Ultra-Trail Harricana

Ultra-Trail Harricana, written UTHC and billed in full as Ultra-Trail Harricana of Canada, has run every September since 2012 in the Charlevoix region northeast of Quebec City, in a UNESCO biosphere reserve shaped by a meteorite impact. The weekend spans a 1 km children's race up to the 125 km, and everything from the 42 km up is point to point, finishing at the Mont Grand-Fonds ski centre outside La Malbaie.

The 125 km is the race the event is known for. It has run since 2016, starts on the Friday afternoon at Zec des Martres, and crosses Mont du Lac-à-l'Empêche, Morios, Montagne Noire and the Hautes-Gorges before dropping to the finish. A finish inside 26 hours counts as a Western States 100 qualifier, which is stricter than the race's own 29-hour limit. The event raises money for MS Canada and says it has given the charity more than a million dollars since 2012.

Every UTHC ultra is linear, not a loop. The 125 km starts at Zec des Martres and runs 124.1 km to Mont Grand-Fonds with 4,028 m of climbing and 4,389 m of descent over 11 aid stations, most of it technical singletrack over rock and root. The 80 km and 65 km both start from Parc national des Hautes-Gorges on the Saturday morning and share the second half of the 125's course to the same finish.

Mandatory kit is checked at bib pickup for every distance of 42 km and up, and spot-checked on course. The 125 km also holds a compulsory medical stop: every runner still in the race at the Hautes-Gorges aid station, around km 60, answers a five-question screening before continuing. Pacers are allowed on the 125 km only, and crews may meet runners at three aid stations, one of them reachable by shuttle alone.

Entry is first come, first served on Eventbrite, with no waiting list; the race says places reopen through the summer as runners transfer or cancel. There is one exception: the 60 km is not sold at all, but drawn by a charity lottery for MS Canada and then run by invitation, for a field of 60.