The Mount Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon start together in downtown Black Mountain, NC and climb roughly 20 miles to the Blue Ridge Parkway overlook at 5,340 ft. Marathoners turn back toward the finish at Lake Tomahawk, while Mount Mitchell Challengers continue on to the 6,684 ft summit of Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi. The race, a fixture since the late 1990s, was cancelled in 2025 and 2026 due to Hurricane Helene damage to the Blue Ridge Parkway and returns on a new April date in 2027.