Run the Red Desert

About

Originally conceived to honor the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the 30th anniversary of the Wyoming Wilderness Act, Run the Red has become an annual celebration of Wyoming’s Red Desert. ​ The Lander Running Club, in partnership with The Wyoming Wilderness Association, invite runners and their families to experience this unique landscape, starting and finishing at South Pass City. The Red Desert contains countless opportunities for enjoying wild spaces, including Wilderness Study Areas, the longest ungulate migration route in the lower 48 states, and more. Run the Red is Wyoming’s most unique ultra-marathon dedicated to conserving the vast, rugged, and historical landscape of the Red Desert. Runners will experience one of the last undeveloped high desert steppe ecosystems in the country while celebrating the importance of maintaining a contiguous desert landscape for Wyoming's heritage, wildlife, and recreational benefits. The Run the Red Desert Trail Races were completely new and redesigned in 2019. This year's races will start and end at the South Pass City Historic Site, and will be loop courses that feature the spectacular northern portion of Wyoming's Red Desert with views of the iconic Continental Peak and Oregon Buttes. Run the Red is designed to be a remote and wild wilderness experience that is sprinkled with history at every turn.

Courses

50k The Run the Red 50k is a point-to-point course, starting at the spectacular Whitehorse Creek Overlook (42.29704757326179, -108.87126786544586), right at the boundary of the dramatic scenery of the Whitehorse Creek Wilderness Study Area. Runners and their crew will need to park on the right side of the Oregon Buttes Road, and then walk the 0.4 miles along a two-track dirt road to the starting line. From the Whitehorse Creek Overlook, runners will traverse across the canyon rim, and then cross a small valley before ascending and looping around Pacific Butte. On Pacific Butte runners will enjoy enormous views of Oregon Buttes, the Wind River Mountains, and vast expanses of the northern Red Desert. After traversing all the way around Pacific Butte, runners will descend to a valley and then properly onto the Oregon National Historic Trail, where they will run up and over the original South Pass. After passing the historical marker (and a couple of headstones!) runners will make their way over to the Sweetwater River where they will cross a small footbridge and a short stretch of water (expect to get feet at least a little bit wet here). After crossing the Sweetwater River, runners will begin the gentle, but steady, climb up towards the craggy Fish Creek granite domes and the Ironhorse Aid Station. Rock hopping through the Fish Creek granite domes will give way to more dirt two-track running before dropping into the Willow Creek Drainage and South Pass City Historic Site. The large Carissa Mine will loom large in the distance, and runners will run past numerous smaller and historic mining sites as they wrap their way around Willow Creek to the finish line in South Pass City. 30k The Run the Red 25k is a point-to-point course, starting at the spectacular Whitehorse Creek Overlook (42.29704757326179, -108.87126786544586), right at the boundary of the dramatic scenery of the Whitehorse Creek Wilderness Study Area. Runners and their crew will need to park on the right side of the Oregon Buttes Road, and then walk the 0.4 miles along a two-track dirt road to the starting line. From the Whitehorse Creek Overlook, runners will traverse across the canyon rim, and then cut across a valley to the Oregon Buttes County Road. Runners will leave the county road and make their way over to the Sweetwater River where they will cross a small footbridge and a short stretch of water (expect to get feet at least a little bit wet here). After crossing the Sweetwater River, runners will begin the gentle, but steady, climb up towards the craggy Fish Creek granite domes and the Ironhorse Aid Station. Rock hopping through the Fish Creek granite domes will give way to more dirt two-track running before dropping into the Willow Creek Drainage and South Pass City Historic Site. The large Carissa Mine will loom large in the distance, and runners will run past numerous smaller and historic mining sites as they wrap their way around Willow Creek to the finish line in South Pass City.

Registration and Rollovers

Registration will open January 1 and close on September 22. Distances changes and bib transfers must be complete by September 22. If you canceled your registration from the previous year's race, you have received rollover credit for the amount you spent on your previous registration. In order to use that credit, you must re-register before the race has met its capacity to secure your spot. Please register with your account or with the same email address you used in the past. For questions relating to how to edit or cancel your registration, please visit UltraSignup's Runner Support Page: https://help.ultrasignup.com/docs-category/runner-assistance/ Applying Rollovers: https://help.ultrasignup.com/guides/runner-assistance/using-your-credits-rollovers/ Edit Registration: https://help.ultrasignup.com/guides/runner-assistance/edit-your-race-registration/

About South Pass City

South Pass City is a historic gold mining town nestled between the Northern Red Desert and the Southern Wind River Mountains. It is the current home to several residents and serves as our start and finish. Family and friends can enjoy the exhibits that are maintained by the Wyoming State Park services along. For your planning, the nearest gas station is either 35 miles North in Lander or 45 miles south in Farson. Please visit the South Pass CIty website to learn more about this fantastic destination spot. https://www.southpasscity.org/