I cannot believe it’s been nearly a month since I completed Moab Run The Rocks! It’s a three-day stage race in Moab, Utah that’s put on by the same race organization, TransRockies Rockies Race Series, that I did my six-day Colorado race with back in August. TransRockies truly excels when it comes to planning and hosting races, and Moab was absolutely EPIC! I am so excited to share my experience with you, and to chat more about the fun of stage racing!
HOW MOAB CAME TO BE
While I am registered for the Golden Ultra in September, I did not have Moab on my race calendar or even my radar for 2026. Back in January I posted an Instagram story about how much I missed trail running because I’d been so busy with work/life and race director Kevin Houda (who is a TRR legend) responded and offered me a discount code for Moab. I decided it was a sign and registered for the full pint that very night. Nevermind I hadn’t really been running long miles and wouldn’t have the bandwidth to properly train – YOLO! I just knew deep down that I NEEDED this race.
Most TRR races offer half and full pint distances. Despite my firm belief in (and testing of) the theory of “half the distance, twice the fun,” I can’t seem to help myself when it comes to signing up for the whole shebang…especially in these trail stage races. That said, I absolutely do not have any desire to cross into the super ultra trail running of 50 or 100 mile races in one go.
I felt okay with signing up for the full pint for a couple of reasons:
- I wouldn’t be dealing with elevation and volume of climb that we had in Colorado.
- I planned to do a mix of running and power hiking. My goal was a 50/50 split of each and I ended up exceeding this!
- I knew I could drop down if needed because TRR is so flexible with and supportive of their athletes – and I did for Stage 2.
Let’s get to it!
MOAB RUN THE ROCKS STAGE 1: NAVAJO ROCKS
Stage 1 of Moab Run the Rocks was Navajo Rocks. We started and finished at Lone Mesa Group Campground. I was able to grab a ride from my hotel to the start with friends of a friend that I met in Colorado, which was a huge blessing as I didn’t have a car yet. They even shared some “unicorn snot” on the car ride there so I arrived sparkling.
It was dark when I arrived in Moab the night before so my jaw was hanging open as we drove to Lone Mesa. The scenery was unbelievable.
Due to my late arrival the night before, I did not make it to packet pickup. I was able to quickly go through registration that morning and then drop my bag. Next stop was finding Houda to say hello and thank you!
In the midst of all my hype and cheer, I am going to be honest here for a second. Despite my “YOLO/trust the process” attitude about Moab, I had some pretty major anxiety in the days leading up to the trip until arriving at the starting line of Stage 1. I was seriously questioning my sanity given everything I had going on back home and almost bailed at the last minute. As soon as I arrived at the start area and felt that TRR energy, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
The weather was a dream for Moab Run the Rocks. Low 30s at the starts and upper 40s to low 60s at the finishes. They had a bunch of fire pits and seating at the start/finish area so we were able to stay comfortable until it was time to corral and after we completed each stage.
STAGE 1 – LET’S GOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I hopped into the starting corral about five minutes before we were due to take off. They cued up the iconic “Highway to Hell” that plays for every TRR start and we were off at 8:30a! I had chills, teary eyes and all the gratitude.
The course started on a dirt road with a descent so I was able to cruise for the first couple of miles – 9:09, 9:31. There are a lot of free grazing cattle in this area so that was neat to run alongside. Mile three took us onto the trails. I did some layer shedding and a ton of photo and video taking.
Miles 3 and 4, 12:32, 12:12. Couldn’t even think about how my body was feeling at this point because everywhere I looked I was amazed.
The first aid station came at mile five – 10:44. TRR crushes with the aid stations. They are fully stocked with everything you could need from real food to gels and electrolytes to sunscreen and vaseline and more!
It was wild to run across the rocks with these painted markers guiding us along. We did most of our climbing in miles 6-9 and mile times reflected that – 12:18, 13:41, 15:30, 13:09.
We hit aid station two at mile nine.
My body was definitely starting to feel it around the 10 mile mark but the great thing was that there were only two and a half miles to go. My cardio/fitness was fine – I was mostly feeling the lack of trail time leading up to Moab. The uneven terrain was giving me some tightness in my knees and my problem hip but nothing alarming.
Worth noting is that I did not use my poles for Moab. I used them every single day of TransRockies six day but there was not enough steady, ongoing climbing for me to justify carrying them for Moab. Also, the rock was crazy “grippy” (this is a feature of Moab’s unique slick rock) and I felt great and secure in my footing when running on the rocks. They even told us in our pre-race Zoom meeting that we could get away with wearing running shoes instead of trail shoes and while I think technically you could have done that for days one and two, I am glad I wore trail runners. Day three would end up being the most technical when it came to footwork but I was still fine without poles.
We came off the trails and the last mile+ was back on the dirt road – 12:54, 14:35, 13:13.
Put it into high gear for the last half mile with an 11:40 pace and crossed the finish smiling!
A note on gear, I wore my hydration pack (see gear list at the bottom of this post) all three days but filled the front bottles only. I did not use my bladder for Moab due to the shorter days and abundance of aid stations. It was nice to have my pack for layer stashing and front bottles.
The first stage of Moab was an awesome day for me. I had never run on trails like that and the whole experience was so positive and uplifting.
I grabbed a quick snack from finish line catering. The warm quesadillas were everything!
And went to see my friend Jonathan at his elevated legs truck. He travels around to various running and cycling races to offer recovery services to athletes. I am a huge fan of compression therapy for recovery and dream of the day that I own a pair of these at home. I did 20-30 minutes of compression every day during TRR Colorado and I swear it made a huge difference.
I caught a TRR shuttle back to my hotel and enjoyed a hot shower and bed rot before exploring downtown Moab. You can read about that in this post!
MOAB RUN THE ROCKS STAGE 2: GEMINI BRIDGES
All three days of Moab Run the Rocks were magical but stage two was my favorite. I felt so strong, connected and purposeful out there – truly in flow.
I decided to drop down to the half pint distance for Stage 2. The full pint was 25.9 miles and the half was 17.4. I knew I could finish the full pint but would likely feel pretty wrecked at the end due to my lack of training/time on my feet. 17.4 still felt like a pretty significant distance to tackle and in hindsight, I know I made the right decision for my body.
The start/finish area was just a quick 10 minutes from my hotel. My friend had arrived with a car at this point so transportation was much easier! The full pint took off at 7a and we coralled for an 8a half pint start.
I was ALL SMILES for stage two. I woke up with my body feeling great and it was a gorgeous day.
The first 4.5 miles were on dirt road but you had these giant canyons everywhere you looked and the road felt so runnable.
9:58, 14:25 (344 feet of climb – biggest of the day in a single mile), 9:47, 9:43.
I did a lot of chatting with other runners during these miles. The TRR community is warm, friendly and inclusive.
We arrived at aid station one right before entering the Gemini Bridges trailhead. At most of the aid stations I had peanut butter and jelly, watermelon or bananas and a couple of cups of Coke and ginger ale.
Onto the trails we went for the most amazing 8 miles before we’d find ourselves back on the road to the finish.
My time on the Gemini Bridges trail felt other worldly. A lot of the terrain was this moon-like slick rock and I could almost always see the snow covered La Sal mountains in the background.
Miles 5-8 – 13:58 (aid station), 13:45, 18:00 (had to sit on a rock and take off a shoe to deal with a blister situation), 14:03.
We arrived at the second aid station at mile 8 and after a quick refuel, it was a back out on the trails.
I stopped and took a ton of photos and videos throughout the day. Miles 9-13 – 13:41, 12:32, 12:54, 13:29.
We arrived back at the first aid station at mile 13. I grabbed a photo with a hot dog (dressing up is highly encouraged among TRR volunteers) and made sure to take in a good amount of calories to get me the 5 miles to the finish.
Note, you can volunteer at TRR races and work to receive a free entry to a future race. TBH, volunteering seems like just as much fun as running!
On the road again to retrace our steps back to the finish area. Miles 14-finish – 11:43, 12:29, 14:21, 10:41, 9:15.
DID IT! Flew down the finishing chute!
Final stats. I felt incredibly strong out there. This is my fastest overall pace for a trail race that I’ve ever run! The transition from road to trail running has come with a big learning curve, and I’m so proud of myself for being able to incorporate more and more running into my trail days as time goes on.
Is there anything better than a box of donuts waiting for you at the finish?
I enjoyed them while getting my legs squeezed! Heaven!
One of the coolest things I’ve noticed about multi-day trail efforts and stage races is that my body adapts so quickly to the stimulus. Day two felt easier than day one by a landslide. I remember being so shocked by this during my training for TransRockies and during the six-day race in Colorado. Every day I woke up my legs somehow felt stronger! I was able to “go” and there wasn’t a day I didn’t feel like I couldn’t run at all. My trail friends call this “getting your trail legs.”
I spent the rest of the day exploring the Moab area.
MOAB RUN THE ROCKS STAGE 3 – BAR M TRAILS
I didn’t sleep great the night before Stage 3 but luckily woke up feeling super pumped for the challenge ahead…and sad that the final day was already upon us. The start/finish area for Stage 3 was directly across the highway from Stage 2 – an easy 10 minute drive from town.
It was a gorgeous morning and vibes were so high at the starting line. I had the biggest smile on my face as we took off to “Highway to Hell.”
First mile out was on a dirt road – 10:03 – and then things would get trickier once we got on single track. Miles 2-6 of Stage 3 were by far the most technical of the weekend when it came to the rockiness of the trail and the way you had to watch your feet. Also, since it was early in the race, the runners were closer together. While we were not right on top of each other, you definitely felt the pressure to keep the pace so that you wouldn’t slow down everyone behind you or have to keep stepping aside to let people pass. It’s easier to find a flow and stay in it, even if it’s a tad faster than you’d like to go. Part of me appreciated the accountability and part of me felt a little stressed. I just kept repeating to myself, “pick up your feet.” I did not want to eat it and the way the sun was hitting as it rose made it a little blinding.
Miles 2-6 – 12:12, 13:54, 13:13, 14:49, 15:30.
The trail opened up into a dirt road as we approached the first aid station and I was able to really open it up. Mile 7 – 10:46 into aid station one and mile 8 – 10:24 leaving the aid station. This was a great mental reprieve from all the miles of rock and single track and a great reset before our next tough stretch.
Which is what I like to call, “running on the moon” for what felt like forever. We were following this brown line that snaked across the slick rock for a couple of miles and all joking that whoever marked this trail was drunk.
Miles 9 and 10 – 13:54, 14:54.
Final aid station around 10.5 miles and then a big push to the finish.
We were mostly on single track for the final few miles and the runners had really spaced out on the course. I enjoyed the solitude and tried to make the most of the last moments of Moab Run the Rocks.
My friends the La Sals, always off in the distance.
Miles 11-13 – 13:21, 13:41, 14:49.
HOME STRETCH! You can see the finish area off in the distance. I had the biggest smile on my face. I passed a volunteer cheering runners into the finish and they said, “you look like you’re just out on a casual jog.” Last 0.7 miles – 11:49 pace.
Absolutely ELATED as I crossed the finish line. What a gift running has been in my life, and how lucky I am to have discovered the joys of trail running and races. Starting my trail racing journey with TransRockies has been incredible. Their races are truly EXPERIENCES! Everything is perfection from the organization to the community to the courses.
I am counting down the days until the Golden Ultra in September. It’s another TransRockies three day race but I’m going to actually train for this one as Day 2 is a 60K with a massive amount of climb and strict checkpoint cutoff times.
There was something about Moab that drew me in. I know I will return to run this one over and over again.
WANT TO RUN A STAGE RACE!?
If you’re even remotely interested in trail running, mountain biking, endurance events and/or stage racing, I cannot recommend TransRockies Race Series events enough. Here are just a few to check out.
- Big Bear Peaks + Pines – three days of trail running in Big Bear Lake, California (newest event – 2026 is the first year!)
- Pass to Pub – three days of trail running in the Leadville, Colorado area. This is the evolution of their signature six-day TransRockies Run. Due to logistics and cost, it’s become a three day race based out of one location instead of a traveling six-day race.
- Golden Ultra – three days of trail running in Golden, British Columbia (near Banff!!!!)
GEAR LIST
- Hydration vest
- Stage 1 + 2 sunglasses
- Stage 3 sunglasses
- Stage 1 socks
- Stage 2 + 3 tall compression socks
- Trail running shoes (this is my third pair of these!)
- Stage 1 pants
- Stage 2 + 3 shorts
- Stage 2+ 3 vest
- Sports bras
- Tiny lightning bolt earrings
- Watch
Happy to answer any questions you may have about transitioning to trail running, training for stage races, preparation, logistics, TRR organization, etc.
Thank you for being here for all of my running adventures!
