Race Day Details

Saturday, August 15, 2026 @ 5:30am

Start: Junction Park, Cleveland Ave, Squamish – Map to the Start Line
Finish: Junction Park, Cleveland Ave, Squamish – Map to the Finish Line

Ascent: 3500 m / 11,000 ft
Descent: 3500 m / 11,000 ft

Parking

* No parking allowed at start line. Please take buses or get dropped off.

Please ensure you take your drop bags on the bus with you, after parking at Brennan Park Rec Centre.

* There is NO finish line parking. All runners, all distances, must park at Brennan Park Rec Centre and board our pre-race and post-race shuttles to access their vehicles.

We offer free shuttles from the finish line back to your vehicle post-race.

Registered Runners

REGISTRATIONS ARE NON-TRANSFERRABLE. Check our Registration page for further information.

Package Pickup Details
Rules & Regulations

Awards & Prizing

Beautiful custom awards for the top three male and female finishers in each race by Aravaipa Artworx, plus $6500 in cash prizing for the top 3 male and female 50 milers:

• 1st – $2000
• 2nd – $750
• 3rd – $500

$1000 additional cash bonus for a new 50 mile male or female course record.

Entry and travel package (flights, accommodations, and transfers) to the Mar a Mar trail race in Mexico for the male and female 50 mile winners. In case you don’t win, we have a 20% entry discount code for all runners: MAMSPGUEST.

The Roxy-Roo Mid-Pack Award

The runner who finishes dead-centre in the 50 mile race will receive the Roxy-Roo Mid-Pack Award to celebrate them keeping the pack together and safe.

The Roxy-Roo Award is a tribute to Gary’s pup who passed away in January 2018. Roxy was born in Squamish and was adopted from the SPCA that 50-mile runners pass at mile four. The ultimate mid-packer, Roxy always preferred to run right in the middle of her pack so she could keep an eye on all the other pups. From the beginning, Roxy was a fixture at the Squamish 50 and truly left her paw-prints on the race, even helping Gary piece together the first six miles of the 50-mile course by showing him all of those trails when she was a puppy.

The winner of the Roxy-Roo Award will be determined after the final runner crosses the finish line on Saturday night and the trophy handed out during the 50k awards on Sunday. The Roxy-Roo winner also receives a comp entry to the following year’s race, any distance (including 50/50), along with a SQ50 swag bag.

Race Equipment

HEADLAMPS ARE MANDATORY!

Headlamps are mandatory at the start line for all runners, and later in the race for all runners who will depart the final aid station after 6pm.

Approximately 30% of the field will NEED to carry a headlamp to the finish with them. Year after year many runners unexpectedly find themselves needing their headlamp to be allowed to continue past the final aid station. The 50 mile course is tough and unrelenting. If you are not experienced over this specific terrain, you might be a bit slower than you’d expected. DO NOT RISK DISQUALIFICATION because you didn’t prepare to have your headlamp available to you from Farside in.

Headlamp MUST be at least 100 lumens of brightness, for your own safety on the trails.

You decide at AS2 Alice Lake if you would like to continue with your headlamp on your person (i.e. in your pack), pass it off to your crew member, or drop it into one of our SQ50-provided and labeled transport buckets. Race officials will transport all headlamps dropped into our SQ50 buckets at AS2 Alice Lake to AS7 Farside for runners to retrieve later in the race. Check in with the aid station captain to reacquire your headlamp at Farside.

Please ensure you label your headlamp with name and bib number.

Consider grabbing your headlamp from AS7 even if you arrive prior to the 6pm mandatory headlamp timing, as headlamps will not be returned and available for pickup at the finishing area until very late Saturday night. Most people end up picking up their headlamps on Sunday afternoon.

ALL RUNNERS DEPARTING AS7 FARSIDE AFTER 6pm MUST CARRY A HEADLAMP WITH THEM.

Please note that no runners are allowed to depart AS7 Farside after 6pm without a headlamp. If you do not have a headlamp and do not depart before 6pm, you will be pulled from the course and disqualified. 

Sunrise: 6:07am / Sunset 8:25pm

PACERS ARE NOT ALLOWED
POLES ARE NOT ALLOWED

Aid Stations

Aid stations will have a selection of standard ultra running foods, such as:

• Näak gel, waffles, and energy drink mix
• Coke and water
• fruit such as oranges, bananas, watermelon
• potato chips
• snacks such as salted pretzels, gummies, m&m’s, cookies, etc.
• salted potatoes
• other gluten-free options

Crew & Spectator Access Points

AS 2 (Alice Lake), AS 5 (Capilano U) and AS 7 (Far Side) are PARK AND WALK, which means you cannot park directly at the aid station. Please plan for a walk of approximately 5 minutes to get from the nearest parking to these aid stations.

Any runners being crewed further than 30 meters from an aid station run the risk of being disqualified.

You are not allowed to access your crew at AS 3, AS 4 or AS 6. 

Any and all crew with vehicles seen attempting to access these areas WILL get their runner disqualified immediately.

Course Map

Download GPX File

Course Description

Updated August 14, 2025

Your race begins at 5:30am, by headlamp. Ensure you’re wearing at least 100 lumens of light, as those are the rules of engagement. The world famous Chief looms above and on a clear night it’s nothing but stars and mountains staring down on our starting line. The first seven miles / eleven kilometres are flat, fast and twisty, as you make your way through the heart of Squamish and out to the hills and mountains that’ll dominate the rest of your day. Don’t get too excited and start off too fast, for you’ll be sure to regret that within a few hours. 

After your first aid station you head through a small neighbourhood to gain the Coho Trail. In previous years we’ve had young ones dressed up in costumes high fiving runners, at 6:15am! This is one supportive and passionate outdoor community in Squamish! 

Shortly after getting back onto the singletrack at Coho Trail you’ll start towards your first big climb of the day, up and over Debeck’s Hill, which presents about 1000 feet / 300 metres in about one mile / 1.5 kilometres. As you ascend Debeck’s you’ll be confronted with some of the steepest terrain of the entire race, but you’ll be rewarded with views up valley and out over the mountainous peaks of The Tantalus Range. As you crest the top you’ll test your fancy footwork through some rocky terrain before it peters out into a 4×4 service road. On the way down you’ll pass by a historic Steam Donkey forestry relic. Feel free to stop and snap a pic. 

You swing back onto singletrack after just a kilometre or so of service road, and then drop down a trail named Mid-life Crisis to intersect with Jack’s Trail. If your name is Jack please don’t read into this, we’re not saying you’re having a mid-life crisis Jack, but is this your first ultra? We’re just asking is all. Once you pop out onto Jack’s it’s flat and fast all the way to your second aid station at Alice Lake. There are flushable toilets to utilize if breakfast hasn’t been sitting well. Enjoy the feast of the aid station and proceed through Alice Lake Park to gain Four Lakes Trail at the far side of the campgrounds.

You will first run past Stump Lake and then Fawn Lake before popping out onto the Bob McIntosh Trail. 

**NEW FOR 2025** 

A brand new “toad detour” trail has been constructed to ensure we no longer have to worry about closing trails in the race for the annual toad migration in the area. This new trail is double-wide, beautiful, and fast. Huge thanks to SORCA! This new trail is a bit of a shortcut vs our previous line, but don’t worry, we’ll give you all the distance back a bit later on, while climbing up Galactic. *insert evil laugh* 

The toad detour pops out near “Man Boobs”, and from here we go up, up, and up to gain access to the Ed’s Bypass area that you’ve all grown to love over the years. After topping out on Ed’s, you’ll launch back down a trail called Mad Hatter, which’ll eventually spit you back out onto “The Corners” where you can weave your way to your next aid station.

Your third aid station, and first drop bag location, will be located in between Rob’s and Cliff’s Corners. As a 50 mile runner you’ll be turning right to complete a 10 kilometre loop via Cliff’s Corners and one of your RD’s favorite trails, Entrails. This 10km loop is a mix of runnable and not so runnable for those unfamiliar with technical terrain. Once you drop down Entrails you return to the same aid station for a second time, via a very runnable gravel forest service road. Check back in at the aid station a second time, use your drop bag again, and then exit the aid station to the right, along the service road. 

You’re now on the Northside Connector gravel service road for a few kilometres, enjoy the last bits of runnable terrain before you head into the big nasty. Stay right at the Y split in the FSR, proceed approximately 1 kilometre further until you can pick up a trail on your left named Galactic Scheisse. This trail is located just a few hundred meters after you cross over a prominent water f low / bridge along the FSR. 

Welcome to your favourite part of the day! Galactic Scheisse tops out at over 3300 feet / 1000 metres. Given that your starting line is approximately 600 feet / 175 metres and you’ve only gained a minimal total amount up until this point in time you should ensure you’ve grabbed ample supplies from your last aid station. The trail climbs at a steady grade that is indeed runnable by those challenging near the front. The total gain is over 2500 feet / 750 metres and it plays out over approximately 4 kilometres of continued ascent. The great part about this climb, besides the challenge, is that it presents the most stunning views of the entire course, so it’s well worth your efforts! 

**NEW FOR 2025**

As the SQ50 courses go through small evolutions, we do our best to keep the overall distance and run times the same. Given we have a new “toad detour” trail near Fawn Lake that removes a tiny bit of distance, we decided what better way to recapture that missing distance than to extend the Galactic Climb, just ever so slightly. Do not fret, friends, we promise the reward is worth the effort, as this small addition leads to incredible open rock bluff views down over Howe Sound. On a clear day, this might just end up being the most scenic part of the entire race!

**Very important update from SORCA. This small new addition on Galactic involves detouring over to a parallel downhill mountain biking trail, and running up that for a short stretch before then jumping back out onto our historical route on Galactic proper. While we of course know that many runners like to pre-scout new areas, WE MUST ADVISE THAT THIS IS A HIGH SPEED DOWNHILL MTB TRAIL. As such, we have been asked to NOT SEND runners up past this small section that we use in the race, AND pay particular attention while you are on this new stretch, outside of race weekend itself, where we’ll be able to manage that downhill traffic. Any rider-to-runner conflict outside of race day will lead to this trail being removed from the race going forward. 

There is a slight reprieve once you top out, but shortly thereafter, you are thrust into an equivalent descent. Trails you’ll “run” include Upper Powersmart, IMBA Smart, Fred, and Word Of Mouth. The trails will start off as average technical and proceed into greater technicality as your legs fight through the impending fatigue. You are welcome! 

**NEW FOR 2025** 

If you’ve run our race before, you’ll appreciate some of the new SORCA trail work that’s gone into this “Upper Powersmart” zone. It’ll be just as gnarly as ever, but with some fresh dirt and minor alterations, and upgrades. If you’ve not run our race before, just follow the flagging and try to keep your quads from imploding. 

As you get to the bottom of IMBA Smart, you’ll arrive at your next aid station located at the entrance to “Fred”. 

Once you exit Fred you have about 6 kilometers of mostly downhill singletrack until you arrive at the approximate 30 mile point of your race at Capilano University (formerly Quest). A full aid station, full facilities and your other drop bag await.

Once you depart Cap U it’s back to the climbing again, doing a small loop of the University lands to gain a trail called “Home Run” that’ll bring you all the way up to the Climb Trail via beautiful singletrack. Note that this section has some steep bits and you are definitely going to thank me for that. 

If you’ve not been back to Squamish in a couple of years since last year, you won’t even recognize the new parking area at the entrance to The Climb Trail, as there’s now over 100 gravel parking spots located here, and The Climb Trail entrance has been shifted just slightly due to this construction work. Once you begin your climb up The Climb Trail you’ll pass a nice little waterfall after a few minutes and about a mile further along you’ll start to get some more open views back down valley towards Cap U and across to The Tantalus Mountain Range. You are climbing on singletrack until crossing over The Northside Connector and then continuing up the Upper Climb Trail. 

Climbing, climbing, climbing you’ll top out as you find A.M. or the non politically correct name of Angry Midget. A.M. is a wonderful fall line running trail and though your legs might be screaming you’ll likely be doing the same out loud as you enjoy every step! As has always been the case, our superstar volunteer Alaia Alsharif will be at the top directing you back down AM, with her wonderful smile and coloured hair. Be sure to give her a high five and thank her for her endless dedication towards our races. 

At the bottom of A.M. cut left onto Ring Creek and follow it for a few hundred meters until you can cross over the Garibaldi FSR to access your next aid station. From here to the finish you’ll be following the same course as every other race distance. Once across the gravel road you’ll drop back onto singletrack. This will wind you down to a river crossing across a bridge known as “Darwin’s”. A short but steep climb awaits you on the other side and you’ll be taking your first right onto STP, which is the first moto-friendly trail you’ll be running on the day. Keep your ears peeled as a just in case. 

You get to drop down STP, climb back up on Bonsai, drop back down on Somewhere Over There, and then hit your final aid station of the day at the entrance to The Far Side. Kyle Conway and his crew have been captaining this aid station for about a decade now, and year after year they blow us away with their commitment towards a relevant theme of the time, from Game of Thrones, to The Barkley Marathons, to Ted Lasso. You never know what they’re going to do next! One thing is for certain, they’re gonna take great care of you and ensure you have the energy, calories and support to put in your final push to the finish line!

Departing the aid station, you turn onto Fartherside and then S&M Connector. Enjoy this open slightly graded descent but don’t worry, you’re not done with your climbing just yet!

**LAST-MINUTE CHANGE FOR 2025**

Crossing under the powerlines you take right onto the boardwalk and then a left onto Endo, but only briefly before you turn right onto Seven Stitches as you slowly climb up to Pipe Trail. From Pipe Trail you are closing in on your final climb of the day, up Mountain Of Phlegm. Don’t fuss over the name though, as we’ve saved some mountain views for last climb of course! Do a shoulder check as you top out here and you’ll spot Nch’ḵay̓ / Garibaldi dominating the skyline above town. From the top of Mountain Of Phlegm, which is a short but steep climb, it’s ‘almost’ all downhill to your finish line. Almost.

Take Summer’s Eve into The Smoke Bluffs, blaze past the rock climbers and boulderers until you end up in the parking lot at the bottom. It’s time to get those legs to turn over on some flat stuff finally, as you’re only a few kilometres from celebrating your achievement in our beer gardens! (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options await). 

Along the water, through Rose Park, under the highway and down to Junction Park, at the O’Siyam Pavilion, where you can finally lay down and call it a day! Treat yo’self to an Alice and Brohm ice cream, you’ve earned it! 

In case you’ve made it this far and haven’t deduced this just yet… this is NOT an easy course, but if you train hard you’ll be one of those receiving a coveted finisher’s medal and finish line hug, high-five, or fly-by, your call!