Run Rabbit Run 100 race guide

Key dates for 2027

Prices rise twice before race day, so entering in December is the cheapest way in.

1. 6 December 2026
   Registration opens

   7 a.m. Mountain Time on UltraSignup, at the lowest price.

2. 1 January 2027
   First price rise
3. 1 July 2027
   Second price rise
4. 10 September 2027
   Last day to withdraw for a $150 credit

   Only if your place is refilled from the waitlist.

5. 17 September 2027
   Race starts

   Tortoises at 9 a.m. and Hares at 1 p.m. Early Birds at 7 a.m.

6. 18 September 2027
   Cutoffs

   Hares at 7 p.m. and Tortoises at 9 p.m. The 50-mile race runs the same day.

Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

Hares or Tortoises?

Both divisions run the same course on the same weekend. Choose Hares if you want to race for prize money and are fast enough to finish in 30 hours with almost no help. Choose Tortoises if you want more time, a pacer and your crew at more places. A Tortoise cannot win prize money, however fast they run. Every Hare must agree to drug testing.

How to get a place

Registration for 2027 opens on Sunday 6 December 2026 at 7 a.m. Mountain Time on UltraSignup. There is no lottery and no qualifying race. Places go first come, first served, and each division has a waitlist once it fills. The race says it has no idea how fast it will fill, but expects it to be quick.

Hares pay $575 before 1 January 2027, $625 until 1 July and $675 after that. Tortoises pay $425, $475 and $525. UltraSignup fees are added. There are no refunds, deferrals or transfers. If you withdraw before 10 September 2027 and your place is taken from the waitlist, you get a $150 credit towards the next year.

Tortoise women over 50 and men over 60 can start at 7 a.m. with 38 hours, and may have a pacer for the whole course. Any woman over 50 or man over 60 who finishes officially gets free entry the following year.

• How race entry systems work

The course

It is one long route with several out-and-back sections. From the ski base you climb straight up to Mount Werner at 10,372 feet, then drop down the steep, rocky Fish Creek Falls trail and climb back up to Long Lake. Dirt road takes you to Summit Lake, then the Flash of Gold trail descends 10 miles through aspens to Dry Lake.

The Spring Creek trail and a stretch through town bring you to Olympian Hall at about halfway. A night loop on Emerald Mountain returns there, then you climb back up Spring Creek, over the expert mountain-bike terrain of the Grouse trail to Summit Lake, and along the Continental Divide Trail past the 10,557-foot high point. The race ends with a 6-mile descent from Mount Werner to the ski base.

Rabbit Ears Pass is on the 50-mile course only.

• Check the ultra kit list

Aid stations and cutoffs

There are two drop-bag stations, Olympian Hall and Summit Lake, each reached twice, plus the start. Crews cannot drive to Fish Creek Falls or above Dry Lake on Buffalo Pass Road, and doing so can get the runner disqualified. Crew can now reach Summit Lake, but it is about two hours' drive from the ski base.

• Plan your splits in the pace planner

From the 2025 chart, which the 2026 runner's manual repeats except for two late cutoffs: 6:30 p.m. at Long Lake and 8 p.m. at Mount Werner. You must leave each station before its cutoff. No 2027 chart had been published. Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

Prize money

Run Rabbit Run has paid big prize money since the 100 began in 2012. For 2027 and 2028 its sponsor Insight Global is funding a $350,000 purse, with $100,000 for the first woman and the first man. Places 2 to 7 pay $25,000, $15,000, $10,000, $5,000, $2,000 and $1,000.

There are also masters and seniors prizes, a team prize for the fastest Hare woman and man combined, and $1,000 for the first woman and man to the top of the gondola. In 2026 each winner received $20,000.

Records and results

Both course records fell in 2026. Ryan Sullivan won the Hares in 17:03:38, nearly an hour clear, and Hannah Allgood won in 19:01:59. About two in three starters finish.

• Official results

Course records

Jason Schlarb ran 17:15:20 in 2013 on an older version of the course.

Source: official race website, checked 19 October 2026.

Is it a qualifier?

Yes, for both Western States and Hardrock. Western States lists it with a 38-hour standard, but the race manual says you must finish in under 36 hours, so aim for that. Hardrock only counts finishes within the normal cutoff, so an Early Bird finish that needs the extra two hours does not count.

• Read the Western States 100 guide
• Read the Hardrock 100 guide

History

Fred Abramowitz started Run Rabbit Run as a 50-mile charity race in 2007, and Paul Sachs joined him as co-race director in 2008. The 100 was added in 2012 with what the race called the highest purse of any trail ultra in the world. Karl Meltzer and Lizzy Hawker won that first edition. Courtney Dauwalter, Rob Krar and Jason Schlarb have also won here. The 2027 race is the 15th 100.

Running for good at Run Rabbit Run

Run Rabbit Run calls itself a charity race and is run by volunteers. In 2026 it gave more than $105,000 to 20 charities in northern Colorado, including Routt County Search and Rescue, Girls on the Run and Friends of the Yampa, and it says it has given close to $1 million in total. Some aid stations are staffed by the groups it supports.

• Where the money goes

Getting there

Steamboat Springs is about 157 miles from Denver. The nearest commercial airport is Yampa Valley Airport at Hayden, 25 miles west. Check-in and the briefing were on the Thursday before the race in 2026, with no race-day check-in.

Questions people ask