Gulch Countdown
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Gulch Countdown – Last Person Standing
The Gulch Countdown is a timed trail event held on a 2.18-mile loop in the forests of Japanese Gulch near Mukilteo. The course runs through wooded terrain with ferns, moss-draped trees, and large cedars, and features rolling hills that resemble mountain terrain close to town. The format is loop-based rather than a single continuous distance.
Runners complete repeated 2.18-mile loops under a moving cutoff time. The first loop has a 32 minute cutoff; finishers within the cutoff may rest before the next start. Each subsequent loop reduces the cutoff by one minute. After 12 loops, equivalent to a marathon distance, loop cutoffs decrease by 30 seconds until only one runner remains and is declared the Last Person Standing. The event is Trail Sisters Approved.
The event has occurred in past years and was held on August 23, 2025. The 2024 edition was cancelled due to hazardous winds that brought trees down onto the course. The 2026 edition is scheduled for June 13, 2026, and registration opens on February 1, 2026. The Gulch Countdown is presented as a way to combine social-paced laps with a competitive, elimination-style time format. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.
