Colorado Wildfires Impact Trail Races in the Region

Staff report from the Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel:

The Gold Mountain Fire burning northeast of Ouray has been measured at 26,405 acres as of Sunday morning, according to an update from the incident management team.

The fire is at 0% containment.

The Ouray 100 race just announced its cancellation for 2026:

After careful consideration, internal discussion, and consultation with local agencies, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2026 Ouray 100.

We know how much you have invested in this race. Months of training, travel plans and costs, time away from families, and the excitement of running in these mountains. So please know this decision was not made lightly.

Canceling a race people were looking forward to, have trained for, and paid entry fee (and travel) is never an easy decision, but with such a large fire in the area there’s really no other option. What RD wants to be responsible for possibly having to evacuate runners and volunteers from remote trails, and possibly having to rely on local emergency services for help with this.

Hardrock 100 is currently monitoring the situation closely (update directly from their homepage):

Hardrock is actively and closely monitoring the smoke and wildfire situation in South-West Colorado and the surrounding states.
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This is a dynamic situation so please keep an eye on our social media and website for any run updates that may occur. Hardrock always prioritizes our runners, volunteers, spectators and local communities.

Silverton, and the rest of the Hardrock course are currently not directly affected, but smoke is in the area and some trail work parties ahead of the run had to be cancelled.

Leadville 100, the other big Colorado 100 M race happening this summer is dealing with its own fire (update also taken from its homepage):

We are closely monitoring the Willow Fire and working with local officials. The situation is actively evolving, and we will share any updates as soon as we have more information.

Last year I had to cancel my biggest and most important event due to a nearby fire. Financially my business took a huge hit. For everyone involved this sucks tremendously. The increase in these large fires is a result of rising temperatures on our planet due to climate change. We’ve been talking a lot about the continued growth in our sport – this is its achilles heel. I don’t have a solution, but UltraSignup did add events cancelation protection to their platform a few months ago, which should help with alleviating the pain for runners who are possibly losing out on their entry fees.