Why is the registration fee so high?  

 

The short answer is that putting on a event like this for 100 people is not cost effective.  It is certainly a lot more expensive than we expected at the outset. 

 

Since most of the course is unique, we have almost four times the amount of trail to mark, manage and sweep compared to, say, the Leadville 100.  Between water, food, and sleep stations, which require quite a bit of equipment, there are a total of 21 aid stations.  We have to feed and hydrate runners, pacers, and volunteers for four days, not just a day or two.  The route is extremely remote.  There is virtually no cell coverage anywhere on the course.  It is also extremely rugged, which makes radio communications less useful or reliable.  While this adds to the appeal of the race, it also makes it immensely more difficult to organize safely.  We have to rent satellite phones and other communications devices for all major aid and medical volunteers, as well as numerous 4x4s and OHVs to be sure we can provide aid to runners.  Each runner will be outfitted with a satellite tracking device.  This will be primarily for safety.  However, we also plan to have a real-time web portal so anyone with an internet connection can follow their runner on a map of the course, knowing their last location within a matter of minutes.

 

The odds are we will lose money, or at best break even this year.  If there is any profit, it will be negligible when compared to the number of evenings, nights, weekends, vacations, and holidays required to build this thing from the ground up.