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Ultras · US · WY

Run the Red Desert

30K · 18.5 miles
Ran · this year's race is done.
Race dateSeptember 26, 2026
Start10:00am
When28 days ago

Who's going to Run the Red Desert?

Free. You can start with nothing.

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 The race
18.5 miles
Climb
not checked yet
Descent
not checked yet
High point The race
8,084 ft
Time limit The race
8:00:00
Aid stations
5
Started
not checked yet
Finished
not checked yet
Finish rate
not checked yet
The course

Where it goes point to point · 5 aid stations · rust marks a stop your crew can reach

A point-to-point from Whitehorse Creek Overlook to South Pass City. It cuts across a valley to Oregon Buttes County Road, crosses the Sweetwater River on a footbridge and a short stretch of water, climbs past the Fish Creek granite domes to Iron Horse, and finishes in the South Pass City Historic Site.

Wet feet are expected at the Sweetwater River crossing.

The race

What this one is

A 30K and 50K in Wyoming's northern Red Desert, run on Wyoming Public Lands Day. Both courses start at Whitehorse Creek Overlook and finish at the South Pass City Historic Site, through buttes, canyons, badlands and open country.

Getting in

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

Lottery
No runthereddesert.com
Lottery opens
not checked yet
Lottery draw
not checked yet
Field cap
200 runthereddesert.com
Registration
not checked yet
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 runthereddesert.com
Vehicles per runner
not checked yet
Pacers
No runthereddesert.com
Muling
not checked yet
Drop bags
Yes runthereddesert.com
Cupless
Yes runthereddesert.com
Course marking
not checked yet
Night running
not checked yet
Dogs
not checked yet
Headphones
not checked yet
Crew rules
Crews can provide aid at the crew accessible aid stations only. Many of the roads are rugged and spectators should proceed with caution. runthereddesert.com
Pacer rules
Pacers are not allowed for the 30K. runthereddesert.com
Drop bag rules
Runners may leave a bag at the start to be transported to the finish. Bags are limited to 25 L. runthereddesert.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 Start ? ● ● ? ? 3.80
3.80 Great Divide 1:15pm ● ○ ? ? 5.80
9.60 Antelope Flat ? ● ○ ? ? 3.00
12.60 Iron Horse 4:05pm ● ○ ? ? 5.90
18.50 Finish 6:00pm ● ? ? ? ?
Driving your crew

Getting your people there 2 stops with directions the race published.

Great Divide mile 3.80 cutoff 1:15pm

From the start, you will drive about 3 miles back on Oregon Buttes Road towards Highway 28. The aid station will be located on the left, off the road on the Emigrant Trail. Please park vehicles on the right (east) side of the road and proceed with caution, watching for runners, as you leave.

runthereddesert.com
Iron Horse mile 12.60 cutoff 4:05pm

From Great Divide, continue towards Highway 28. Turn right (North East) and drive for 5 miles until you reach South Pass City Road. Turn right and take the gravel road for 2.5 miles. The aid station is about 0.25 miles from South Pass City Road. Park on the right side of South Pass City Road to ensure you are not blocking the course. Please do not drive on the campground road to the aid station.

runthereddesert.com
Same race, other lines

Other distances and other years

Other distances
50K (30.8 miles)
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.

Documentary

Unfenced

Documentary · 9 min

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.

Were you out there? Say which stops a text got out from.

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

Optional, and it decides nothing.

Which stops did a text get out from?

Leave a stop blank if you did not try, or do not remember.

50K

  • Start mile 0.0
  • Pacific Butte 1 mile 4.2
  • Pacific Butte 2 mile 10.2
  • Great Divide mile 16.2
  • Antelope Flat mile 22.2
  • Iron Horse mile 25.1
  • Finish mile 30.8

30K

  • Start mile 0.0
  • Great Divide mile 3.8
  • Antelope Flat mile 9.6
  • Iron Horse mile 12.6
  • Finish mile 18.5
Optional. Never shown.
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: 71 sources for this race. Hover a source link to read the sentence it came from.
32% 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.