Midway through last year’s Run the Red Desert 50K trail run — a challenging course through the scenic yet desolate landscape of Wyoming’s northern Red Desert — Agnes Macy was feeling the effects of covering the first 19 miles of the rugged, arid terrain.
Arriving at the race's Sweetwater Aid Station, Macy, a New England transplant now living in Lander, wasn’t sure what to expect from her first competitive ultrarace.
Her memory of arriving at that station is one she recalls fondly.
“I have such a clear memory of the Sweetwater aid station, which is pretty much the halfway point of the race, like mile 19,” Macy said. “I remember running up to it — I ran most of the race by myself, so just having everyone cheer and smile as I ran up to it was a great feeling.”
Race volunteers went above and beyond for the runners, according to Macy, handing out snacks, water and encouragement.
“[Volunteers] were making fresh quesadillas on the little grill, so people were handing me quesadillas,” she recalled. “They put a cool towel around my neck, and it felt like I had this whole pit crew of people I didn't know.
“It was just this really awesome moment that came at a really tough stretch in the race. Having that motivation was really, really huge.”
Macy went on to finish third in the women’s division and fourth overall, posting a time of 5 hours, 25 minutes and 21 seconds. It was her first time competing in the Run the Red and, if a nagging foot injury heals in time, a race she hopes to run again this year on Sept. 27.
“I’m a little bit worried I have a stress fracture in my foot,” said Macy, who’s spent the summer backpacking as a National Outdoor Leadership School field instructor. “I’ll get an X-ray on Friday. If I don’t (have a fracture), I definitely hope to run it again.”
A Race Like No Other
Now entering its 11th year, the Run the Red Desert trail run, held on the fourth Saturday in September, is a bit of a hidden gem within the ultrarunning community.
About 120 participants ran the race last year, said race co-director Gabe Joyes.
Hosted by the Lander Running Club and partnered with the Wyoming Wilderness Association, NOLS and Wyoming Outdoor Council, Run the Red was created as a way to promote the conservation and stewardship of Wyoming’s public lands, most notably the northern Red Desert.
This year’s race includes a 25K, 50K and Kids Fun Run.
“Run the Red is a cool and interesting race for lots of reasons,” Joyes said. “It’s evolved a lot since its inception, because so many different people value the Red Desert and value what this race stands for.
“It really represents a celebration of public lands, and particularly that space — people value the Red Desert because it’s a place where they can really enjoy non-motorized recreation. They can have some peace and quiet in an increasingly loud world.”
More Than 10 Years
The first Run the Red was held in June 2014 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Wilderness Act and the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Wyoming Wilderness Act.
It attracted 67 runners and continued to grow as word-of-mouth took hold, peaking with more than 300 runners in 2022.
Base camp is located in historic South Pass City, and runners and their families are encouraged to make a weekend of exploring the old mining town and the surrounding areas.
Runners themselves are treated to a pristine desert landscape, a variety of wildlife habitats and a challenging course that winds through the Whitehorse Creek Wilderness Study Area.
“It’s an awesome experience. I’m really glad I did it,” said Diego Lobatos, who finished first in the men’s division of the 50K, third overall. “It’s close to home, so it was awesome for me to be able to support a race that highlights the importance of public lands.
“It’s just a really cool environment. I’ve never run a race in such a remote but still beautiful place.”
Lobatos is studying outdoor recreation and tourism management at the University of Wyoming, which he said aligns with Run the Red’s core values.
“The conservation aspect of the race is very interesting to me,” he said. “Being from Lander, I grew up hearing about Run the Red from other runners, and they always mentioned the importance of knowing why we’re running in the first place.”
A looping course in the past, this year’s race will be point-to-point, beginning at the Whitehorse Lake Overlook and ending at South Pass City. A daunting route, to be sure, and one that can make even the most experienced runner question what they got themselves into.
“I know the area well enough that I can see in the distance where South Pass City is, and it looks impossibly far away,” Joyes said. “You stand there and think, ‘You know, nobody could actually run there.’ But people do, and people will. If you just keep going one step at a time, you get immersed into it, and suddenly that butte in the distance isn’t so far away.”
Conservation And Advocacy
When Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill in 2019 declaring the fourth Saturday in September as Public Lands Day, Run the Red organizers moved the event from June to September, turning the race into a celebration of public lands.
“This has never been the biggest race in the country, or even in Wyoming, but nobody is willing to let it go,” Joyes said. “Everyone appreciates it that much.”
Joyes was the race director for the 2019 event, and after stepping away for a few years, returned to the fold in 2024 to serve as co-director with his wife, Jenny.
“If we didn’t do it, there was concern the race might disappear,” he said. “We just couldn’t let that happen.”
Goals for the conversation aspect of the race have evolved over the years, to keep in step with the political climate around the state and nationwide. Joyes said this year’s event will focus on the value of public lands, and wild, open, empty spaces. With new threats to public lands emerging every day, Run the Red organizers want to draw attention to the importance of these issues.
“We always like to have an action piece to the race, as well, so at the conclusion of the race, if runners feel so inclined, they can fill out a postcard that we’ll have available for runners to send to any state or national legislators,” Joyes explained. “It’s a way to let legislators know how we feel about public lands, and what they see the future of that landscape is.”
Often referred to as the largest unfenced area in the continental United States, the Red Desert offers an abundance of wildlife and scenery, as well as a historical component; the route runs along the Oregon Trail for miles.
“Maybe more so than anywhere else I’ve been in the state, it just feels like I’m in the middle of nowhere, man,” Joyes said. “If you want to feel like you’re in this huge, remote landscape that people picture as what Wyoming looks like, this is it.
“Everything is out there. It’s the culmination of a lot of things that make it special. It’s just a magical place to go for a nice, long run, and we don’t want to lose that.”
Landowners in the area have been cooperative with race organizers over the years, and aside from a few logistical changes from year-to-year, conflicts have been largely nonexistent.
“We have nothing negative to say about the landowners who have graciously allowed us access,” Joyes said. “They love that landscape, as well, and are happy to share it.”
Races like Run the Red leave have very little environmental impact, another aspect that appeals to landowners.
“We’re leaving footprints,” Joyes said. “That’s it. The wind will erase those in about 24 hours. So, it’s a great way for people to see a huge chunk of landscape, have an adventure and basically leave nothing behind.”
That landscape is what keeps runners coming back, year after year, according to ultrarunner Jarod McDaniel, of Casper.
“You’re basically taking something that looks desolate and underappreciated, and allowing people to see it up close,” McDaniel explained. “It’s a whole lot cooler than people realize.”
A Hearty Breed Of Runner
McDaniel won the 25K overall title in 2024, his second time competing in the Run the Red. He also brought along his 8-year-old daughter Raegan, who took part in the Kid's Fun Run.
“Run the Red has an awesome kid’s race, and my daughter absolutely loved it,” McDaniel said. “It’s important for me to be able to share my hobby with my kiddo.”
A competitive runner since high school, McDaniel was introduced to distance running by his high school track coach.
At the time, McDaniel was a thrower with a thrower’s build: Think linebacker, not marathoner. The coach encouraged him to try the 1,600 meters, then the mile, and a love of running was born.
“It was weird, because I’d compete in all the throwing events with the big boys, then go down in the track events with all the scrawny kids and run distance,” he said. “My weight would fluctuate up and down, and I found that running was the best way to train for all-around events.
“I just started logging miles, and it became a good thing for my mental health later in life, just as a break from my desk job.”
No stranger to challenges, McDaniel, who has given up the private sector for a career in the military (and will soon begin Special Forces training at Fort Benning, Georgia) has competed in a number of trail runs around the region, pushing himself to get better with each event.
When he discovered Run the Red, McDaniel said he knew he’d found a race that would play to his strengths as a runner, though that’s not to say it didn’t come without a unique set of challenges.
“Run the Red didn’t exceed my threshold, as far as distance,” he said. “But at the time of last year’s race, it was really hot, so you had to be ready for that. The heat element, the dryness element and the elevation is something you have to account for, especially if you’re an out-of-stater.”
Looking to make himself a little faster, McDaniel chose not to carry as much water with him as he might for other races; it’s a decision that almost proved costly.
“Like a jackwagon, I didn’t take as much water as I should have,” he said. “My wife laughs about this now, but by the time I got to the finish line, I was so dehydrated, I reached the point of confusion. My brain was working fine, but when I tried to tell my wife how I was feeling, it came out as gibberish.
“I was fine, but it illustrates the importance of being prepared.”
A ‘Spontaneous’ Decision
Macy was a distance runner in high school, as well, and was a member of the cross-country ski team in college. Trail running was a way to keep in shape in the offseason, and she found she enjoyed it, though doing it competitively is something new.
“I went on a lot of mountain runs, but Run the Red was actually the first ultrarace that I’ve done,” she explained. “The landscape out there is pretty incredible, running all day in the desert, moving through it slowly — it’s so vast. I drive South Pass quite frequently, but going through it at a runner’s pace totally changed the way that I view the landscape.”
A member of the Lander Running Club, Macy heard about Run the Red through her fellow runners, and just beat the registration deadline for last year’s event.
Having been in Lander for less than a year at the time, she thought it would be a good way to get to know people.
“It was a little bit spontaneous,” Macy said. “And now a bunch of the people who also ran it are now friends.”
The conservation aspect of the race also appealed to Macy; growing up in New England, public lands – and the fight to conserve them – was an issue she rarely heard about.
“The conservation piece of Run the Red, and the vastness of so much public land, is very exciting,” she said. “It’s a huge draw of the west, for me.”
Though down a bit in numbers since its peak in 2022, Run the Red attracts a variety of runners each year, including those locally who make it a yearly tradition, as well as first-timers from in and out of Wyoming.
“It definitely gets repeat local runners, but there are people that come from all over the country to run this race,” Joyes said. “The Red Desert seems to capture a lot of people’s imagination and mind set. And most come early or stay after to do Red Desert exploring on their own.”
Consistent growth of Run the Red has been difficult, but not because of the experience. Joyes said he’s had nary a negative review from runners who have completed the race; in fact, those that do return do so because the weekend was so memorable.
“The Red Desert, and Wyoming in general, is hard to get to,” Joyes said. “I think that limits our growth a bit. Couple that with September being one of the biggest months on the national trail-running calendar, simply because of more reasonable temperatures and stable weather. There are a boatload of options we compete with.”
Feedback Joyse receives from first-time runners is about what one would expect from those experiencing the Red Desert up close.
“People are usually just blown away,” he said. “‘I had no idea this was here, no idea this is what this area was like.’ I really connect with that, because that was my first thought when I experienced the Red Desert. I live 30 minutes from this, and I had absolutely no idea.”
Joyes went on to say the nature of trail running is one of discovery of themselves, of places and each other.
“It’s one thing to see a photograph of a beautiful place like Oregon Buttes, it’s a whole other thing to run through it and experience it,” Joyes said. “What’s it going to be like when I run for five hours?
“Our goal is to give people a chance to experience that, then share how they feel about it with decision makers and lawmakers.”
Don Cogger can be reached at: news@cowboystatedaily.com
