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⏵ Course guide · Nevada ultra

Fire Fest Ultra Course Guide

The Fire Fest Ultra is Triple Dare Running Company’s flagship desert weekend, run on a rolling red-sandstone loop on the Logandale Trail System out near Valley of Fire, about an hour north of Las Vegas. It stacks everything from a 5K to a 100 miler on the same loop, so it is really a whole menu of races sharing one piece of dirt. I will walk you through the loop and how the day (and night) actually plays out, then give you a pacing and fueling plan that fits the heat, the cold, and the long cutoffs. Free calculators along the way to dial in your own numbers.

⏵ At a glance

Fire Fest Ultra quick facts

Date
November 21–22, 2026 (Saturday–Sunday)
Location
Logandale Trail System / Valley of Fire backcountry, Logandale (Moapa Valley), NV, about an hour north of Las Vegas
Distances
100 mile, 100K, 50 mile, 50K, marathon, half, 10K, 5K, plus 48 / 24 / 12-hour timed
Course
A roughly 17-mile rolling red-sandstone desert loop, repeated for the longer distances
Start
100M / 100K at 6:00 AM, 50M / 50K at 6:30 AM, with a 5:00 AM early-start option for ultras
Cutoff
100M / 100K: 35 hr · 50M: 25 hr · 50K: 15 hr (Sat) / 12 hr (Sun)
Qualifier
Listed as a UTMB qualifier (Running Stones + UTMB Index). No Western States or Hardrock qualifier status listed
Heads up
Cupless race: bring your own bottle or soft flask

These facts come from the official race site and UltraSignup. The race does not publish a per-distance elevation figure, and dates, cutoffs, and aid stations change year to year, so confirm the current race-day details before you commit.

The course: where Fire Fest is won and lost

The whole thing is built on one roughly 17-mile loop of desert backcountry trail, winding past sandstone walls and petroglyphs on the Logandale system. The shorter distances run a lap or two; the 100K and 100 grind out lap after lap. It is rolling, not alpine, so success here is less about surviving a giant climb and more about managing repetition, footing, and the clock.

The loop: rolling, sandy, and sneaky

Do not let the lack of a big mountain fool you. The Logandale backcountry rolls constantly, and the footing swings between packed dirt and soft, sandy, washy sections that quietly tax your legs and your pace. There is no single climb to fear, which is exactly why people go out too comfortable and bleed time later. The aid is close together on the loop, with a fork aid station early, a 10K turnaround, and a water-only point partway out before you close back at the start/finish, so you are rarely far from help. That is a real advantage if you use it instead of abusing it.

Because you repeat the same ground, you get the gift of knowing exactly what is coming. Use your first lap to scout: note where the sand slows you, where you can actually run, and where you want to eat. By lap two or three you should be running the course on rails, spending zero brainpower on navigation and all of it on staying fed and moving.

The night: cold desert dark on the 100 and 100K

If you are running the 100 or 100K, the night is the real test, not the terrain. Late-November desert flips hard once the sun drops, and warm afternoon turns into genuinely cold dark, the kind that saps your will and your hands. This is where the looped format earns its keep: you pass your drop bag every lap, so you can pick up a headlamp, batteries, gloves, and a warm layer right when you need them instead of carrying it all day. Plan your lighting and layers around sunset before you start, not when you are already shivering and fumbling.

The other night trap is the chair. With a 35-hour cutoff and the start/finish in your face every lap, it is easy to sit down, get warm, and lose an hour. A short, purposeful stop is fine. A long one in a cold race is how good runners quietly DNF. If you plan to nap, set a hard time limit and have someone get you up.

Crew, pacers, and drop bags on a loop

A loop course is a crew dream. Your people post up at the start/finish and see you every lap, so you do not need a complicated chase plan. Give them a simple sheet: what you want handed to you, what to watch for (am I eating, am I warm, am I lucid), and permission to push you back out the door. On the longer distances, a pacer for the night laps is worth a lot, both for safety in the cold dark and for the simple job of keeping you moving when your brain wants to quit.

Stage your drop bag like a station you hit on repeat: your own carbohydrate, spare light and batteries, warm layers and gloves, sun protection for the day, dry socks, foot care, anti-chafe, and a backup bottle since the race is cupless. One organized bag you pass often beats a pile you dig through at 2 a.m.

The late-race lows and the cutoffs

Every long ultra has a low patch, and on a repeating loop the low is mental as much as physical: you are tired of the same dirt and the finish feels far. That is normal. Break the race into laps, not miles, and just go get the next one. Eat before you feel bad, because the desert and the night both kill your appetite and a calorie deficit is what turns a low into a death spiral.

The cutoffs are generous (35 hours for the 100, 25 for the 50 mile, 15 for the Saturday 50K), but generous cutoffs reward forward progress, not rest. Know your time budget per lap and protect it. If you keep eating, keep your feet decent, and keep walking when you cannot run, this course gives most prepared runners the room to finish.

Pacing strategy for a rolling desert loop

Fire Fest is won by even effort and discipline, not by a hero climb. The rolling terrain and soft footing make your flat-ground pace a lie, and a looped course tempts you to bank time early and pay for it in the dark. Run the first laps slower than you want to.

Run by effort, not by your road pace

Soft sand and constant little rollers mean your watch pace will not match how hard you are working, so pace by effort, especially early. On the 100 and 100K the classic mistake is feeling great on lap one and running it like a 50K, then watching the wheels come off after dark. Hold a steady, conversational output you could keep for far longer than you think you need to, and let the back half come to you. A grade-adjusted pace helps you turn your real fitness into honest targets so the rollers do not trick you into overcooking the start.

Build a realistic finish and work it back to laps

Do not guess your Fire Fest finish off a road time. The soft footing, the rolling gain, the heat, the cold, and the time on feet all add up, and on a loop you want a target lap split, not just a finish number. Build a realistic finish window, then divide it into a per-lap budget that fades a bit as the race goes (because it will), so you always know whether you are ahead of the clock. Working back into the cutoffs lap by lap is how you keep a generous time limit from lulling you to sleep.

⏵ Free tools to pace this course

Fueling strategy for a long day and a cold night

Depending on your distance, Fire Fest is anywhere from a handful of hours to well over a day on your feet, in desert heat that fades into cold dark. That makes steady carbohydrate, real sodium, and a plan for the night just as important as your fitness.

Carbs: steady, trained, and easy to get down

For the shorter distances, aim for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, leaning high only if your gut is trained for it. For the 100K and 100, you cannot ride that top end the whole time, so settle into a steady rate you can actually stomach hour after hour and never let yourself fall into a hole. The desert dries you out and the night kills your appetite, so favor things that go down easy and keep eating on a clock, not on feel. Practice your exact race-day intake on long runs so it is boring and automatic, not an experiment at mile 70.

Sodium and fluid: desert day, cold night

Even in November, dry desert air pulls water out of you faster than you notice, so do not under-drink just because it is not blazing hot. Match your sodium to your sweat, often somewhere around 500 to 700 milligrams per liter of fluid, and more if you run salty or cramp easily. Remember it is a cupless race, so you are managing your own bottle or flask between aid points and at your drop bag. At night, warm fluids and real food (broth, anything hot) do double duty: calories plus heat. Weigh yourself before and after a long run to find your real sweat rate, then build the plan around your own number.

⏵ Build your fueling plan

Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and your Fire Fest distance with the free ultra fueling calculator. Browse the rest of the free running tools at the tools hub.

⏵ Train for it with Summit Line

Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this exact Fire Fest loop and distance, and your projected lap splits. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for the time on feet and the night, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.

Start free →Explore the demo

Fire Fest Ultra FAQ

How hard is the Fire Fest Ultra?

It depends a lot on which distance you pick, because Fire Fest runs everything from a 5K up to 100 miles on the same desert loop. The terrain itself is forgiving by ultra standards: rolling red-sandstone backcountry on the Logandale Trail System, not a high-alpine grind, so there is no single monster climb to fear. What makes it hard is the repetition, the soft and sandy footing in spots, the big day-to-night temperature swing in late November, and the long cutoffs that let you stay out there a very long time. The 100 has a generous 35-hour limit, which is a gift if you keep moving and a trap if you sit too long.

How much elevation gain does the Fire Fest Ultra have?

The race does not publish an official per-distance elevation figure, and the organizers describe it as rolling desert backcountry with some hills rather than a big mountain course. So treat it as runnable, rolling terrain rather than relentless climbing, but expect the gain to add up loop after loop on the longer distances. If you want a number to train against, build your own estimate from a GPS track of the roughly 17-mile loop and multiply by your lap count, and confirm anything specific with Triple Dare before race day.

What are the cutoff times for the Fire Fest Ultra?

The published overall cutoffs are 35 hours for the 100 mile and 100K, 25 hours for the 50 mile, and 15 hours for the Saturday 50K (the Sunday 50K runs on a tighter 12-hour limit). Those are roomy, which is part of the appeal, but a loop course also means there are points each lap where you need to keep moving to stay ahead of the clock. Confirm the exact loop and intermediate cutoffs in the current race-day details, since they can shift year to year.

What is the terrain and weather like at Fire Fest Ultra?

The course is desert backcountry trail on the Logandale system near Valley of Fire, winding past red-sandstone formations and petroglyphs. Footing ranges from packed and runnable to soft, sandy, and washy, so it eats more energy than a smooth track even when it is not steep. Late November in this part of southern Nevada usually means mild to warm afternoons and genuinely cold desert nights, which matters a lot once you are out for the 100 and the sun drops. Plan for a real temperature swing and pack layers in your drop bags.

Is the Fire Fest Ultra a good first 100 miler or first ultra?

For a lot of people, yes. The rolling, non-technical desert terrain, the looped format that keeps you close to aid and crew, and the long 35-hour cutoff make it one of the friendlier places to attempt a first 100. The loop also makes the shorter distances, the 50K and 50 mile, approachable first ultras with frequent passes through the start/finish. The catch is the same thing that makes it accessible: the generous time limit and the repeating loop tempt you to sit, and that is where first-timers lose their day. Train your fueling and your forward progress and the format works in your favor.

What should I put in my drop bags for the Fire Fest Ultra loop?

Because it is a looped course, your drop bag at the start/finish is basically a mini crew station you hit every lap, so use it. Stage your own preferred carbohydrate so you are not relying only on what is on the table, a spare headlamp and batteries for the night laps, warm layers and gloves for the cold desert dark, sunscreen and a hat for the day, dry socks, and any anti-chafe and foot-care kit. Since it is a cupless race, keep a backup bottle or soft flask in there too. Having all of this in one spot you pass often is a huge advantage if you stay disciplined about getting in and out.

This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and aid stations come from public sources and can change year to year, so confirm the current specifics with the official race before you register or run. The fueling and pacing advice is general and not medical advice.