This is a preview of the race, click here for more details on incredible record-breaking wins for Seth Ruhling and Riley Brady.
The Black Canyon Ultras by Hoka is a weekend of ultra running in Mayer, Arizona along the non-motorised Black Canyon Trail, featuring a mixture of single track, jeep roads and pieces of an old stagecoach route.
The event organises two races on the weekend of February 8-9, with the flagship 100km race commencing this year on Saturday, followed by the shorter 50km race on Sunday.
Run by Hoka, the 100km event will offer qualifying slots – or ‘Golden Tickets’ – for the shoe company’s biggest event, the Western States Endurance Run in 2025. The top three finishers in the men and women’s race will receive an invitation to Western States in June.
In the case that the first, second, or third place participant is already in Western States (or decides to opt out), the automatic bid will slide to fourth place, and subsequently down to sixth place as needed (no places below sixth will be accepted).
In addition the 2025 Black Canyon 100km is a 2026 Western States 100 qualifier. Runners must complete the entire 100km distance under 17 hours in order to be eligible for the Western States Lottery.
The Black Canyon Ultras are also the second race of the 2025 World Trail Majors, following the opening Hong Kong 100.
Here’s all you need to know…
Black Canyon Ultras Watch Live
The 2025 edition of the Black Canyon Ultras by Hoka will see the 100km event get underway on Saturday, February 8th from Mayer High School at 7:00am (MST) for the elite runners, with wave two at 7:30am and wave three at 8:00am.
On Sunday, February 9th, the 50km event will also begin from Mayer High School, but this time there will only be two waves, at 7:00am (MST) and 7:15am.
To track runners in the 100km race on Saturday click here and for the 50km race on Sunday, click here.
To watch the live stream of the 100km race on Saturday, including the “Golden Ticket Race”, which will follow the battle to be the first three men and women across the line, simply click play on the embed below.
Black Canyon Ultras
start list
Full start lists for the 100k are here, with the 50k here.
Notable runners
Route
The Black Canyon 100km begins at Mayer High School in Arizona and follows a historic trail used since the times of prehistoric Native American travellers and traders as it makes its way down to Emery Henderson Trailhead, taking in 1,580m of elevation gain on the way. It’s a net downhill race overall, with the second half considerably tougher than the first.
The first three miles of the route is a combination of paved and dirt roads leading out of Spring Valley. Runners then quickly connect to the Black Canyon Trail single track and remain on that for the duration of the race.
Along the trail, athletes will cross through Black Canyon and the Agua Aria river multiple times, as they run parallel to the old Black Canyon stagecoach track between Phoenix and Prescott. There are ten aid stations along the 100km route, with the first coming in Antelope Mesa (Mile 7.7) and the last before the finish at Doe Spring (Mile 58.6).
The Black Canyon 50km follows the same route as the flagship event, starting from Mayer High School, but finishing instead at Deep Canyon.
The Black Canyon 100km has a cut off time of 20 hours from the start time, with the 50km race competitors given a 12 hour cut off time from the start.
One thing we should say is that the weather and conditions both look good – the course records have been beaten over the last couple of years so could be under threat again.
Analysis
We should be in for a treat this weekend, with lots of big hitters lining up.
There’s a danger of getting too carried away with those who are after a Golden Ticket as this is a big event in its own right.
Starting with the women and there’s a strong north American contingent as you’d expect but one fascinating contender from further afield is China’s Lin Chen who was fourth at UTMB last year but races here for the first time.
One person who will now be incredibly familiar with the course – as those who follow her on Strava will know – is Abby Hall who looks to have worked her way back to top form after serious injury.
Former pro triathlete Heather Jackson is always a force to be reckoned with and returns – she isn’t chasing a Golden Ticket but is still focussed on getting right in the mix and can usually be relied on to animate the action. Expect to see her to the fore early on and hopefully throughout.
Many eyes will be on Tara Dower, who made global headlines with her incredible Fastest Known Time on the Appalachian Trail last year and was seventh here 12 months ago. She’s made no secret of the fact that she IS after a Golden Ticket.
There are plenty more too and it promises to be a fascinating battle, just as it should be in the men’s race.
But such a shame that 2023 winner Anthony Costales won’t now be on the start line.
Eli Hemming has to be one of the favourites – last year he set the course record in what was then the Black Canyon 60K and now he’s back to take on the full 100K in his debut at the distance.
He was super-impressive when winning UTMB’S OCC last August and it will be an absorbing watch to see how he gets on.
Craig Hunt just missed out on the podium last year but still managed to boss the closing stages as he ran the fastest-ever split from Table Mesa to the finish, clocking 1:23:28 for the final 20K which was nearly three minutes faster than race winner and new course record holder Hayden Hawks.
Blake Stattengren was 11th at Western States in 2024 – an agonising one spot short of an automatic entry this year – so has unfinished business too.
Bring it on!
Black Canyon Ultras course records
Course Records (Point-to-point):
Men – 7:30:18 – Hayden Hawks (2024)
Women – 8:45:30 – Keely Henninger (2023)
Men’s Previous Winners
2024 – Hayden Hawks (USA) – 7:30:18
2023 – Anthony Costales (USA) – 7:32:50
2022 – Trueheart Brown (USA) – 7:57:27.
2021 – Tyler Green (USA) – 8:06:33.
2020 – Hayden Hawks (USA) – 7:55:33.
2019 – Matt Daniels (USA) – 7:20:28.
2018 – Tim Freriks (USA – 8:12:06.
Women’s Previous Winners:
2024 – Rachel Drake (USA) – 8:47:23
2023 – Keely Henninger (USA) – 8:45:30
2022 – Clare Gallagher (USA) – 9:06:21.
2021 – Brittany Peterson (USA) – 8:48:32.
2020 – Camille Herron (USA) 9:21:27.
2019 – Kaci Lickteig (USA) – 8:38:38.
2018 – Alisa Macdonald (CAN) – 8:53:33.
Past winners
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