Mossy Mountain Madness Trail Run

04/13/2024

2 hour, 4 hour, 6 hour,
& FREE 1.7-mile kids’ run

Saturday, April 13, 2024

9:00 am Start

Tolt MacDonald Park, Carnation, WA

Mossy Mountain Madness is the second event in the Goat Series, where you get vert (vertical, meaning elevation gain) in your backyard! Goat Series events have hilly short-loop courses in local parks, and the challenge is to accumulate as much vertical gain—and as much distance—as you can by completing laps within your chosen time limit, 2 hours, 4 hours, or 6 hours. Only those laps completed before the time limit count; partial laps do not. This series is a great opportunity to work on your fitness goals, possibly including preparing for mountain races later in the year with longer climbs.

You can expect a clearly-marked course, a well-stocked aid station with a helpful crew, good organization, and a relaxed and supportive atmosphere.

Tolt-MacDonald Park may be an unknown venue to many trail runners, but it makes a great venue for the Goat Series, since it has a steep escarpment that rises from the Snoqualmie River to the Tolt Hill plateau.

Tolt McDonald Park features a 500 foot long suspension bridge that you’ll cross after parking, on your way to the start/finish area in the meadow along the river. We’ll have a tarp and tent set up for your personal gear, and a full aid station to replenish after each loop. Part of the route crosses the Ames Lake Forest, which is managed by our friends at Chinook Timber Management who have generously granted access for this event. Recently logged and replanted, the forest is an important part of the Snoqualmie Tolt river basin watershed, and it features nesting eagles, osprey, and spawning Chinook salmon in the fall. We recognize this area as home of the winter villages of the Snoqualmie Tribe.

The approximately 1.7 mile loop includes about 480 feet of elevation gain. You’ll do as many loops as you can in your chosen time limit. You’ll pass through the aid station each time, where you can check in with your supporters and replenish for the next loop. We will be there cheering for you! How many feet of elevation gain can you rack up, as our timing crew keeps track of your laps?

Camping is available if you’d like to make a weekend of it, and you can reserve online.

We hope you’ll join us at Mossy Mountain Madness to develop your endurance, strength, and motivation to tackle your fitness goals or bigger routes further from home.

Use the “REGISTER” button to sign up for the Mossy Mountain Madness 2 hour, 4 hour, or 6 hour, or use the “SERIES REGISTRATION” button to sign up for more than one of the Goat Series events at once. You get a multi-event discount when you register for two or more at once!

2024 GOAT SERIES

MARCH 9 – BOEING CREEK CRAWL
2-hour, 4-hour, & 6-hour, Shoreview Park, Shoreline, WA

APRIL 13 – MOSSY MOUNTAIN MADNESS
2-hour, 4-hour, & 6-hour, Tolt-MacDonald Park, Carnation, WA

MAY 25 – LORD HILLBILLY
2-hour, 4-hour, & 6-hour, Lord Hill Regional Park, Snohomish, WA

FINISHER MEDAL

Commemorate your achievement with a custom finisher medal featuring the event artwork. Finish at least one loop in the 2-hour, 4-hour, or 6-hour? You get a medal!

SERIES COMPETITION

Are you competitive?

Your best 2 performances in the Goat Series will rank you in the series standings!
If you want to do fewer events, that’s okay! Series events are open to everyone.
You may register for events individually, or use Series Registration to sign up for more than one event at once for your own convenience. Using Series Registration is not required to be part of the series competition.
If you complete any of the Goat Series events, you are automatically entered.
Points will be awarded separately to runners in the Female and Open categories. After receiving points for placement within the Female and Open categories, participants will then be divided into their age category for the series competition.
Participants in all time limits (2-hour, 4-hour, and 6-hour) in each event will be ranked together, using coefficients to scale all results. A 2-hour performance will be considered equivalent to a 6-hour performance if it is 0.42 times the number of laps. A 4-hour performance will be considered equivalent to a 6-hour performance if it is 0.73 times the number of laps.
For the purposes of the series points calculation only, each runner will be awarded a virtual amount of additional climb as if they had completed part of an additional lap, based upon their average lap time and time remaining. The maximum fractional lap climb awarded will be a maximum of just less than 1 lap (0.9999 times the climb gained in one lap), even if a runner finishes early enough that they could easily have completed multiple additional laps.
Series points are based upon the virtual climb done as calculated above for each event. The average of the top three calculated (virtual) climb totals in each category (Female and Open) will be assigned 100 points, and each competitor’s points are calculated as the ratio of that competitor’s calculated climb to the average calculated climb of the top three in that competitor’s category multiplied by 100.
- Here’s an example of how the scoring math works: Assume there is 450 feet of climb per loop, and here are the results in one of the two categories:
- 1st place: 15 laps in the 4-hour in 3:52:30 (9545 feet normalized calculated climb, using 0.72 coefficient)
- 2nd place: 20 laps in the 6-hour in 5:50:00 (9257 feet normalized calculated climb)
- 3rd place: 8 laps in the 2-hour in 1:57:36 (8746 feet normalized calculated climb, using 0.42 coefficient)
- The average of the top three results is 9183 feet normalized calculated climb, and that result is pegged to a 100 point score.
- A runner who does 5 laps in the 2-hour in 1:50:00 (22 minutes per lap) is assigned a virtual climb of (5 + (2:00-1:50)/22)*450 feet = 2455 feet. This translates to a normalized climb of 5844 feet, yielding a score of 100*5844/9183 = 63.6 series points.
In the event of a tie, each runner’s highest point score is used for the tie-breaker. If two runners have identical highest point scores, then the next highest point scores are compared until the tie is broken.
The top series participants receive special recognition and free entry to a future trail run.
Awards will be presented in the following categories: Female, Open, Masters Female 40+, Masters Open 40+, Youth Female 12/under, Youth Open 12/under, Junior Female 13-19, Junior Open 13-19

Results & Photos
Registration
Course Description
Schedule
Directions & Parking
Apparel
Safety, Etiquette & Dogs

Results & Photos

2024 Results, Lap splits, Series points, & Photos by Takao Suzuki

Registration

	Open (through 2/16)	Early (through 3/13)	Regular (through 4/11)	Day-of-Event
2 Hour	41.00	46.00	53.00	60.00
4 Hour	61.00	66.00	73.00	80.00
6 Hour	76.00	81.00	88.00	95.00
Kids' Run (age 12 or under)	FREE	FREE	FREE	FREE

A finisher medal awaits finishers in the 2-hour, 4-hour, and 6-hour, and it is included in your entry fee!

The free kids’ run is one lap, and it is open to kids age 12 and under. Adult chaperones are welcome to accompany their kid; chaperones will not be given bib numbers. The kids’ run is not scored as part of the series.

Online registration closes at the end of the day on Thursday, April 11, 2024. Event-day registration will be available if there is space.

Runners in elementary, middle, or high school—any runners under age 20—are eligible to receive a 15% or $10 discount (whichever is greater) on online pre-registration prices for all Northwest Trail Runs events. The discount will be auto generated based on your date of birth.

Course Description

The trail is a loop of primarily singletrack trail, with a few sections of dirt or gravel road, as well as some wider trail segments. From the start in the meadow, the route climbs gently at first, then more steeply as it enters the forest and until it reaches the top of the escarpment. At this point, the trail becomes flat to gently rolling through a clearcut area, with a few slight climbs before descending back to the start/finish point over a steady downhill that returns to a forested area. The loop is about 1.7 miles in length, with about 480 feet of elevation gain.

Click the map image above for a high-resolution PDF map of the route.

Aid Station

One aid station near the start/finish will allow you to replenish each loop. We’ll have a sheltered tarp for you to leave extra gear you want to have on hand, and of course we’ll have a variety of snacks, water, and electrolyte drink to keep you going. Our electrolyte drink is Gnarly Hydrate, which is free of preservatives and which we think has a smooth and pleasing flavor. Our aid station snacks include a variety of carbohydrate-rich and salty foods such as cookies, pieces of energy bar, gels, chews, chips, bagel, fruity candy, fig bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bananas.

Schedule

SATURDAY, April 13

8:00am – Check-in and event-day registration opens
8:50am – Pre-Start Briefing
9:00am – Start
11:00am – Cut-off for 2 hour runners
1:00pm – Cut-off for 4 hour runners
3:00pm – Cut-off for 6 hour runners // course closes

Directions & Parking

The event is at Tolt-MacDonald Park in Carnation, WA. You can get driving directions to the park using this Google Maps link. There is limited parking, and we encourage carpooling to make the most of it.

Once you park, proceed west to the Snoqualmie River and cross over the river on the suspension bridge. The check-in, start, and finish will be just to the south (left) of the west end of the bridge after you cross over.

Apparel

You can add the 2024 Northwest Trail Runs apparel to your race registration and pick them up at the event, or check them out and purchase at the event.

You don’t see your preferred size? Email us, and we may be able to accommodate.

$18.10 + tax – short sleeve tech shirts, in unisex, women’s cuts & youth

$22.70 + tax – long sleeve tech shirts, in unisex and women’s cut; $27.20 + tax – cotton hoodie, unisex

Safety, Etiquette & Dogs

GENERAL SAFETY
The trails will be open to other users during the event, including pedestrians with pets, and cyclists. Participants are responsible for their own safety while participating, and the organizers are neither qualified nor equipped to render medical care in the event of a serious injury. In case of an emergency, call 9-1-1. You are encouraged to bring a cell phone with you as a safety precaution, if you wish.

PASSING ETIQUETTE
Where the trails are narrow, please let other participants pass you if they want to get by. It is a passing runner’s job to tell the person in front that they wish to pass.

HEADPHONES
If you’d like to listen to music while you’re on the course, please use headphones or earbuds, so that runners around you can’t hear it. Others may prefer a quieter event experience or may have different musical tastes. Runners playing music in the open air may be asked to choose between turning off the music or leaving the event.

Also, keep the volume low enough that you can hear someone talking to you in a normal voice, for example, another runner saying they would like to pass on your left.

DOGS
Our events are USATF sanctioned and subject to USATF policies, and so dogs are not allowed to accompany runners on the course.

COVID-19 & RESPIRATORY VIRUS SAFETY
Outdoors settings are among the safest,

due to the open air dissipating virus particles to greatly reduce the risk of transmission. We encourage you to take simple precautions to keep yourself and others safe, including staying home if you’re sick with a contagious respiratory virus, and wearing an N95 mask around others to keep yourself safe if you are especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of respiratory illness.

Thank you for helping us keep our events safe and fun for you and everyone else!

2 hour, 4 hour, 6 hour, & FREE 1.7-mile kids’ run