⏵ Course guide · Early-season Colorado classic
The Run Through Time sends its Marathon and Half Marathon fields out on dirt and jeep roads and hilly singletrack across the Arkansas Hills above Salida, Colorado, between 7,000 and 9,000 feet, with no crew or pacers allowed on either distance. I will walk you through the terrain and the no-support format first, then give you a pacing and fueling plan built for a self-reliant early-spring race, plus free tools to dial in your own numbers.
These facts come from the official RunSignup registration page. Check the current year details, cutoffs, and registration window before you commit. Race logistics change year to year.
Both the Marathon and Half Marathon run on the Arkansas Hills Trail System, mixing dirt and jeep roads with narrow, hilly singletrack, and neither distance allows crew or pacer support.
The course crosses BLM, Forest Service, and Chaffee County and City of Salida land in the Arkansas Hills above town, with elevation ranging from 7,000 to 9,000 feet. Expect fantastic views of Salida and the Arkansas Valley, mixed with the kind of hilly, rolling terrain that adds up over 26.2 or 13.1 miles even without one single defining climb.
This is a deliberately self-supported race: foot travel only, and no crews or pacers on either the Marathon or the Half Marathon. Whatever gear and fueling you need for the full window, you carry yourself, which is a different mental and logistical challenge than a fully crewed race even at the same distance.
Run by the Chaffee County Running Club for 22 years running, proceeds from Run Through Time go directly to Salida Mountain Trails and Chaffee County Search and Rescue-South, over $40,000 donated over the last 8 years alone. A light hot meal, custom race socks, and age-group awards round out a race built more around community than spectacle.
With no crew and no pacers, your pacing plan has to hold up without anyone checking in on you between the start and the finish.
A grade-adjusted pace target for rolling, hilly singletrack gives you an honest number for the terrain, and because there is no crew to bail you out with a pace check or encouragement mid-race, that target should be one you can hold on your own judgment alone. Build a plan you trust before the start, not one you plan to figure out on the fly.
The Marathon's 7.5-hour window and the Half Marathon's 5-hour window are both generous for the distance, but a finish-time projection checked against them early still matters, especially since there is no crew to warn you if you are falling behind. Know your real pace by the midpoint, not just at the finish.
⏵ Free tools to pace this course
Mid-March in the Arkansas Valley can start cold and warm up through the day, and with no crew allowed, you are carrying everything you plan to eat and drink.
Aim for roughly 40 to 70 grams of carbohydrate per hour across the Marathon's 7.5-hour window, and since no aid station list is published and no crew support is allowed, pack your own gels, chews, or real food rather than counting on course support to fill gaps.
An 8 AM start in mid-March at 7,000 to 9,000 feet often begins near or below freezing and can warm considerably by early afternoon. Plan your clothing and hydration for both ends of that range rather than dressing for just the temperature at the gun.
⏵ Build your fueling plan
Get a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for your weight, your goal time, and a self-supported early spring day 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 hilly Arkansas Hills course profile, and your projected splits with no crew to lean on. Summit Line reads your real training, builds a plan for self-supported trail racing, and rehearses your fueling so race day is something you execute, not guess at.
It runs entirely on dirt and jeep roads and narrow, hilly singletrack through the Arkansas Hills above Salida, with elevation ranging from 7,000 to 9,000 feet, and no crew or pacer support allowed on either distance. The organizers describe both the Marathon and Half Marathon as "beautiful, challenging courses," and running solo without support crew adds a self-reliance factor that a lot of trail marathons do not ask of you.
The race does not publish a single total elevation gain figure, but the course elevation ranges from 7,000 to 9,000 feet across the Arkansas Hills Trail System, on hilly singletrack mixed with dirt and jeep roads. Expect sustained rolling terrain rather than one defining climb, which tests your legs differently than a single big mountain ascent would.
This is an early spring race, mid-March in the Arkansas Valley, at elevations between 7,000 and 9,000 feet, so cold morning temperatures and thin air both factor into your plan. Aim for roughly 40 to 70 grams of carbohydrate per hour on the 7.5-hour Marathon window, and since no crew or pacers are allowed and no aid station list is published for this guide, plan to carry more of your own fueling than you would on a fully crewed race.
The Marathon runs from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM MST, a 7.5-hour time limit. The Half Marathon runs from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM MST, a 5-hour time limit. Both windows are generous for the distance, but with no crew or pacer support allowed, you are managing your own pacing and problem-solving for the full window without outside help.
It is a deliberate choice by the Chaffee County Running Club, a small, independent, club-run event now in its 22nd year rather than a large commercial production. The no crew, no pacer rule keeps the race focused on self-sufficient trail running and keeps the footprint on the Arkansas Hills Trail System, BLM, Forest Service, and Chaffee County and City of Salida land, manageable for a volunteer-run event.
Yes, if you want a mid-March target that forces you to build fitness through the winter. Registration opens November 1 for a race in mid-March, giving you roughly four months of lead time, and the combined 500-person field cap keeps it from feeling like a mega-race even though it draws a loyal following as a fixture of the early-spring Colorado trail calendar.
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<a href="https://runsummitline.com/guides/run-through-time-trail-marathon">The Run Through Time Trail Marathon course guide</a><iframe src="https://runsummitline.com/embed/race/run-through-time-trail-marathon" style="width:100%;max-width:420px;height:180px;border:0;" loading="lazy" title="Run Through Time Trail Marathon course guide by Summit Line"></iframe>This guide is independent and for planning only. The course details, dates, cutoffs, and registration windows 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.
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