I’m sorry to have to announce this, but the 2020 Alaska Endurance Trail Run is cancelled. Although Alaska’s COVID-19 curve seems to be flattening, we’re still deep in the pandemic, and I just don’t see a way to safely hold the AETR this year. On top of that, UAF currently has mandates in place until May 16 that would prevent it from occurring in anything close to resembling its current form. And it is quite possible (likely?) that those will be extended into June and beyond.

You have a couple of options:

• Defer until 2021, scheduled for June 4-5. This would protect you against any price increases (not that we’re planning any at this point).
• Get a full refund, excluding Ultrasignup fees.

AETR will absorb the relatively small expenses we’ve already had (we held off on the larger expenses, thankfully). But if you’d like to contribute toward those, we’d really appreciate it. As guidance, if everyone chipped in about 10% of your fee, it would cover those expenses. But please don’t feel obligated; I know times are tough right now for all of us.

If you’re registered, please let us know your choice as soon as you can. Please include your name as you registered and the email you used, to make sure I record your decision correctly! For refunds, please let me know how to refund the money. I can mail checks, or send it via PayPal or Venmo, as long as there is no fee. Please give me a little time to process everything!

Anyone I’ve not heard from by May 15th, I’ll put you down to defer to next year.

Huge thanks to everyone who provided feedback about this decision. I really really appreciate it.

Stay healthy and keep moving! See you next year.

Don

I’ve been getting a few questions about whether AETR is going to happen this year.

I’m afraid that I don’t really have any idea yet. It’s far enough out that I’m hopeful that we’ll be through the worst of the pandemic, and that the AETR will happen. That’s certainly our plan.

But it’s all just too much in the air right now. As of 5PM on Saturday, 28 March, Alaska is under a shelter-in-place mandate, and things are still getting way worse. And because the AETR happens on the University of Alaska Fairbanks trails, we have to follow their rules for gatherings.

One of the biggest problems is the aid station. We’ve always tried to practice good hygiene there, but it would be hard to keep it clean and disinfected with all the things that many people touch. We could use disposable everything, but that makes the event pretty wasteful.

But it’s still a gathering of way too many people during a pandemic, even though runners out on the trail are generally practicing good physical distancing (what used to be called social distancing).

It would be nearly impossible to postpone AETR to later in the summer, since Fairbanks has so many running events, and I’ve always tried to not infringe on other ultras in Alaska.

If we cancel, we’ll certainly have some kind(s) of refund or deferral options. We’ll figure that out as we get closer to making a final decision. I’m trying to hold off on some of our bigger purchases, but can’t for too much longer.

In other words, I have no idea about whether AETR is going to happen. We’re on uncharted ground here. We certainly need to make a decision by 1 May, but I’m hoping there will be enough clarity to make a decision long before that.

If you have any thoughts about all this, please email me at don@donkiely.com.

In the meantime, be socially responsible and stay healthy! And keep running!

Don

We’re happy to announce that registration is open for the 2019 Alaska Endurance Trail Run. New for this year is that 12-hour runners can start at either 8PM Friday or 8AM Saturday. 6-hour runners can still start at either 8AM or 2PM Saturday. Other than one tweak, the prices are the same as for 2018.

Get all the details on the Registration page.

I’m pleased to announce that registration is open for the 2018 Alaska Endurance Trail Run.

After making a number of changes last year, as a result of feedback for the inaugural race, we’re going to largely keep the format similar to last year. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, so we’ll go with what works.

One small change we’ll make will be to simplify your choices a bit at the primary aid station, while still having plenty of variety.

Prices are staying pretty much the same as last year (which we reduced substantially from the inaugural year), with one exception: We’ve added a third, slightly more expensive tier for those who register the last couple of weeks. So register early, and lock in last year’s prices!

Check out the Registration page for all the details.

Thanks, and see you on the trails!

I’m pleased to announce that registration is open for the 2017 Alaska Endurance Trail Run. Thanks to your feedback and great ideas, we’re making some changes that we hope are going to make the race even more fun than last year.

Among other things, we’re adding the oft-requested 24-hour run, starting Friday night at 8PM. Prices are lower than last year. You’ll have your choice of directions to run the large loops, making the race more social (and requiring even more of a collaboration with the timers to make sure all the loops are recorded!).

Check out the Registration page for all the details.

Thanks, and see you on the trails!