The Summit Stinger at Copper 2024

Copper Mountain, CO

Meet Information

Online Registration Instructions

The World's Toughest!


We are moving to a Friday afternoon this year. Amongst the reasons:

1. Afternoon weather in early October usually is wonderful. Mornings (although we had great weather so far) can be a bit dicier - a chance of frost/snow.

2. With State being on 2 December, the 4 October date of the Stinger is ideal for a pre-State hard race/mini-altitude camp. We encourage teams to stay the night in Summit County and go for a long run at altitude Saturday, enjoying the fall colors - or possibly hike a 14er - as a team building experience.

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The highest and toughest GRASS high school cross country course in the World! (Not officially confirmed, but we are reasonably confident with the claim.) 

We don't think any high school course rivals ours for the combination of high altitude, total vert and steepness (22%) of the climbs. So until someone wants to argue otherwise, we are claiming to be the WORLD'S TOUGHEST high school XC race!

There are some fast courses in Colorado. This isn't one of them. No PRs will be set here. The course is 94% grass, tops out at 9800 feet with 87 feet of climbing each lap and has a max gradient of 22%!

Think of it as a race on a course much harder than your Regional course or State - to prepare your runners physically and psychologically and make those courses seem easy.

The course is a 1667m college-style loop lapped three times. Splits for each lap will be recorded and published. The three loops along with several bends make the course very spectator/ coach/photographer friendly. Coaches and spectators can see the runners seven to ten times with minimal effort.

Race on the short/fast grass, high/hard elevation and steep climbs (the course is designed with much gentler descents) at the Copper Mountain Golf Course, hosted by Summit High School. Plentiful parking is just 100 meters from the course and just 2 minutes off I-70. Heated bathrooms are next to the course.

After registration, please provide your contact info here.

Meet info, which will be updated as needed, is here.

Race Times (Subject to change):

3:30 pm: Middle School Coach's Meeting at Start Line

3:45 pm: High School Coach's Meeting at Start Line

4:00 pm: Middle School Boys (race unlimited, score 4)

4:03 pm: Middle School Girls (race unlimited, score 4)

4:40 pm: Middle School Awards

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5:00 pm: High School Boys (race unlimited, score 5)

5:30 pm: High School Girls (race unlimited, score 5)

6:15 Awards: High School Awards

Course Records

Boys - Ryan Olree, Denver South, 2022, 18:37

Girls - Isabel Allori, Liberty Common High School, 2022, 20:19

Packet Pick-Up

Packet pick-up will be on the walkway to the course, or in case of inclement weather, inside the Transportation Center in the Alpine Parking Lot.

Timing

tbd

Registration 

Register on co.milesplit.com NLT 2 October. All athletes will be timed, so please register all your athletes that will be racing and only those athletes that will be racing.

Awards

Middle School awards will be presented to the top seven individuals.

High School awards presented to the top ten finishers in each varsity race and the winning teams.




Results

Final results will be posted online and on MileSplit. Live results at tbd.

Directions

From the East - Take I-70 west to Copper Mountain - Exit 195 onto SH-91 South toward Copper Mountain/Leadville.  Go 0.5 miles (past the stoplight at Copper Road) and turn right into the Alpine Lot. 

From the West - Take I-70 east to Copper Mountain - Exit 195. Take the ramp onto SH-91 South toward Copper Mountain/Leadville.  Go 0.5 miles (past the stoplight at Copper Road) and turn right into the Alpine Lot. 

Parking

There is ample parking at the Alpine Lot adjacent to the race start/finish area.  Please instruct your buses to park on the east side of the Alpine Lot.

Restrooms

Heated restrooms with running water are located in the Transportation Center on the north end of the Alpine Lot, within 200 meters of the start/finish area.

View full meet information and course map at 

Race Fee

$200 per high school, $100 for just girls or boys team, $10 per individual if under 20.
$100 per middle school, $50 for just girls or boys team, $5 per individual if under 20.