Hitting the dirt: Northern Utah Trailfest returns this weekend with two new challenges
Festival returns Oct. 2-4 at North Fork Park in Eden
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- A participant smiles for the camera during an undated Northern Utah Trailfest event.
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- A young child and woman cross the finish line during an undated Northern Utah Trailfest event.
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- A mountain biker pictured during an undated Northern Utah Trailfest event.
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- A view of the campground during an undated Northern Utah Trailfest event.
Photo supplied, Northern Utah Trailfest
A participant smiles for the camera during an undated Northern Utah Trailfest event.
EDEN – Perhaps more so than the changing colors, the fifth-annual Northern Utah Trailfest returns to North Fork Park in Eden this weekend for one of the state’s fastest-growing gatherings of trail runners, mountain bikers and merely anyone who enjoys getting outdoors.
Back again with a full weekend planned, “The NUT,” as it’s been monikered by locals and festival regulars, returns Oct. 2-4 with a full slate of events, including two new races and three days of community activities ranging from food, live music, crafting, axe throwing, and educational opportunities for families.
Five years in, the event has grown substantially as an end-of-the-year celebration of the many collaborations between the Ogden-based GOAL Foundation and Trails Foundation of Northern Utah, or TFNU.
Aric Manning, a festival regular and executive director for the TFNU, has watched the event grow into a “marquee event” since its 2022 launch at the 2,600-acre North Fork Park, located on the eastern side of the Wasatch Mountains.
“If you haven’t been up there in the fall, it’s just stunning,” Manning told the Standard-Examiner on Wednesday. “It’s still a little bit of a hidden gem in a lot of ways, but the GOAL Foundation, ourselves, we’ve put a lot of work into it over the years.”
New highlights: The Cutler Challenge and Duathlon
Photo supplied, Northern Utah Trailfest
A young child and woman cross the finish line during an undated Northern Utah Trailfest event.
This year’s race schedule adds the Cutler Challenge and Duathlon.
Historically, the festival offered three-, six-, and nine-hour runs; beginning this year, the nine-hour run is now the “Cutler Challenge,” a three-round, elimination-style race testing “endurance, pacing strategy and head-to-head racing,” according to a festival news release.
One of the weekend’s most-demanding competitions, Manning said, will feature new trails and a challenge unlike anything in previous years. Trevor Fuchs, the event operations manager of the GOAL Foundation, pitched the event.
“This was kind of the brainchild of (Fuchs) over at the GOAL Foundation, where our board, most of us are trail runners, and we thought we’d bring something kind of competitive (and) something that showcases some other trails, mix it up a little bit after four years,” Manning said. “It’s kind of a smaller event – if you complete it all you’re going to be like 25 (or) 26 miles up running, so I’m pretty excited to see how this one plays out.”
In addition to the Cutler Challenge, “The NUT Duathlon” combines the festival’s three-hour trail run and bike races into a single challenge. Final standings are determined by “the total number of laps completed across both events,” according to a festival news release.
Photo supplied, Northern Utah Trailfest
A mountain biker pictured during an undated Northern Utah Trailfest event.
Both the Cutler Challenge and Duathlon are part of the Saturday race day slate beginning at 7 a.m. with the three-hour run and duathlon, followed by the six-hour run at 11 a.m., and the Cutler Challenge (5K and 10K) at 11:45 a.m.
Manning said those who get the most out of the event are pitching tents for the full weekend.
“The really neat thing is just seeing how the camping spots are so close together,” Manning said.
“People are finding other people that enjoy what they do, and it seems like every year we walk away and hear stories of how I just met some really cool people and our kids were hanging out and we were able to do this – but it’s what you feel during the festival for three days. When you wake up, we’ve (always) got something going on… If you really wanna experience everything, camping is the way to do it.”
General admission to the festival is free, while campground spaces are available for purchase at www.northernutahtrailfest.com/camping.
Photo supplied, Northern Utah Trailfest
A view of the campground during an undated Northern Utah Trailfest event.
The three-day event includes weekend-long events with camping opening on Friday at 4 p.m.
Planned activities
• Live performance by Second Hand Sun
• “Night Ride” with Weber Davis Mountain Biking
• Fireside poetry with Sunni, s’mores, etc.
• Mountain bike ride with Wilderness First Aid Clinic of Weber State University
• Horseback riding with Backcountry Horsemen
• Fossil hike, STEM activities, climbing wall, crafting, etc.
Visit www.northernutahtrailfest.com for race day event information and scheduling.
Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.
