Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival

January 13, 2024

An evening of trail racing: The Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival includes 5-mile, 10-mile, 15-mile, 50K solo, 50K pair, and 50K relay races. It takes place at Bridle Trails State Park in Kirkland on the second Saturday of the year! Races start at 3:00 pm. YES, races begin in the daylight and will slowly move into darkness!

RESULTS

Thanks to everyone who came out and braved the cold!

2024 results are available on RunSignup
Race photos by Takao Suzuki

Race Director contact: Gretchen Walla (races@seattlerunningclub.org)

SAFETY AND TRAIL ETIQUETTE

There are many runners out there, and the trail will be somewhat congested after the start until runners spread out. Maintaining a sporting and cooperative attitude toward other runners will keep things fun for everyone. There are a few narrow stretches of trail, but the route is mostly wide enough for careful passing. If you are overtaking another runner and wish to pass, please announce your approach to alert the other runner, as needed; if you are being overtaken, please allow the overtaking runner to pass when possible.

No dogs. As much as we love our four legged friends, dogs are not allowed on the course due to USATF Sanctioning and Insurance Requirements.

Signs are posted weeks ahead of time in order to notify other park users of this event, however the park is open to others during the run. Please be courteous and share the trail with any other users you encounter. In particular, please know what to do in the event that you encounter a horseback rider: stop, step to the side of the trail (the lower side if on a slope), and yield the trail to the horse. Also, talk to the rider to help put the horse at ease; say hello and ask whether it is okay to walk past or whether you need to stand still. Please follow this rule of the trail to keep yourself and others safe and so that we will be welcome to have this event in future years.

DRIVING AND PARKING

Please CARPOOL! Parking inside the park is limited, and we will set aside much of it for 50k participants and carpools, so please carpool, if possible. The park & ride lot adjacent to the freeway exit provides a good place to meet and form full carpools before entering the park.

A Discover Pass is required to park inside Bridle Trails State Park. For your convenience, the park staff will be selling Discover Passes on-site. A single-day pass is $11.50, and a 12-month pass is $35.

For directions to Bridle Trails State Park, click here to find directions on Google Maps, or use the following.

• Northbound: Take exit #17 off of I-405. At end of off-ramp, turn right and head south on 116th Ave. NE. At four-way stop, continue straight ahead. The park entrance is located at the first opening in the trees on the left.
• Southbound: Take exit #17 off of I-405. At end of off-ramp, turn right and cross over freeway. At the first light, turn right again. Head south on 116th Ave. NE. At the four-way stop, continue straight ahead. The park entrance is located at the first opening in the trees on your left.

There is also limited parking up and down the street from the park entrance. If parking on the street, please park out of the way of traffic. Please be prepared to talk with and follow directions from the parking attendants. The reserved areas may not accommodate all 50k runners or carpools, let alone everyone else, so please leave yourself enough time to find street parking nearby and then check in before the start.

Remember that you must have or purchase from the park staff a Discover Pass to park inside Bridle Trails State Park.

EVENT-DAY SCHEDULE

1:30 pm — Event-day check in opens
2:53 pm — Pre-start line-up and announcements

3:00 pm — All runners start (including solos, pairs, and relays)

4:43 pm — Sunset
11:00 pm — Course sweep begins by this time
12:00 am (midnight) — Course closes, all runners should check in at the finish by this time

THE COURSE

All runners will use the same 5.2-mile loop of trails, mostly going clockwise around the perimeter of the park. The route will be marked with orange and white streamers, as well as yellow glow sticks after dark. Some sections of the trail are rough, rutted, or muddy, and it is winter, so please watch your footing, and expect to get wet and dirty. Sunset is at 4:43 pm, and it will get dark under the forest canopy pretty quickly after that. If there is a good chance you’ll be on the course after that time, please bring a headlamp with enough battery life to get you to the finish!

Results

CREDITS

This run is produced by Northwest Trail Runs and Seattle Running Club. Our thanks to Ranger Mary at Bridle Trails State Park for hosting us. Thanks also to the many volunteers who are a vital part of events like this one.
And a special thanks to Chris Ralph for starting this run and to past RDs Scott & Leslie McCoubrey, Eric Sach, and Jack Rosenfeld for their years of organizing this and other runs and for their support and guidance as we carry the torch.