Wakely Dam Ultra

Wakely Dam Ultra - July 18, 2026

The Wakely Dam Ultra is a 55K ultra marathon through the Adirondack Park wilderness of New York State. It takes place along a remote section of the Northville Placid Trail between Piseco Lake and the Wakely Dam. The race is totally self-supported, all runners will provide their own aid. It is a technical trail race with 3300 feet of total elevation gain. There are no cross roads, when you enter at the Wakely Dam there are only two ways out; emerge at the Piseco Airport or return from whence you came.

What's new for 2026? The logistics of Wakely force us to clear the course within a certain time frame. It is extremely difficult to go in and get a runner who hasn’t made it out. Over the past few years, we established 10:30 (minimum pace of 18:26 min/mi) as the benchmark finishing time. We feel that’s a reasonable time for each runner to expect but would allow some wiggle room should some unforeseen problem take place. In our continuing efforts to reach our goal, we will be asking for a “validation” race during the registration process. The qualifying race must be one of the following:

• ~ 5:15 road marathon within the last 12 months
• ~ 9:30 50k trail race within the last 12 months
• ~ 50 mile finish within the last 12 months
• ~ 10:30 hour Wakely finish within the last 2 years.

The registration process will look very similar to how we have always done it. There will be 2 additional questions.

• ~ Name and year of validating race.
• ~ Provide the public link to YOUR results. Do not just give us the race website.
• ~ If Wakely is your validation race, we don’t need your actual results. However, it’s a required field, so just type WDU as your response.
• ~ If you don’t have a qualifying race as outlined, but you are scheduled to do one this spring, email us! Email us BEFORE registration opens! We will work with you!

When you register, the system will require your cc info. You will NOT be charged until you have been validated. As always, any questions or concerns, email us at: [email protected]

What's included in registration fee? The 2026 registration fee is $115.00. Every participant will receive: a race shirt and other swag, 2 meals; pre-race pasta and post race party for runners and their families, and more...

Schedule of Events

Friday July 17th

• 4:00pm- Athlete check-in and packet-pickup at the Piseco Airport. If you are unable to be present on Friday, your race packet will be waiting for you at the start line.
• 4:00pm-6:00pm- Pre-race pasta, (included with registration, families and friends are welcome
• 5:30pm- Course updates with RD’s **FIRST TIMERS MUST ATTEND**

Saturday July 18th

• 4:30am- Bus arrives at The Piseco Airport
• 4:45am-Bus departs from The Piseco Airport *Each participant is required to check-in race morning even if you were at packet pickup.
• 6:15am- Last minute direction from RD’s and photo.
• 6:30am- RACE STARTS!

Finish Line-The Wakely Dam Crew will be waiting for each and every runner to cross the finish line. Feel free to stay and enjoy the post-race food and festivities for all runners and families/guests. Please note, we are NOT permitting hiking/walking poles and we will begin breaking down the finish line area (10 1/2 hours past race time) at 5:00pm.

Where to stay There is NO camping or overnight parking at The Piseco Airport! Little Sand Point Campground is 3.5 miles from The Piseco Airport on Old Piseco Road. There are 75 sites and across the road from a fairly new bath house. Point Comfort Campground is 5.3 miles from The Piseco Airport on Old Piseco Road. Camping at the Wakely Dam While at the dam and at the remote Moose River Plains sites, camping is only allowed at designated sites. You are permitted only 2 tents per site. There is NO camping in the large center grassy area on the west side of the dam. If you arrive late and there are no legal campsites, you cannot set up a tent, you use sleep in your car. NYS Rangers do patrol the area. Please be considerate of the other campers and your fellow runners. There are 8 primitive sites at the dam along with outhouses, fire pits and picnic tables. There are many primitive campsites just down the road from the dam ranging from a 10 minute drive to a 30 minute drive down the dirt road. These sites are tucked back off the road and very private and also have outhouses, fire pits, and a table. All of these sites are free but are first come first served. The Irondequoit Inn is less than a mile from The Piseco Airport on Old Piseco Road. You can choose from rooms, cabins or campsites. No overnight camping at airport Just a reminder: there is NO overnight camping (in car and/or tent) at the Piseco Airport! Your RD’s arrive early and if you are parked there, we will assume you were there overnight and you will not run, you will get a DNS. The airport is very good to Wakely and their only demand is, NO OVERNIGHT PARKING! We appreciate everyone’s cooperation.