Moab 240 race guide

Key dates for 2027

The 2027 lottery is open for most of January. The Triple Crown registration in May is the only other way in, and only for runners entering all three of Destination Trail's 200-mile races.

1. 5 January 2027
   Lottery opens

   8:00 a.m. Mountain time.

2. 24 January 2027
   Lottery closes

   11:59 p.m. Mountain time.

3. 26 January 2027
   Lottery draw

   10:00 a.m. Mountain time. Runners not drawn join the wait list in order of registration.

4. 1 May 2027
   Triple Crown registration

   Tahoe 200, Bigfoot 200 and Moab 240 together, without a lottery, through May or until full. The registration page header also shows 27 March, so check it early.

5. 30 June 2027
   Last day for a 50% refund

   Or a 75% transfer to 2028. Lower amounts apply in July and August.

6. 7 October 2027
   Check-in and runner meeting

   Medical, GPS and gear checks. Drop bags due by 5 p.m.

7. 8 October 2027
   Race start

   6:00 a.m. in Moab.

8. 12 October 2027
   Awards and final cutoff

   Awards at 9 p.m. Final cutoff at 10 p.m.

Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

How to get a place and what it costs

Entry is by lottery, which the organiser uses because demand for its 200-mile races is greater than the places. You enter with a card, which is charged only if you are drawn. Runners who miss out go on the wait list in the order they registered, and wait-list invitations come by email from UltraSignup.

There is no qualifying race, but you must be 18 or over and the organiser expects you to have ultra and fastpacking experience. It calls the race a graduate-level run.

The fee is $1,795 in full, plus UltraSignup fees. You can also pay $995 plus a $100 plan fee up front, then four payments of $200. The plan must be set up before you enter the lottery.

• How race entry systems work

The course

The race was created in 2017 in memory of Stephen Jones, a close friend of founder Candice Burt, who had dreamed of a single-loop 200-miler starting and finishing in Moab. He died in an avalanche in 2016.

From Moab the loop heads south over slickrock in Behind the Rocks and down the steep Jackson's Ladder, then along the exposed, sandy Lockhart Basin to Indian Creek. It climbs into the Abajo Mountains, above 10,500 feet on the Robertson Pasture Trail, before turning north through Dry Valley and the Needles area to the La Sal Mountains. The organiser calls the climb from Pole Canyon to Geyser Pass probably the toughest section on paper. The finish comes down the Porcupine Rim trail to the Colorado River and back into Moab.

• Open the official course map

Aid stations, sleep stations and cutoffs

Every full aid station serves hot food, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. Five of them, Indian Creek, Bridger Jack, Shay Mountain, Road 46 and Geyser Pass, have sleep tents with cots or pads and a six-hour limit. Crews can reach only some stations, and several access roads need high-clearance four-wheel drive.

• Plan your stops in the pace planner
• Crew, pacers and drop bags

From the 2027 runner manual. Cutoffs assume the Friday 6:00 a.m. start. Amasa Back crew access is by free shuttle only, with no crew vehicles. Shay Mountain and Monticello Lake crews are split into two randomly drawn groups. Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

Rules that shape your plan

• Organise your kit

What happened in 2026

The 2026 race started as planned at 6:00 a.m. on Friday 9 October, on a 243.5-mile course rerouted because of road construction. Over Saturday night, flooding made a crossing beyond Bridger Jack, at mile 96.5, unsafe. Runners who reached it went back to the aid station, where about 70 runners and volunteers spent the night with shelter, heat, food and water.

On Sunday morning the organiser worked with local emergency responders, including the San Juan County Sheriff's Office, to bring everyone out from Bridger Jack. High winds and heavy rain also hit the La Sal Mountains and Geyser Pass, and that afternoon Destination Trail cancelled the rest of the race. It said all runners were off the course by 9:30 p.m.

Nobody finished and no official results were published. The race's published policy is that mid-race cancellations are not eligible for refunds or transfer credit. We had not seen any 2026-specific announcement on refunds when we checked.

• Salt Lake Tribune report

How many people finish?

In 2025, 149 of 250 starters finished, 59.6%. Since the course was lengthened to 239.66 miles in 2023, finish rates have been around 56 to 60%, compared with 67 to 79% in earlier years.

Records and results

Destination Trail does not publish an official records list, and the course has changed length over the years. The fastest times recorded on UltraSignup are Michael McKnight's 55:49:58 in 2021 and Courtney Dauwalter's 57:55:13 from the first race in 2017, when she won outright by almost ten hours.

• 2025 results on UltraSignup

Training for a 240-mile race

Over four days the hard parts are rarely the running. Sleep, feet, eating and staying warm at night decide most finishes, so practise them. Long back-to-back days, walking strongly with a loaded pack, and at least one night out where you eat and sleep briefly all help.

Be ready for heat and sand early on, then cold and altitude in the Abajos and La Sals. Practise carrying 3 litres or more, and get used to navigating from the GPX on your phone.

• Follow the 100-mile training plan

Moab and race week

Race headquarters and the start and finish are at Sun Outdoors Arches Gateway on the north side of Moab. Check-in on the Thursday includes a medical check, GPS and gear checks, and a compulsory runner meeting. There is free daytime parking at Lions Park across the road, and limited free overnight parking with a pass.

The awards celebration is on Tuesday evening at the finish, and runners, families, crews and pacers eat free.

Following the race

Every runner carries a SPOT tracker, and the live tracking link is published the day before the race. Positions update about every seven minutes. The tracking is not a results page: official results go on UltraSignup after the race. A livestream from the finish line is linked from the tracking page.

Running for good at the Moab 240

The Stephen Jones Memorial Scholarship, set up with his family in 2017, funds internships for recreation resource management students at Utah State University. Destination Trail says it has given more than $50,000.

At each Triple Crown race the organiser raffles an artist's painting for a local group, with partners including Grand County Search and Rescue, and leftover food goes to food banks such as the Grand County Food Bank. Volunteers can earn race credit, and groups can adopt an aid station.

• How to volunteer at an ultra

Questions people ask