About

Exploring the mountains and achieving big goals on those trails have changed my life for sure. The Dirty 30 Trail Race Series is designed to do the same for you. When you push through that point where you think you cannot take another step, you become a bigger person inside. When you reach beyond what you think is possible, a whole new world of possibilities opens up for you.

I want this for other women. I want it for everyone.

The Dirty 30 Trail Race Series is also about community. Celebrating each other along the way and at the post-race party is a big deal and one of the reasons I go to great lengths to create a fun party that people love and look forward to.

Dirty 30 Inspires Women

The Dirty 30 Trail Race Series recognizes some of the challenges women face in getting into this amazing sport. We do not want you to miss out on this life-changing experience, so we have implemented policies to support women, to help you be successful as you join our sport. In a race that sells out months before race day, we reserve 50% of the spots for women. We also give you half the start line space, and we offer 100% deferral to women who get pregnant after they register.

Your “FINISH” is your “SUCCESS”

Go BIG or go home. I have set the bar high with a goal of a 100% finish rate, and work hard to achieve that goal. There is nothing sweeter than crossing the finish line of a hard ultra marathon. I want to make sure you achieve your goal of completing these beautiful, life-changing races and do it well. Your accomplishment is everything. The Dirty 30 Happy-Hour events, training program, group runs, and course-preview runs give you the tools and connections you need to be successful. We are all in this together, and we’ve got you covered!

What’s our name all about?

Where did it come from, “Dirty 30”? At Boulder High School in Colorado, the only way you could get me to run was to put a basketball in my hand. (I thought cross-country runners were crazy! Why would you just run to run?) The first 30 minutes of practice were called the “Dirty 30.” It was 30 minutes of intensity and focus as we worked on fundamentals: agility, passing, shooting, ball-handling, and a pair of suicides completed in under 30 seconds.

When I started running trails in 2004, this all came back to me—that intensity and focus was something I was hungry for, and trail running dished it up, mile after beautiful, grueling mile. I craved a way to discover my own true grit, my own determination and tenacity. It is such a deeply satisfying part of ultra trail running and racing. The Dirty 30 Trail Race Series is your own rugged path to that self-discovery as well. And, of course, “Dirty” is perfect for our love of the trail!

From Hardrock 100 to the Dirty 30 – A race is born

When I organized the first Dirty 30 in 2009 I was pretty new to the ultra running world. I had run the Trans Rockies six-day stage race from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek in August of 2008 and then the Goblin Valley 50K in October 2008. That’s it.

I also had the opportunity to head up an aid station at the Hardrock 100, starting in 2008. I was friends with the director and was curious what people were like at mile 91 of a hard 100-mile race and wanted to help. It is here that I fell in love with the Ultra Running community and world. Now I feel fortunate to be connected to this community by helping to coordinate the Hardrock trail work program and because a section of my second race, the Silverton Ultra Dirty, runs on one of the most spectacular sections of the Hardrock 100 course.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing, but I did know that I wanted to create a single-loop course on amazing singletrack in a beautiful mountain setting, the kind of experience that changes you, where you finish a different person than when you started.

The other side of the trail

Through all this I quickly discovered that I love supporting other people running as much I love getting on trails myself. And, I love to put on amazing trail running races. I get bored easily so I don’t like out-and-backs where you see the same thing twice. I also hate dirt roads, which really spoil that feeling of being lost in the woods.

I also knew I wanted well-stocked aid stations run by supportive and energetic crews. And, I knew I wanted everyone to stick around and connect over stories about the spectacular, yet grueling course and how they couldn’t believe they had to climb 1,100 ft. at mile 26 in the race. If it were easy it wouldn’t be worth it!

I pour my heart and soul into each race of the Dirty 30 Trail Race Series. I labor over every detail so that you have a trail running race experience you can’t get anywhere else.

To all trail runners, we wholeheartedly support your desire to:

• Stretch your limits
• Get out of your own way
• Set big goals
• Reach those goals
• Satisfy that hunger to really push yourself
• Get to know a community of great people
• Experience the transformation of running truly remarkable trails

I hope you love these courses as much as I do, and I hope you stick around to enjoy the party!!!

Megan Finnesy

Founder and Director, Dirty 30 Trail Race Series