All guides
Every bucket list guide on RunRace USA: 64 races and routes, each with the full entry story, the honest odds, and what it actually takes.
The Abbott World Marathon Majors
- Boston MarathonHopkinton to Boston, Massachusetts · The only major you cannot buy your way into on merit alone. Qualifying just gets you a form.
- New York City MarathonStaten Island to Central Park, New York · The biggest marathon on earth, and the one with the best-kept guaranteed entry in running.
- Chicago MarathonGrant Park, Chicago, Illinois · The friendliest major to enter, the fastest course in America, and the best first star.
- London MarathonGreenwich to The Mall, London · The hardest ballot in world running: over 840,000 applications for around 17,000 places.
- Berlin MarathonBerlin, Germany · The fastest marathon course ever measured. Every men's world record since 2003 but one.
- Tokyo MarathonShinjuku to Tokyo Station, Japan · The most organised marathon in the world, and a lottery about ten times oversubscribed.
- Sydney MarathonNorth Sydney to the Opera House, Australia · The newest major, and for now the easiest one to get into. That window is closing.
- Cape Town MarathonCape Town, South Africa · Africa's first Abbott World Marathon Major, joining the series in 2027.
Iconic road races
- Marine Corps MarathonArlington, Virginia and Washington, DC · The People's Marathon. No prize money, no elite field, and a finish line at Iwo Jima.
- Big Sur International MarathonBig Sur to Carmel, California · Highway 1, closed to cars, with the Pacific on your right the entire way.
- Boston 2 Big SurBoston, Massachusetts and Big Sur, California · Two of the most storied marathons in America, coast to coast, inside two weeks.
- Pikes Peak MarathonManitou Springs, Colorado · Up 7,800 feet to 14,115, then back down. America's oldest mountain marathon.
- Dopey ChallengeWalt Disney World, Florida · 48.6 miles across four days: 5K, 10K, half, marathon. Six medals. Zero sleep.
- AJC Peachtree Road RaceAtlanta, Georgia · The largest 10K on earth. 60,000 people running downhill through Atlanta on Independence Day.
- Broad Street RunPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania · Ten miles, straight down one street, downhill, with the entire city out watching.
- Falmouth Road RaceWoods Hole to Falmouth Heights, Massachusetts · Seven miles along the Cape Cod shore, and the best small-race elite field in America.
- Empire State Building Run-UpNew York, New York · 1,576 steps. 86 floors. The original and most famous tower race in the world.
- The Dipsea RaceMill Valley to Stinson Beach, California · The oldest trail race in America, run on a handicap so a 68-year-old can beat everyone.
- Mount Marathon RaceSeward, Alaska · Three thousand vertical feet straight up a mountain and straight back down, on scree.
- Bay to BreakersSan Francisco, California · A 12K footrace, a costume parade, and the strangest morning in American running.
The world's pilgrimage races
- Comrades MarathonPietermaritzburg to Durban, South Africa · Eighty-nine kilometres between two cities, 20,000 runners, and the hardest cutoff in running.
- Two Oceans MarathonCape Town, South Africa · Fifty-six kilometres around the Cape Peninsula. Widely called the world's most beautiful marathon.
- Great Wall MarathonHuangyaguan, Tianjin, China · 5,164 steps on the Great Wall of China, twice, in the middle of a marathon.
- Antarctica MarathonKing George Island, Antarctic Peninsula · The seventh continent, and the last piece of the Seven Continents Club puzzle.
- Everest MarathonEverest Base Camp to Namche Bazaar, Nepal · The highest marathon on earth, starting at 17,000 feet, after two weeks of trekking in.
- Marathon du MédocPauillac, Bordeaux, France · Twenty-three wine tastings, an oyster station, steak at mile 24, and a costume theme. In a marathon.
The coveted ultras
- Western States 100Olympic Valley to Auburn, California · The original 100 miler. 11,335 people entered the lottery for 369 places.
- Hardrock 100Silverton, Colorado · 33,000 feet of climbing, an average elevation above 11,000, and the longest queue in ultrarunning.
- Leadville Trail 100 RunLeadville, Colorado · The Race Across the Sky. Never below 9,200 feet, and the one big lottery you can enter cold.
- Badwater 135Death Valley to Mount Whitney Portal, California · 135 miles from the lowest point in North America, in July, on asphalt, at 120°F.
- The Barkley MarathonsFrozen Head State Park, Tennessee · Forty starters. No website. No published date. Around twenty finishers in forty years.
- Barkley Fall ClassicFrozen Head State Park, Tennessee · Laz's public race. 50K on paper, 12,000 feet of climbing, and Rat Jaw.
- Javelina JundredMcDowell Mountain Regional Park, Arizona · A Halloween costume party in the Sonoran Desert that happens to be a Golden Ticket race.
- Black Canyon 100KMayer to New River, Arizona · A fast, net-downhill desert 100K, and one of the biggest Golden Ticket races of the year.
- HURT 100Tantalus, Oahu, Hawaii · Five laps of Hawaiian rainforest, 24,500 feet of climbing, roots, mud, and a 40 percent finish rate.
- Cocodona 250Black Canyon City to Flagstaff, Arizona · 250 miles across Arizona, from Sonoran desert to the San Francisco Peaks, on live TV.
- Moab 240Moab, Utah · A 240 mile loop through canyon country, the La Sals, and two mountain ranges.
- Triple Crown of 200sWashington, California/Nevada, and Utah · Bigfoot 200, Tahoe 200, and Moab 240 in a single summer. Roughly 640 miles.
Ultras worth a passport
- UTMB Mont-BlancChamonix, France · 106 miles around Mont Blanc through three countries, and a lottery you buy weight in.
- Tor des GéantsCourmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy · 330 kilometres and 24,000 metres of climbing around the Aosta Valley. 150 hours to finish.
- SpartathlonAthens to Sparta, Greece · 246 kilometres from Athens to Sparta in 36 hours, on the route Pheidippides ran in 490 BC.
- Marathon des SablesSahara Desert, southern Morocco · 250 kilometres across the Sahara in six stages, carrying everything you need.
- Dragon's Back RaceConwy to Cardiff, Wales · Six days along the mountainous spine of Wales, navigating yourself, with no marked course.
Bucket list experiences
- Grand Canyon Rim to RimGrand Canyon National Park, Arizona · Down one wall of the Grand Canyon, up the other. No permit, no entry fee, no help.
- Zion TraverseZion National Park, Utah · Forty-eight miles across Zion, from the west rim desert to the east side, in a day.
- Wonderland TrailMount Rainier National Park, Washington · Ninety-three miles all the way around Mount Rainier, with 22,000 feet of climbing.
- Timberline TrailMount Hood, Oregon · Forty-one miles around Mount Hood, with river crossings that can stop you cold.
- The Pemi LoopWhite Mountains, New Hampshire · Thirty-one miles and 9,000 feet around the Pemigewasset Wilderness, on the rockiest trail in America.
- Presidential TraverseWhite Mountains, New Hampshire · Every Presidential summit in one push, including Mount Washington and the worst weather in America.
- Four Pass LoopMaroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, Colorado · Twenty-six miles and four passes above 12,400 feet, around the most photographed mountains in America.
- Nolan's 14Sawatch Range, Colorado · Fourteen Colorado fourteeners in sixty hours, self-navigated, with no course at all.
- Bob Graham RoundLake District, England · Forty-two Lakeland fells, sixty-six miles, 27,000 feet, in under twenty-four hours.
- Mount Whitney in a DayLone Pine, California · The highest point in the lower 48, twenty-two miles round trip, and a permit lottery to match.
- John Muir TrailYosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, California · 211 miles through the High Sierra, and one of the hardest permits in American hiking.
- Tour du Mont BlancFrance, Italy, Switzerland · The UTMB course, without the bib. Run it in stages, sleeping in mountain refuges.
- Manitou InclineManitou Springs, Colorado · 2,744 railroad ties, 2,000 vertical feet, in less than a mile. The hardest mile in America.
- EverestingAny hill, anywhere · Climb 8,848 metres on one hill, in one go, without sleeping. Pick your hill.
- The Backyard UltraEverywhere, and Bell Buckle, Tennessee · 4.167 miles every hour, on the hour, until only one runner is left. There is no finish.
- Hood to CoastMount Hood to Seaside, Oregon · A 12-person, 199-mile relay from a glacier to the Pacific, in two vans, with no sleep.
- The Speed ProjectSanta Monica Pier to the Las Vegas Sign · 340 miles across the Mojave. No course, no rules, no spectators, no website worth the name.
- The Six Star MedalTokyo, Boston, London, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, New York · Finish every Abbott World Marathon Major. The hardest medal in road running to collect.
- A Marathon in All 50 StatesEverywhere in America · Fifty marathons, fifty states, one very long spreadsheet.
- Seven Continents ClubEvery continent, including Antarctica · A marathon on all seven continents. Or all seven in seven days, if you're unwell.
- Grand Slam of UltrarunningCalifornia, Vermont, Colorado, Utah · Western States, Vermont, Leadville, and Wasatch. Four hundred-milers in ten weeks.