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Ultras · US · ID

River of No Return Endurance Runs

108K · 69.1 miles
On the calendar
The date is set. Entry has not opened. Registration opens December 5, 2026.
Race dateJune 19, 2027
Start5:00am
Whenin 238 days

Who's going to River of No Return Endurance Runs?

I'm running itPlan your weeks and your aid station times I'm crewingWhen to leave, where to park, at every stop I'm pacing or cheeringAsk your runner for their Out Here link

Free. You can start with nothing.

Official website Entry Aid stations Notify me if this race changes
Free, and always will be. NavRun makes money from race-day planning for runners who want it, never from this. Ultras change constantly, sometimes the morning of. Always confirm with the race director and the official website before you rely on anything here.
Distance
69.1 miles
Climb
not checked yet
Descent
not checked yet
High point
not checked yet
Time limit The race
22:00:00
Aid stations
11
Started
not checked yet
Finished
not checked yet
Finish rate
not checked yet
The course

Where it goes loop · 11 aid stations

A large single loop from Challis City Park with five significant climbs, two of which take runners over 9,000 feet. Most of it is two-track (ATV width trail), with a few miles of dirt road, a lot of single track, and some pavement at the finish coming into Challis.

The race

What this one is

The River of No Return Endurance Runs start and finish in Challis, Idaho, with the Salmon River to the south and the Frank Church Wilderness to the north. Runners choose a 108K, 55K or 32K over ATV-width trail, single track and dirt road, with climbs that top 8,000, 9,000 and nearly 10,000 feet. The last mile runs down Main Street to Challis City Park, with crews and fans welcome to run it in with their runner.

The Main Salmon River was called The River of No Return in early mining days, when boats could run downstream through the fast water and rapids but could not get back up. The name came into use around 1900.

Getting in

Getting in Entry, lottery and what the race asks of you before race day.

Lottery
not checked yet
Lottery opens
not checked yet
Lottery draw
not checked yet
Field cap
not checked yet
Registration
UltraSignup ultrasignup.com
Qualifying
not checked yet
Minimum age
not checked yet
Transfers
not checked yet
Deferrals
not checked yet
Crew access, pacers and drop bags

The rules that shape your day Anything marked "not checked yet" is a gap in what we hold, never a no from the race.

Crew allowed
Yes ronrenduranceruns.com
Vehicles per runner
not checked yet
Pacers
Yes ronrenduranceruns.com
Muling
Not allowed ronrenduranceruns.com
Drop bags
Yes ronrenduranceruns.com
Cupless
not checked yet
Course marking
not checked yet
Night running
Yes ronrenduranceruns.com
Dogs
Not allowed ronrenduranceruns.com
Headphones
not checked yet
Crew rules
Crews are encouraged and welcomed. Crews may not assist a runner outside designated aid stations, and may not pace, drive next to their runner or light the way along the driving roads. Crews are not permitted at Birch Creek Saddle, Keystone, Ramshorn or Francine's; a crew found at any of them gets their runner disqualified. As many crew members and supporters as want to can run with their runner from the upper end of Main Street in Challis to the finish at Challis City Park. ronrenduranceruns.com
Pacer rules
Pacers can join at Bayhorse Lake, Squaw Creek, Bruno Cabin (4WD only) and Custer Motorway, and run from Bayhorse Lake to the finish. A runner may have more than one pacer over the course but no more than one at a time. Pacers check in before running, identify themselves at every aid station, get themselves to their starting point (no shuttle is organised), may eat and drink from the aid station tables, and must enter and leave aid stations with their runner. ronrenduranceruns.com
Drop bag rules
All drop bags are collected on race morning at the start. Look for the sign for the location you want, and do not confuse Bayhorse with Bayhorse Lake. Label each bag with your name and bib number. Leave no valuables (keys, phones) in a bag. Challis Running and race management are not responsible for lost drop bags. ronrenduranceruns.com
Cutoff philosophy
not checked yet
Aid stations

Every stop, and what you get there ● yes   ○ no   ? nobody has checked   – does not apply to this race

Mile Station Cutoff Crew access Bag Pacer Med To next
0.00 Challis City Park
5,187 ft · Signal wrong?
 ? ● ? ○ ? 9.00
9.00 Birch Creek Saddle
7,221 ft · Signal wrong?
 ? ○ ○ ○ ? 3.50
12.50 Keystone
8,104 ft · Signal wrong?
 ? ○ ○ ○ ? 3.50
16.00 Bayhorse
6,089 ft · Signal wrong?
 ? ● ● ○ ? 6.30
22.30 Ramshorn
9,452 ft · Signal wrong?
 ? ○ ○ ○ ? 8.20
30.50 Francine's
6,909 ft · Signal wrong?
 3:30pm ○ ○ ○ ? 8.00
38.50 Bayhorse Lake
8,606 ft · Signal wrong?
 6:00pm ● ● ● ? 9.10
47.60 Squaw Creek
6,457 ft · Signal wrong?
 9:00pm ● ○ ● ? 10.00
57.60 Bruno Cabin
7,630 ft · Signal wrong?
 ? ● ● ● ? 6.10
63.70 Custer Motorway
6,165 ft · Signal wrong?
 2:00am ● ○ ● ? 5.40
69.10 Challis City Park
5,187 ft · Signal wrong?
 3:00am ? ? ? ? ?
Same race, other lines

Other distances and other years

What it looks like out there

Somebody has been out there with a camera the tables say the climb is long. these say what long feels like.

One person has been out there with a camera or a microphone.

Social account

Run Challis

Social account

These are other people's work and we link straight to them. Watching costs nothing and needs no account. More of them: every race we hold, on film.

Add to this page

What you know every one of these is read by a person before it changes anything

Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know.

Nobody sees it until we have read it. No account, no sign-in.

Leave blank if it applies to the whole race.

Leave blank if it is not about one particular stop.

Optional. Something like “Cal Street, mile 62 to 78”.

Write it the way you would say it to someone at the start line.

Optional, and it decides nothing. It only tells the next runner where this is coming from.

Optional.

Optional, and never shown on the page. Only so we can ask you a question about this note.

Leave this field blank.

See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit.

This changes nothing on the page on its own. Somebody checks it against the race first.

Optional. Filled in for you when you start from a specific line on the page.

Copy it as it appears, so we can find it.

The corrected value.

Required. Where it came from: the race email, the runner manual, what you saw on the day.

Optional.

Optional. A screenshot or a photo of the sign works.

Optional, and it decides nothing.

Optional.

Optional, only so we can come back to you about this correction.

Leave blank if it is about the whole race.

Leave blank if it is not about one particular stop.

Leave this field blank.

Seen a course preview or a film of this one? Send it over.

Somebody watches it before it goes anywhere near this page. What we are after is footage of this course, on the ground. If it would be just as true of any other race, it is not this.

Required. A line is plenty. Where the climbs are, what the footing does, what the last twenty miles look like.

Optional, and it decides nothing.

Optional.

Optional, and never shown on the page. Only so we can ask you a question about this one.

A YouTube link, a race report, a photo gallery, whatever it is.

Optional, and we credit them on the page.

Leave this field blank.

Have the GPX? Send us the link.

We want the address of the file the race publishes, not the file. We download it from there so the page can say where the line came from.

The page or file on the race's own site.

Optional, and only so we can ask you a question about it.

Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.

We read every one of these and we write back. Every fact here carries the source it came from, and the way a wrong one gets fixed is a person checking it against what you tell us.

Required, because this is a conversation and we write back.

Tell us what is wrong, out of date, or missing on this page. We read every one of these and we will get back to you.

Optional.

So we know who we are writing back to.

Optional. Director, assistant, comms, whoever you are.

Leave this field blank.

Where this came from. Every fact on this page records its source and when we last checked it: 116 sources for this race. Hover a source link to read the sentence it came from.
28% of what we track for a course is filled in. The rest says "not checked yet" rather than guessing.
See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit
Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know
Were you out there? Say which stops a text got out from
Got footage of this course? Send us the link
Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.
Anything else: [email protected]

Ultras change. We will tell you when this one does.

Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.

No account, and nothing to cancel.

What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.

I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.

Ultras change. We will tell you when this one does.

Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.

No account, and nothing to cancel.

What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.

I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.