Black Canyon Ultramarathon Race Review by LF2TS

The Black Canyon Ultramarathons were held on February 14th and 15th 2026 in Black Canyon City, Arizona. They started from Spring Valley (Mayer High School) and ended either in New River or Deep Canyon Ranch, running 100K and 50K distances down the classic long trails south, on subsequent days.  The races are part of the World Trail Majors Race Series and the 100K race is a Golden Ticket Qualifier for pros looking to get entry into Western States.

This is my own Black Canyon 50K race review.  This is also a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me, as I finally finished an Ultramarathon….on my 4th try.  See, I started and tried to finish three other Ultramarathons in three subsequent years (all the same race) but DNF’ed all three.  Each year, my feet took me out of the races around 12-13 miles or I missed cutoffs.  So this is my own story of finally finishing, with a little help from a few other people.  In 2025 I had someone suggest than my foott problems were not actually foot problems at all, but related to tightness in my legs.  After giving me a basic stretch, three years of chronic foot pain seemed to slowly fade and I was able to manage longer distances.  I also started working with a coach in 2025, who is patient and slowed down to listen to what I have going on in life….and understand that I’m a bit older and a newbie.  Running a long run two weeks prior to this race also helped immensely….mostly for my own confidence.

Black Canyon or Bust 

So early on Friday we hitched the tiny pop-up trailer to our EV and took off for Arizona.  It turned out to be a bit longer trip than anticipated, as one of our primary charging stops with Rivian Chargers in Wickenburg Arizona didn’t work out….cause the town was in the middle of Rodeo Days for the holiday weekend, so the entire Rivian Charging parking lot was taken up by…parked cars.  The pull-through charger we were looking forward to turned out to have a truck parked in the middle of it and the place was packed.  So we carried on, finding changing at a Walmart parking lot off the 17 and then continuing to Deep Creek Ranch.  Once there, we found a spot in the middle of a field where we dropped the trailer.  I can’t say enough about Deep Creek Ranch, we loved it…but be warned it’s truly dry camping with plastic ports-potties and no hookups or water.  That’s ok, we brought our own.  After dropping the trailer, we did the quick drive to Chileens on 17, the event expo.  I have not seen an expo this large since our 1/2 Ironman days, it was impressive.  Well organized and quick to check-in…I immediately felt out of my depth.  Everywhere there were happy and fit people, ready to run.  After check-in, we got back to Deep Canyon Ranch, where we setup camp and took in our surroundings, before taking off for a drive up the 17 to Camp Verde for dinner with friends.

Saturday morning we took a drive back to the Walmart off the 17 to get a full charge and do some quick shopping.  When we got back to Deep Creek Ranch, the scenery had changed, as crews and coaches had arrived and were sitting all along the trail just behind our camp, waiting on the 100k athletes to come through.  We were treated to watching the first 100k pros come through, then the rest of the field, for the rest to the day.  At one point, I felt a bit sorry to be out cooking dinner on the barbecue while runners were still getting to the mid-point of their race, but we needed to eat and were camped fairly close to the trail.  Saturday afternoon I organized my gear and tried unsuccessfully to remain calm, but I knew that I was just about to go try another ultramarathon for the fourth (4th) time.  But it was my first point to point race with a longer time limit than the last ones (9 hours vs 11 hours).  I was able to sleep Saturday night, but I was pretty nerve-wracked going into Sunday morning.

Black Canyon Ultra- 50K

Sunday morning came around too cold and too early but it needed to get done.  I used the bathroom (plastic portapotty) ate something and got my stuff together.  I was glad the HelmsMistress walked with me down to where the buses were loading, said our goodbyes and got on a bus.  It wasn’t full at all and we wisked up to Mayer High School in New River, where the first wave started soon after we unloaded the bus.  Once there, I grabbed one of the easily available white bags for my warming gear and made sure my name was on it, then got going to the track to get stretched…after portapotty line and usage once more.  Once up on the track, the sound was muffled and I messed up hearing my time slot….I took off with Wave 2 instead of my own Wave 3.  After getting around the school, I realized I was in the wrong wave, stopped to go find someone to make sure I was ok (I was) and then started running again….alone but unafraid, I had started.  But this little side trip cost me 10 minutes….on the flip side I was able to get right into a portapotty which was nice.  Then it was on through the streets of the little neighborhoods, with climbs starting sooner than later.  I walked.  Yeah, the elevation profile and charts don’t really show all the climbs as they calculate by NET downhill.  There’s hills to start but some downhill too.  The conga line was in effect and I simply pulled over and let others pass.  I’m slow…and I know it.  These miles passed quickly and before I knew it, I was at the first aid station and through it quickly.  It was on a ridgeline, so the running just after the first aid station is downhill.  This was great when some of it was creamy cruisy single track, but most of the wasn’t.  It was downhill technical single track that wasn’t fast for me because of the technical, I didn’t really want to eat shit.

Hidden Treasure seemed to come up fast, but you could see it from pretty far away, so you knew you were making ground.  I tried to get through it quickly, but did grab some real food and cold water.  After Hidden Treasure, the time between aid stations seemed to get longer and longer, but there was some downhill.  While most of the race is exposed and desert surroundings, this section seemed hotter and more exposed than the rest of the run, I also ended up walking as needed.  Bumble Bee Aid Station is located at Bumble Bee Ranch, a very large and developed ranch property on the bottom of the canyon floor.  This is the largest aid station.  I really appreciated the cold water over my head (several times) and the fact that they found a cup that I could used to get some ice and coke.  I also ate some real food here (boiled potato, double stuffed Oreos) before I took off.  This was my longest aid station stop, even though I didn’t sit down, I think I could have gotten through this station much quicker, but I needed to cool off and this helped.  Right after Bumble Bee is one of the larger hills.  It’s gnarly but has to be done.

Yep, the scenery is about as amazing at it looks, except for the fact I was exhausted.  From here, we started the endless series of in and out canyons.  They were not like down and back up out of canyons, more like running along the side of a huge hill and having to dip into and back out of the canyons in the side of the hill.  These were also technical, so not smooth running.  It seemed like a very long four and a half miles to the next aid station….which you can also spot from a long ways back….then you have to get there.  Gloriana Mine was next to a road and the last aid station…..I loved them for telling me I was fine on time and I could finish.  By this point I knew I was one of the last people in the race and I was running up against the clock.  Once at Gloriana Mine, you have 8.42 miles to finish the race, but they are NOT downhill.  To be honest, this was the longest, slowest section for me.  I knew I was slow, I knew I was running up against the cutoff and it took a bit of wind out of my sails.  And I was at the back of the pack, not many folks around and lots of desert trails.  After nearly six miles and some gnarly technical downhill, I found the actual “stream” I had heard about with running water and a huge hill after it.  There were switchbacks, it was doable.

I really didn’t like the last two and a half miles of the this race.  It was getting dark and I was running out of time, but the real ass kicker was the trail that just continued to find ridge lines.  And the race doesn’t end after 30 miles or 31 miles, it goes all the way till you get to 32.22 miles.  And it’s uphill ridge lines until the last quarter mile….so just expect that and sink into it, this race will make you earn it.  I wanted to finish and knew I was in my last hour of running, so I ran as much as possible and wanted to make it before I ran out of time and timed out of the race.  I finished in the dark with a time of 10 hours and 53 minutes for a distance of 32.22 miles.  That’s UGLY but I finished.

A few notes as I wrap up this race review.   First, I think Arivaipa put on high-quality races and I’m really appreciative.  The aid stations and the volunteers who manned them were awsome and really supportive and the details were evident.  The food was fresh, there was plentiful ice and cold water.  I also can’t say enough about the race director for this event.  I had emailed her with a few questions about camping at Deep Canyon and she gave me great answers back by email, quickly.  When we arrived and I needed to get permission to stay Sunday night (after the 50k) I was directed to go find and ask  (her) the RD about staying.  Despite putting on an event for nearly 2000 runners, she took the time to happily answer my questions and gladly gave us permission to stay that one extra night  (We were not the only ones to stay Sunday night).

Flat and Fast– This race has a reputation for being flat and fast.  Ok…..let’s talk about that.  If you are a PRO, I can understand how you might think this one is flat.  But IT’S NOT flat.  I was surprised by this race after studying the race and elevation profiles…..there’s ALOT of uphill and when there’s downhill, it’s slow and complicated by technical footwork and desire not to eat shit.  While this isn’t the most concise race review and I certainly wasn’t a frontrunner, please make sure you prepare for a hot, exposed technical course.

Cautionary Tale-  During the race, I was passed several times by people who were not carrying enough water, then I would eventually pass them again at aid stations.  They were in decent shape, but once afternoon hit and they reached the last aid station (Gloriana Mine)….they tried to find extra small water bottles.  However the event is cupless and there were no smaller plastic water bottles to had.  They dropped at Gloriana Mine.  Lesson Learned- carry enough water/electrolytes to make the distances between aid stations no matter what temperature it will be….and wearing tight ALL black clothing and gear may not be your friend in the Arizona sun.

The baby chicken-  Ok, yes….we had a baby chicken in a laundry basket at the Black Canyon Ultra.  A week before the race we visited a favorite local feed store (the Hippie Chicken) and my daughter had found the perfect silkie baby to raise in time for county fair.  So I was forced to buy it, but no one had given thought to what to do with the chicken if it didn’t integrate with our current flock.  Well, it did not integrate immediately with the flock and it was fairly cold at night, so we had to continue to care for the chicken until it could be join the flock.   We had no choice but to take the chicken with us.  Throughout race weekend, the kids looked after the chicken.  We even bought extra supplies for it when we had dinner with friends in Camp Verde.  As I write, the baby Silkie is doing fine and growing quickly…in my laundry room.  It should be a great show chicken….hoping it’s not a rooster.

Anyone-  I’m completely convinced that if I could start trying to run longer distances at 51 and then actually finish an Ultramarathon in my mid-50’s….YOU CAN TOO.  I hear the excuses about bad knees, hips and joints, but most physical therapists and other medical professionals might tell you those things are signs of weak joints, too much weight and not starting slowly enough.  Whether you believe it or not….many folks who finish Ultramarathons actually walk/hike significant portions of the trails and you can too.  I probably hiked 35% of this course during my 10+ hours of moving constantly, but the trick is to NOT stop, no matter what speed you can do.  I also recommend starting SLOW and NOT worrying about what others see or say about what you are doing….poco a poco.  Yep, seriously…if I can do this distance and finally finish (and write about it), then you can too. 

This was my first point to point ultra and the first time I’ve run Black Canyon.  It was the first ultra I’ve finished, after DNF’ing out of three other ultras….there was quite the build-up to this one in my mind so I’m glad to finish it.  Over the two and a half days we stayed, we met people who helped convince me I could finish, including the race director, the folks with a pooch that tried to come into the trailer in the middle of the night and a veteran ultra runner who had run the 100k and was doing the 50k also to train for the Cocadona 250. And thanks for the right guidance and push I needed from my coach (Tom Bowling with Elevated Mindset Running), in his own experienced way.

I’m sure I’ll find more to say after this race report is published, but for now- I finally finished an Ultra.  I have not found another Ultra yet that hooked me enough to sign up for it so I’ve taken a couple weeks off to let myself reset.

Wanna read some of my other race reviews:

Calico Trail Runs (Race) Review

Race Review: Lake Hodges UltraMarathon

Race Review: Run With The Burros (Donkey) Race- April 13th, 2024

Race Review: Lake Hodges UltraMarathon

A really great way to show appreciation is to FOLLOW our tiny website.

We write our own stories and take our own pictures…but you also have to endure the unprofessional writing style and my personal opinions.