By HPRS Race Director John Lacroix
It was November 2008 when I directed the first 200-Mile trail ultramarathon in the world. Five runner’s showed up to the starting line of the 200 mile run that had a 72 hour cutoff. You read that right, 72-hours. I created a running adventure that required the runner to actually run, keep running, and to do so with very minimal sleep if any at all. I was so naive. I modeled the adventure off of the McNaughton Park Trail Runs (now Potawatomi) in Illinois, who up to that time was hosting the longest trail ultra at 150 miles. I based our final cut-off off of the McNaughton Cut-offs. No wonder we only had 1 official finisher that year…
Following the first 200-Mile were events like the Tour de Geants (2010) in Italy, the Pig Tails Challenge (2012) in Washington, McNaughton (2012) added a 200-Mile in Illinois, and the TBunk Challenge (2013) in Wisconsin. Then came Destination Trail with the Tahoe (2014) and Big Foot (2015) 200s, and the Moab 240 (2017). Looking at this timeline, it is easy to see just how slow the growth in the number of 200-Mile events has been. Pre-Covid we reached a high of 11 events in 2019. (Only 8 happened in 2021)
Looking at the 2022 and 2023 calendars, there are now twenty-three (23) 200-Mile Ultras scheduled in the United States. They occur in all corners of the country, north and south, east and west, and even in between. Like 100-milers, no two races are the same and neither is their production. The Human Potential Running Series is about to host one of those 23 events in our 3rd Annual Sangre de Cristo 200-Mile Ultra, the highest 200-Mile ultra in North America.
The number of 200-Mile events has only skyrocketed very recently. Therefore, we should probably take a look at the growth in total finishes for the distance as well. Again, there was just one race and one finisher in 2008. It would be four years before another 200-mile ultra would even appear in the US. In 2019, there were 306 finishers across just eleven 200-Mile races; and again, 2019 was the biggest year yet. In 2021, there were just 130 finishes of the 200-mile distance across 8 events. So far this year, 6 races have been hosted accounting for 286 finishers. Check out the 200-Mile stats at Ultrarunning Magazine.
I personally don’t understand the need for our sport to literally triple the number of 200-mile ultras available in our country, as the supply more than meets the demand at this time. What I do understand is why so many race directors are starting to jump in.
I think one of the main reasons is because that’s who we are as a collective. Endurance athletes pushing the envelope to realize our limits, perceived versus actual. We want to know, we have to know, just how far the human machine will allow us to run, explore, and adventure. The fear of failing is what brings us to the starting line in the first place, and when we make it to that elusive point B, discovering what we already suspected about ourselves, we have to push further. We seek the limits.
I also have to mention the other reason I think race directors are starting to jump in, and the surprise I was dealt just today as I gathered information for the writing of this article. The 200-Mile is a distance with a traditionally high price tag. The Tahoe, Bigfoot, Moab and Cocodona events are all priced at $1,495 or higher for an entry fee. This is just the registration fee and does not include renting of a tracking device, parking, lodging, travel, crews, and more. For a long time in our sport, I always suspected that a lot of folks got into race directing 100-Milers because they saw just how much money could be made when considering the profit margin associated with doing so. Newsflash! It doesn’t cost $450 per runner to host a 100-mile ultra!
So of course I suspected that most race directors were jumping in to the 200-Mile game so that they too could “make bank” on the profit margin. Here’s another Newsflash.. it also doesn’t cost $1495 per runner to host a 200-mile ultra! The entry fee for the first 200-mile was just $200. As the distance finally gained in popularity, it has always troubled me personally that anyone would charge so much money for something that’s twice as far as a 100-mile. I’m with a lot of you.. “If it costs $300 to run 100-miles, why wouldn’t running 200-miles just be double the entry fee for the 100?!” This is exactly how I priced our Sangre de Cristo 200-Mile this year, it’s simply double the cost of our 100-mile at the same event. Stay with me here because… I’m going to tell you how much our 200-mile will cost in 2023 (Hint: it’s even less!).
So I dove into the data. I made a list of every 200-mile ultra on the calendar in the USA for years 2022 and 2023. I have included that list below. The list includes the name of the race, when and where it’s held, and how much the entry fee is. What I discovered shocked me a little bit, and it completely changed my outlook on why I think so many RDs may be getting in to directing 200-Milers. I honestly believe that it’s because they feel the same way that I do, in that “the big-four 200-milers cost way too friggin’ much” and that we all can play a positive role in making the 200-mile distance more accessible by bringing the entry fees down to a more reasonable amount. THAT is why they’re getting into it. “I can put on a 200-mile for a fraction of that entry fee and it’ll STILL be amazing!”
At The Human Potential Running Series, we have always prided ourselves on setting our entry fees at or below the industry average for similar distance. Over the years, I have maintained a spreadsheet that keeps track of the cost of entry for each and every trail race a half marathon in length, or longer, in the state of Colorado. I then use the spreadsheet to tell me what the average entry fee is for each distance, and in each scheduled tier (most races use a 3 tiered approach when raising entry fees over time). Essentially, I just took a snapshot of what the average cost of entry is for the 200-Mile distance in The United States.
Here is what I found out:
• The average cost of entry for a 200-Mile Ultra in the USA is $643.16 in Tier 1 and $676.84 in Tier 3.
• If we remove Tahoe, Bigfoot, Moab and Cocodona from the equation, the average cost of entry for a 200-Mile Ultra in the USA decreases to $416.00 in Tier 1 and $452.00 in Tier 2. In other words, every race director outside of Destination Trail and Aravaipa are charging an entry fee that is 28% lower than what these two companies are charging.
• If HPRS changes our entry fee’s to more closely match the averages, it will lower the average cost of entry for 200-milers in the USA to $402.67 in Tier 1. This is something I can easily get behind.
I learned that there are more race directors in our sport who care about inclusivity and accessibility, than they do about their wallets. I honestly thought that more RDs would care about the profit margin, making as much as they can off of runners, following the lead of the market “leaders,” and that being why they got into it in the first place. The numbers tell me otherwise. The numbers tell me that there are a lot of RDs out there willing to put in the work to provide you with a world class experience, testing your limits, without asking you to pay 2-3 years worth of entry fees to do it just one time. The numbers tell me just who the real leaders in our sport are and I am beyond stoked!!
As I said, at The Human Potential Running Series, we have always prided ourselves on setting our entry fees at or below the industry average for similar distance. I’m going to continue to make good on this promise. We’re going to stay put with our fee structure for 100-Miles, 100k, and every other distance 55k or shorter. We are also going to stay put with our entry fees for timed events. We are going to LOWER our entry fees for 50-Miles from $140, $160 and $170 to $120, $140, and $150. Yes.. we’re dropping our 50-Mile entry fees $20 per tier in 2023. We’re also going to lower our entry fees for the 200-Mile distance. In 2022, we lowered our fees for the 200-Mile to $600, $650 and $700. In 2023, those numbers will be $400, $450, and $500. We’re taking $200 off the price of entry to our 200-miler so that our rates align more closely with the industry average.
Before I give you the list I compiled, I want to talk about what I think Leadership is. I know that the word Leadership means different things to different people, different cultures, and in different situations. In the situation of race directing, I think leadership can be defined as influencing other people to follow. Effective leadership enables followers to succeed. It sets direction, builds a vision, and adapts. Leadership is about mapping where we need or want to go.
Through the research I just did, I can see that there are a lot of race directors in our sport who have clearly established themselves as leaders. These RDs are displaying to each other the direction we as a sport want to go. As some race directors tell us about the hardships they faced with Covid, and the hardships associated with inflation, as they reason their need to jack entry fees ever higher; there’s a lot of RDs out there taking the lead by charging an amount you might actually be able to afford. Covid and inflation has hit ALL of us hard. Not just races, race directors and business owners; but the people we rely on to run in those races and keep our business afloat. Charging more money does not always equal greater revenue!
Discovering your human potential shouldn’t rely on how much money you make or how much is in your bank account; there are race directors out there who are willing, able, and excited to support you in your endeavors without crushing your wallet along the way. There are race directors out there showing you that you can attend an expertly supported, well planned, well executed 100-Mile and 200-Mile ultra without having to break the bank to do so. Races with a higher entry fee does NOT at all reflect an increase in the quality of the event. It only means that the race director is charging you more, because they can. So vote with your wallet.
Over these last five years, we as a sport have engaged in a number of conversations that focus primarily on the topics of inclusivity, accessibility, diversity and equity. We’ve talked about bridging the gender gap between men and women (while inadvertently discriminating against those who are non-binary), we’ve talked about gender identity, we’ve even talked about what substances are performance enhancers and which ones are not, and we’ve talked about reasonable deferral policies for pregnancy. We’re getting closer, slowly, to a more inclusive and accessible sport. We’re never going to get there if we create a sport that is only mindful of those who can afford the cost of entry. Need an example? Take a look at Ironman’s numbers for 2022, and see how far (and how long) greed will take you before the crew abandons ship.
The 200 Mile Races of the USA (2022-2023)
H9 Fierce Dragon 200-Mile:
January in Blairsville, GA
Entry Fees: Unavailable
Frozen: H3 212-Mile:
January in Bethera, SC
Entry Fees: $535
Flat Top Mesa Endurance Run 200-Mile:
February in Mesquite, NV
Entry Fees: $480 – $540
The Wild Oak Trail (TWOT) 200-Mile:
February in Harrisonburg, VA
Entry Fees: FREE Fat Ass Style
Big Al’s 200-Mile:
March in Franklin, TN
Entry Fees: Unavailable
Potawatomi 200-Mile:
April in Pekin, IL
Entry Fees: $350 – $400
Double Top Stone Anvil 200-Mile:
April in Chatsworth, GA
Entry Fees: $375-$435
Pig Tails Challenge 200-Mile:
May in Renton, WA
Entry Fees: $240
One of the nation’s first!
Cocodona 250 Mile:
May in Black Canyon City, AZ
Entry Fees: $1495 – $1595
Peak Blood Root Ultra 200-Mile:
May in Pittsfield, VT
Entry Fees: $200 – $250
Infinitus 250-Mile:
May in Ripton, VT
Entry Fees: $340 – $370
Hell Hole Hundred 212-Mile:
June in Bethera, SC
Entry Fees: $535
Tahoe 200-Mile:
June in Homewood, CA
Entry Fees: $1495
Bigfoot 200-Mile:
August in Mount Saint Helens, WA
Entry Fees: $1495
Oregon 200-Mile:
August in Oakridge, OR
Entry Fees: Unavailable
Run Devil Run 200-Mile:
August in Dover, OH
Entry Fees: $700-$800
Sangre de Cristo Ultras 200-Mile:
September in Westcliffe, CO
Entry Fees: $600-$700
Moab 240 Mile
October in Moab, UT
Entry Fees: $1495
Cowboy 200 Mile:
November in Norfolk, NE
Entry Fees: $500
San Diego 200 Mile:
November in San Diego, CA
Entry Fees: $200 and an essay. Only 25 runners allowed
The Swamp Fox Ultra 210-Mile:
November in McClellanville, SC
Entry Fees: $495
TBunk Endurance Challenge 200-Mile:
November in LaGrange, WI
Entry Fees: $190 – $280
One of the nation’s first!
GO BIG 260-Mile:
December in Hilo, HI
Entry Fees: $500