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NBTF July vert challenge

Leaderboard
Strava Group to join
Prizes + Group runs

How does this work?

Run/walk/crawl up a mountain. Or a hill. Or a set of stairs. Repeat.

‘Officially’ join by joining the NBTF July Vert Challenge Strava club. Upload your runs, walks or hikes on the app.

Max out on vert from 6/29-7/31. Climb the leaderboard and cross up to three tiers to be entered in a raffle. Win a race entry, Goodr glasses, Brooks Running shoes and Näak drink mix or snacks. Make a team and try to become the royal court!

Why?

Mountain running is incredibly challenging and rewarding. And it’s more fun when it brings people together. We hope to give folks another reason to get outside and to do something that challenges you. We also hope to get people excited about our North Bend Trail Fest 30k, Vertical Kilometer, and 10k races on October 3-4.

What counts towards my total?

Vertical feet gained totals will be tallied weekly from 6/29-7/31. If you accumulate more vert than a tier, you will be entered for the raffle. And there is a prize and bragging rights on the line for the vert king and queen.
 
All activities must be uploaded to Strava. Any running, hiking, or walking activity in Strava will automatically add on to your weekly total. Activities must be uploaded by the following week’s Friday at noon PT to be calculated into that weeks leaderboard.

To submit a team, respond to the ‘Submit to the royal court’ post in the Strava club. Tag your teammates under the comments. You need to do so by the 7/10 deadline. 
 

How do you calculate vert totals?

We manually tally vert totals using the ‘NBTF July Vert Challenge 2026’ Strava group leaderboard. If it’s not on Strava, it doesn’t count. Activities set to ‘only you’ will not show up on the weekly leaderboard and will therefore not count. Activities privacy settings should be set to ‘Everyone’ or ‘Followers.’
 
To join Strava, download the app on your phone and create an account. You can use Strava to track your activities, or you can sync your activities on a smartwatch (Garmin, Coros, Apple, etc) to automatically update. 
 
If you don’t join the Strava group by 7/10, we will not retroactively honor vert. Bummer!
 

But, but, cheaters!

Since Strava activities can be manipulated, we reserve the right to flag any activity/account to be removed from the group and competition.

Since treadmill vert is not real, we will disqualify any participants who get more than 25% of their total vert from treadmill.

Prizes

Prizes include a free pair of shoes courtesy of Brooks running, Boost drink mix from Näak, a pair of Goodr sunnies, and a free (and transferable to a friend) entry to any of the North Bend Trail Fest races for 2026! 

Once your monthly vert total has achieved an elevation tier threshold, you will be automatically entered into a raffle prize drawing for that elevation. If you achieve multiple tiers, you earn raffle tickets for each tier (i.e. if you run 20,000ft of vert, you will earn a raffle ticket for both Tier 1 and 2). Earn double raffle entries by attending a Mt Si group run on 7/2 or 7/31.

Tier 1 – Mt Si

Run 4,167ft+ of vert. The main geographic feature for the North Bend Trail Fest VK and 30k.

Tier 2 – Mt Whitney

14,505ft+ of vert. The highest point in the continental US.

Tier 3 – Mt Everest

Run 29,032ft+ of vert. The tallest mountain in the world.

Vert King and Queen

For whoever totals the most amount of vert. Male and female are separate categories.

Royal Court

The royal court is a team of three who will win a single race entry, a single pair of shoes, a single Goodr sun glasses, and a single delivery of Näak drink mix. Hopefully, the courts of grandeur won’t tear you apart!

To submit a team, respond to the ‘Submit to the royal court’ post in the Strava club. Tag your teammates under the comments. You need to do so by the 7/10 deadline. 

Group Runs

Join us for some extra fun and shenanigans! We will preview parts of the race course and bring the vibes. Race director Joe will try to make ice tea and Brooks and Snoqualmie Running will be raffling off some swag. If you attend a group run, we will double your raffle tickets for whatever tier you achieve!

Group Run #1: July 2nd, 6pm

Details forthcoming.

Group Run #2: July 31st, 6pm

Details forthcoming.

Group Run #3: July 31st, 6pm

Details forthcoming. The vert won’t be eligible for the challenge, but come join anyway!

Leaderboard

Current leaderboard

Will update on Friday, July 3rd.

Week 1 total (6/29-7/5)

Will update on Friday, July 3rd.
 

Week 2 total (7/6-7/12)

Will update on Friday, July 10th.

Week 3 total (7/13-7/19)

Will update on Friday, July 17th.

Week 4 total (7/20-7/26)

Will update on Saturday, August 1st.

Week 5 total (7/27-7/31)

Will update on Saturday, August 1st.

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