Cold, Dark, Grey, Wet… The Perfect Racing Conditions
Winter in the PNW is legendary. Muddy trails, misty forests, and cold temperatures are guaranteed, but to the stalwart trail runner these conditions are essential to the joy emanating from a winter running practice. In the spirit of sharing these gifts with you, we are pleased to announce the Galbraith Mountain Community Trail Series.
2nd Saturdays December to February
*Due to permitting delays and logging on Galbraith, we unfortunately had to cancel the Novemer Race. Registered runners can: Request a Refund, Credit, or Donation to the WMBC.
A Race Series for All Ages, Abilities, Families, and Friends
Join us in celebrating our local trail community and the incredible trails on Bellingham’s backyard mountain. Wake up to marked trails, finish line bonfires, steaming coffee, and hot apple crisp. Sign up for one, or register to join us for all four winter races. This is your community race series.
2024-25 Race Registration is OPEN!
Galbraith History
Galbraith Mountain is a Bellingham community treasure. While the storied history of trail development and advocacy that protects this resource is deeply rooted in the mountain bike community; the trails are shared by hikers, runners, and outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes. It is our pleasure to partner with the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition to host a series of winter trail running races focused on friends, family, and shared mountain stewardship.
Series Description
The Galbraith Mountain: Community Race Series is an annual winter event. Runners can sign up for the series as a whole or for individual races each month. Each race will feature 2 distances: a 5-8 Mile “Short” Race and a 8-15 “Long” Race. Trails will be clearly marked/flagged on race day. Over the course of the winter, runners will run across many, if not the majority, of the Galbraith Mountain trails.
Family Friendly
The whole family is welcome to come out and enjoy Saturday mornings at Race HQ. Apple Crisp and coffee/hot cocoa will be avalialable for everyone. Any child running with their parent races free! Kids who wish to race for competitive scoring should register and pay the race entry fee.
Race Course Maps & Info
| Race Date | Short Distance/Elevation Gain | Long Distance/Elevation Gain | Trailforks |
| December 14 | 6.5 Miles/ 655′ | 11.8 Miles/ 1597′ | View the Course |
| January 11 | 7.5 Miles/ 1,129′ | 12.5 Miles/ 2,137′ | View the Course |
| February 8 | 7.3 Miles/ 1,083′ | 14.3 Miles/ 2,780′ | View the Course |
Race Day Schedule
- 6:30 Volunteer Check In
- 7:30 Race Check in and Bib Pick Up
- 8:30am Long Race Start
- 9:00am Short Race Start
- 10:00-1:00pm Apple Crisp and Bonfires
Competition, Community and Awards
Races will be chip timed and results will be published by our partner Pacific Multisports. Awards and prizes will be distributed at the February Season Finale.
- Individual Race: Podidum Finsishers from each month across gender categories.
- Individual Cumulative Low Time: Runners can compete for the “over all” series winner in both the long and short distances in age and gender categories. This is calculated by the cumulative low time in each distance over the whole series. To qualify, runners must race the same distance (short/long), each month for the entire series.
- Team Montly Race: When registering, runners can opt to be part of a team. Buttons for each team will be distributed along with bibs on race morning. When a runner crosses the finish line, in either the long or short race, they place their “button” into their team “bucket”. The team with the most buttons in the bucket at the end of both races wins.
- Team Cumulative: The team with the most overall finishers over the course of the season wins.
Team Race Results
| December | January | February | |
| TEAM: “Ausome Sauce” | — | — | — |
| TEAM: “Gal-Bears” | |||
| TEAM : “Your Name Here” |
Individual Race Results
Non-Binary
| December | January | February | ||||
| Who | Time | Who | Time | Who | Time | |
| 1st | ||||||
| 2nd | ||||||
| 3rd |
Female
| December | January | February | ||||
| Who | Time | Who | Time | Who | Time | |
| 1st | ||||||
| 2nd | ||||||
| 3rd |
male
| December | January | February | ||||
| Who | Who | Time | Who | Time | ||
| 1st | ||||||
| 2nd | ||||||
| 3rd |
Parking
No personal vehicle parking will be allowed on Galbraith mountain. Runners will be required to park off mountain in designated parking lots. We recommend parking the Galbraith Mountain and Padden Trails Parking Lot off of Samish way. Runners can walk, jog, or ride bikes to the race HQ. Aspire will provide a bike corral for bike parking, we recommend bringing a bike lock.
Race Start/Finish
Each month’s race will start/finish from the same location. This race “headquarters” will serve as the bib pick up, emergency and first aid station, as well as the locust for post race celebrations. Tents, heaters, coffee, and hot dutch oven apple crisp will be staples at each race. This will be the hub for race day celebrations.
Aid Stations
Specific aid station information will be announced with each month’s race.
What to Bring
Runners will be responsible for carrying their own hydration bottles, bladders, vests, and cups. These races will happen rain or shine and runners should dress accordingly. We also recommend that runners bring a drop bag containing warm layers, a change of shoes, a coffee mug, and post race attire.
Cost
- $75 Series per “Individual” runner
- $200 Series per “Family” registration (3+ Household members)
- $35 Individual Race Entry
- $70 “Family” price for a single race weekend (3+ Household members)
Aspire is proud to support the WMBC for the tireless work of preserving public access and trail stewardship on Galbraith Mountain. We invite the trail running community to directly support the WMBC by becoming annual members. Become a WMBC Member
