough carbs. I didn’t have long to go, so I just kept drinking my tailwind and imagined a tether from Megan to me. If I didn’t have her ahead of me, I know I would have walked – but I don’t remember walking much at all, if ever, in those final miles.
Starting so far back and then waiting at the first aid station put me in a position to pass hundreds of people throughout the race and not many people passed me. However, in the final mile, one woman passed me (and encouraged me), and I tried to go with her, but really didn’t feel like it! I was just ready to finish.
Seemingly out of no where, we popped out of the trail and onto the road and then IMMEDIATELY saw Mammoth Village. I was NOT expecting that I figured we’d be running on a road like we did at the beginning. Since trail races are often not the exact distance advertised, I honestly wasn’t sure if we had 1/4 miles left or 1 mile. To enter the village, we had to go up a flight of stairs and down. After the stairs, we were in the village and I was smiling ear to ear. We picked up the pace a bit and saw Megan’s family and daughters. when we saw the finish line, I grabbed Megan’s hand and we finished together, with the EXACT same time of 4:17. (Despite not pausing my watch Strava showed my time as 3:54 which was my moving time)
I was so proud of myself and happy with my effort, but most of all, I had so much fun. I stayed present for the majority of the race, I pushed myself without overthinking the effort, I soaked in the sights, and I smiled a lot. I got to run the majority of the race with friends and I had a freaking blast!
Immediately we headed to the finisher area and grabbed cokes and fresh, warm pizza and waited for our friends to come in. We all celebrated with beers & a yummy dinner later that night and then headed home Monday morning.
I am SO glad I did this race. It couldn’t have come at a perfect time. This race reminded me why I run. Because I love it, it brings me to new places, it connects me with friends, because it shows me that I am strong. This race was the most beautiful race I’ve ever run AND I had the best mindset during the entire process.
So…. now which race should I do next!?
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