Half Marathon Trail Series: Tiger Mountain Trail Run 5k | 12k | Half Marathon | 50k

The Half Marathon Trail Series features several half marathon trail runs over the course of the year, designed to both whet and sate trail runners’ appetites for this wonderful distance!

The different events offer courses at a variety of venues, each with a unique beauty and challenge. Run three or more to earn a full series score. See how you compare to others in your age group, or challenge yourself to go the distance three times this year.

This event is part of the Half Marathon Trail Series, and runners in the Half Marathon distance will earn points toward their series standing.

Tiger Mountain is the crown jewel of the Issaquah Alps, and the Tiger Mountain Trail Run will offer an excellent tour of this vast and magnificent State Forest. This event offers a quintessential Pacific Northwest trail running experience at what may be Seattle-area trail runners’ favorite playground, with fantastic and well-marked loop courses at a variety of distances and ample support.

A Discover Pass is needed to park on DNR lands.

Course Description
The courses start and finish from the trailhead on the east side of Tiger Mountain and use a great variety of trails, covering gently-rolling to steep terrain.

The 5k course makes a single clockwise loop, going out on the forest road and returning on a rolling trail.

The 12k course adds onto the 5k loop by continuing westward along the forest road, following the 50k route until cutting off up the hill for a nearly 900-foot climb that links back to the 50k route for a mostly downhill return to the 5k loop and the finish.

The Half Marathon course starts out going east from the start, then promptly embarks on a long climb on the newly-built Master Link Trail, connecting to forest roads on the upper slopes of East Tiger Mountain and passing below the summit before a long, moderate descent on mountain biking trails. The route then returns to the finish via the trails that wrap around the eastern flank of the mountain, with gentle-to-moderate climbs and descents.

The 50k course starts out going east for a grand clockwise lollipop loop on these popular mountain biking trails, hitting two aid stations along the way, before passing through the start finish for another aid stop. 50k runners then go west for a longer loop that extends into the West Tiger Natural Resources Conservation Area and circumnavigates the three West Tiger summits with a mix of traversing, climbing, and descending, passing aid stations four more times before returning to the finish.

Aid Stations are many and well-stocked. The longest distance between aid stations is a little over 9k (5.6 miles, on the 50k), however in case of warm weather, runners may wish to carry a bottle or hydration bladder, especially on the longer distances. See the course map for the locations and distribution of the aid stations.

Here are the course distances, climb figures, and numbers of aid stations:

5.0k – 590 feet – No aid stations
12.6k – 1780 feet – 2 aid stations
Half Marathon (13.56 miles actual distance) – 2230 feet – 2 aid stations
50k (52.3 km actual distance) – 5980 feet – 7 aid stations

Schedule
7:30am – Check-in
8:20am – 50k Pre-start briefing
8:30am – 50k Start
9:23am – Half Marathon Pre-start briefing
9:30am – Half Marathon Start
9:53am – 5k & 12k Pre-start briefing
10:00am – 5k & 12k Start
5:30pm – Course closes

Directions & Parking
The start and finish is at the Department of Natural Resources trailhead parking area, about 0.3 miles along the gravel road from State Route 18. Parking will be at this parking area, and as needed, along the gravel road approaching the trailhead parking and at the parking area adjacent to Highway 18 (pending confirmation.) A Discover Pass is needed to park on DNR lands. Please follow any parking directions offered by event staff.