The Sleeping Giant Trail Runs will be one of the toughest, gnarliest races in the Northeast! Considered one of the more iconic parks and popular trail running/hiking spots in Connecticut for outdoor enthusiasts, it offers every kind of trail imaginable. There are 30+ miles in the park with everything from smooth carriage roads to the more technical, rocky, winding singletrack that Connecticut is famous for. This will be a beast of a course with 3K+ of vertical in the 25K loop. If you think you can handle two loops, then it's a 50K for you! In comparison to our difficult Macedonia Trail Race 25K/50K, this course will run even harder. With 250+ registered in both 2025/2026, this is one of our more popular events. Don't miss out on the adventure!
A portion of your registration will go to the Sleeping Giant Park Association. Refund Policy: There will no refunds and/or no transfers of your registration or bib to any other person. Entry fees collected are used to develop and produce the event, starting well in advance of the race date--including course preparation, race supplies, permits, and administration.
**Specially designed finisher medal from Ragged Cuts **Additional swag from sponsors **Additional awards for Top 3 podium for Overall Male/Female in each event.
Each loop will start at the Pavilion inside the park. The first 5 miles of loop are mostly runnable rolling singletrack except for a few technical small rock scrambles. Once you hit the 5 mile mark, that's when the fun starts!! You begin the head wall climb a lung busting rock scramble of 500'+ in just 0.3 miles towards the top of the park. A few more technical ups and downs await you before turning towards the southern end of the park. Moving to the east now on the Yellow Trail, runners experience less technical terrain with some rolling singletrack trails before arriving at the Chestnut Trailhead, the location of the 8 mile aid station. Now it's back through the center of the park with a 4 mile section of moderately to harder technical terrain of which you will run a portion of the infamous White Trail with some faster terrain before returning to the same trailhead to access the aid station a second time at mile 12. Now it's time to begin the trek up towards the highest part of the course with the ascent mostly on the Quinnipiac (Blue Trail). Runners reach the top at the Observation Tower and it's on to the Tower Path a 1.5 mile carriage road descent before the last 0.2 miles back up to the pavilion.
You’ve just finished an epic run! Enjoy your accomplishment, sit back, relax, and don’t forget to cheer on all the runners coming in behind you! We will have plenty of food throughout the day for everyone plus some awesome beverages from Athletic Brewing Company as well as other non-alcoholic offerings.
For more info and course maps, please go to https://steependurance.com/event/trail-running-race/sleeping-giant-trail-runs/
Apr 04, 2027
Distance — 50K
Type — Running
07:00
$85.00
Apr 04, 2027
Distance — 25K
Type — Running
08:00
$75.00
These values represent the 3-year monthly averages for April in Hamden.
Learn more about the host city, Hamden.
Hamden is a suburb of the city of New Haven, Connecticut. Quinnipiac University has a significant impact on the town. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant". It had about 59,500 in 2025.
Read more launchTours and activities near Hamden, powered by Viator.
Watch highlights and course previews from previous years.
All-time top performances and historical records for Sleeping Giant Trail Runs.
| Place | Name | Year | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Darius Parker | '26 | 4:43:03 | |
| 🥈 | Chase Smith | '26 | 5:06:48 | |
| 🥉 | Christopher Petroff | '26 | 5:09:13 | |
| 4 | Justin Kousky | '25 | 5:12:47 | |
| 5 | Lee Davis | '25 | 5:27:04 | |
| 6 | Peter Bonito | '26 | 5:30:37 | |
| 7 | Justin Neuman | '26 | 5:41:01 | |
| 8 | Justin Halmose | '26 | 5:45:51 | |
| 9 | Scott Benerofe | '26 | 5:49:23 | |
| 10 | Chase Smith | '25 | 5:55:13 |
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location_on Meriden, Connecticut, US
calendar_today Oct 11, 2026
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