A trail runner on a grassy ridge above a sea of clouds

Grindstone Running Festival by UTMB

The Grindstone Running Festival by UTMB is an ultra-trail festival staged in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 4 km with 6,400 m of vertical gain and is part of the UTMB World Series.

Prepare for Grindstone by UTMB

A plan built from your answers and your race date.

trail training plan

The Grindstone Running Festival by UTMB takes place in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, on the trails of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. The terrain is classic Appalachian: wooded ridgelines, rocky footing and repeated climbs, with no extreme altitude but very little let-up between ascents.

4 km with 6,400 m of vertical gain, 100 km with 3,350 m, 50 km with 1,550 m and 21 km with 500 m. The 100-mile race is regarded as one of the toughest on the East Coast.

The formats

4 formats on the program.

Format	Distance	Vertical gain
100M	104 mi	6,400 m
100K	62 mi	3,350 m
50K	31 mi	1,550 m
21K	13 mi	500 m

Organizer information, checked on September 21, 2026 · grindstone.utmb.world

When to start

At this distance, a build usually runs 12 to 24 weeks. The 2027 date is not published, so counting back from September puts the start around March 29, 2027.

These ranges are working conventions, not a research finding — no trial has compared plan lengths against each other. What matters more is that the plan was built for the weeks you actually have, rather than shrunk down from a longer one.

How to choose your start date

When to start

March 29, 2027

→ June 21, 2027

Worth reading before you enter

Races and distances Trail distances: what changes off the road Distance stops being the useful number. What decides a trail race is how long you are out, how much you climb, and how much the descents have wrecked your legs by the end. Read Training Eating and drinking: what’s proven, what isn’t This is where confident advice most often runs ahead of the evidence. Some of it is well tested. Some is opinion wearing a number. And one common habit can kill you. Read Races and distances When to start preparing your race Most plans fail before the first session, because the block started too late and everything had to be squeezed. Counting back from the date is the dullest and most useful thing you will do. Read

Questions

What is the date of Grindstone Running Festival by UTMB in 2027?

The organizer has not published the 2027 date for Grindstone Running Festival by UTMB yet. The race is usually held in September, in Shenandoah Valley.

What distances does the Grindstone festival offer?

4 km with 6,400 m of climbing, 100 km with 3,350 m, 50 km with 1,550 m and 21 km with 500 m, all part of the UTMB World Series.

How hard is the Grindstone 100 miler?

It is demanding. 4 km and 6,400 m of vertical gain over rocky Appalachian ridgelines, it is regarded as one of the toughest 100-mile races on the East Coast of the United States.

Other races

This list keeps growing; it draws no line. A race that is missing is prepared for in exactly the same way.

Honolulu · United StatesUltra HURT 100 Jan 16 Its five-loop, 20-mile-per-lap format carries a famously high drop-out rate. Bandera · United StatesUltra HOKA Bandera Endurance Trail Race January The HOKA Bandera Endurance Trail Race is a trail and ultra weekend held in Bandera, Texas, inside the Hil Moab · United StatesUltra Moab 240 Endurance Run January 7 km ultramarathon with 9,620 m of vertical gain, run as one continuous loop out of Moab, Utah. It is par Your race is not here? Tell us about your race You can prepare for it all the same. Any race, anywhere, and even a goal without a race.

Your race is on the calendar. Your plan should be too.

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