Mt Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon

We want to give you good news on race day!. After having to shorten the Challenge twice in its 25 year history, due to Mount Mitchell park access issues on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we have strategized a way to give good news, rather than bad, on race day. All runners will sign up for the Marathon and if the Summit is available and covered with aid stations on race day, the first 250 runners that want to go to the summit for the full Challenge, and have reached the Parkway Marathon turnaround within the cut-off time, will become Challenge racers and will have the option to continue to the Summit. Summit racers will continue to be allowed to head up until the 250 racer capacity is reached or the cut-off time of 10AM has passed. Once one of those two thresholds has been reached, subsequent runners reaching the Parkway turnaround will continue normally as Marathon finishers.