Extreme weather ends ultramarathon in Utah
Organiser Destination Trail halted the Moab 240; all participants and volunteers were safely removed from the course.
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The Moab 240 in the US state of Utah was ended early on Sunday because of dangerous weather. According to the organisers, all runners, volunteers and staff were safely returned or were on their way to headquarters.
Destination Trail decided to cancel the race because conditions on the course were deteriorating rapidly. The organisers cited heavy rain and strong winds and expected the weather to worsen further.
The Moab 240 runs through the landscape around Moab and is a 240-mile ultramarathon. The race was not halted because of a sporting incident, but for the safety of participants, support staff and volunteers on several parts of the route.
According to a report by Run247, about seventy runners and volunteers were temporarily cut off at an aid station. Because of high water and deteriorating roads, they could not be collected immediately. The group was able to shelter there while a safe evacuation was prepared.
The organiser coordinated the return journey with local emergency services. In an update, Destination Trail reported that all participants had been located and were either at race headquarters or being taken there by vehicle.
Aaron Kubala was leading the race when it was ended, according to Run247. He subsequently published a record of 214.63 miles in 56 hours and 17 minutes. This is a personal record, not an official final result, because the race was not completed.
The organisers did not name a winner. The significance of this edition therefore lies mainly in the decision to stop the event and get everyone safely off the course. The precise distance the leader still had to cover has not been established consistently in the sources consulted.
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The cancellation and the participants’ safe return were confirmed by the organisers and an independent ultramarathon publication. The text explicitly does not present the leader’s record as an official final result.
- confirmed The Moab 240 was ended on 11 October 2026 because of dangerous weather. — The organiser reported that the race was halted because of dangerous weather conditions; RUN247 dates the end to Sunday 11 October. source
- confirmed All runners, volunteers and staff were safely removed from the course. — Confirmed by Destination Trail and RUN247. source
- confirmed About seventy runners and volunteers were temporarily cut off at an aid station. — Reported by RUN247 on the basis of updates concerning the evacuation. source
- confirmed Aaron Kubala was leading the race and recorded 214.63 miles. — Reported by RUN247 on the basis of his public Strava and Instagram updates. source
Editor's note
The cancellation on 11 October, the dangerous weather and the safe evacuation are certain. The leader’s exact remaining distance has not been independently confirmed and has therefore not been included as a figure.Sources
- Moab 240 Live Tracking — Destination Trail
- Moab 240 cancelled amid severe weather as all runners confirmed safely off course — RUN247
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „ultramarathon moab 240”
- NU.nl — „ultramarathon moab 240”
- De Telegraaf — „ultramarathon moab 240”