Xterra World Championships Headed to Sugarloaf Resort in Maine

XTERRA has announced that Sugarloaf Resort in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, has been selected to host the 14th Xterra Trail Run World Championships on September 30–October 1, 2023.

The World Championships is the pinnacle event in the Xterra Trail Run World Series that features 30 qualifying races across 20 countries. More than 1,000 professional and amateur athletes and spectators are anticipated to attend the weekend festival which will award $10,000 in prize money to top performers and world titles to age group division winners and teams in both the half and full marathon distance races.

“After an extensive global search to discover the perfect destination to host our Trail Run World Championship, we found all the right ingredients in Maine,” said Steve Andrus, Xterra Americas tour manager. “The trails are epic, the challenge is worthy of a world championship, our partners at the Maine Sports Commission and Sugarloaf are going all-in to provide a first-class experience for runners from across the globe, and the location is amazing in the fall with perfect weather and a landscape that will be bursting into a kaleidoscope of colors.”

The Sugarloaf Resorts area has previously hosted events such as the Enduro World Series of mountain biking and the U.S. Alpine Ski Championships. The Xterra Trail Run World Championships will include live music, food, family entertainment, a vendor village, shorter distance 5km and 10km trail runs and kids races.

“The Maine Sports Commission is thrilled Xterra has chosen Maine for this high-level competition,” said Sheila Brennan Nee, strategic director of the Maine Sports Commission. “We’re so excited to welcome the Xterra Trail Run World Championships to Sugarloaf, to help grow this global sport and showcase Maine’s epic mountain trail community.”

The topography at Sugarloaf includes more than 60 miles of tree-lined trails from its base elevation at 1,417 feet to its mountain peak at 4,237 feet.

“We are truly excited to host the global Xterra community here at Sugarloaf in 2023,” said Sugarloaf General Manager Karl Strand. “Carrabassett Valley’s natural landscape and challenging terrain make it ideally suited to host this event, and we can’t wait to watch the world’s best trail runners take on the challenge this summer.”