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A Mid-Ride Update from the 2026 Arizona Trail Race
The 2026 Arizona Trail Race is well underway, and Wyatt Spalding is on the ground to cover all the action as it unfolds along the notoriously challenging route. In his mid-race report, he catches up with a handful of lead riders and reflects on the beauty and camaraderie he’s witnessed on the rugged trail. Read it here…
PUBLISHED Oct 5, 2026
Today, October 5th, marks day five of the 2026 Arizona Trail Race. So far, the race has lived up to its reputation as one of the hardest ultra-endurance mountain bike events in the world, with incredibly challenging trail conditions all over the route. This summer, the Sonoran Desert has had substantial rainfall, creating thick overgrowth in many areas. And where it isn’t overgrown, the trail is likely rutted and washed out. It doesn’t help that many sections of the trail in the south see very little use during the summer, as consistent temperatures above 100ºF (38ºC) deter recreation.
Five days ago, near the U.S./Mexico border, excitement filled the air as riders waited anxiously for the clock to strike 6 a.m. As I took my first photos a few miles into the route, most riders passed with a big smile. Riders gleefully knocked out the first few miles of trail, with many audible screams and hollers of pure stoke as they passed. Now, multiple days into the race, riders have spread out and settled into a steadier pace as they feel more familiar with what the trail will throw their way.
As I follow the race and document what I can, I often sit at camp in the evening and analyze what something like the AZT requires of its participants. When I think about it, the list of challenges almost seems endless. Most of the singletrack on the route is very technical. It is not uncommon to find yourself high on a ridge, riding a steep, narrow track covered in shale rock and babyheads. Wild grass stands four feet high on either side of the trail, and to your right is a drop-off that you don’t want to tumble down. And the descents—there are so many where you are holding on for dear life, yanking the rear brake as you ride a controlled skid down the mountain. The heat of the Sonoran Desert, too, with huge distances between water and resupplies, contrasted by the shivering cold nights of the north. The Grand Canyon hike and every obstacle in between; the list seems endless.
While my interactions with riders are short, I enjoy experiencing a bit of their ups and downs along the route. On day two, I hiked down the Green Mountain Trail to photograph second- and third-place riders Rocky Gingg and Xavier Chiriboga. At this point, they were in the thick of the Lemmon Pusch, a 16-mile segment with nearly 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) of elevation gain in that short distance. As Xavier passed, he repeated, “This is crazy,” a few times as he hoisted his loaded bike over chunks of granite along the steep trail. He seemed to be just trying to keep moving forward amid the absurdity.
Photos don’t quite do justice to the sheer rawness of the Lemmon Pusch. The string of black and double-black-rated trails to the top is riddled with exposure, steepness, and chunk, often all at once, making for an incredibly slow experience on a loaded bike. I stood there, watching Rocky and Xavier work their way up the mountain with a deep respect for what they were doing.
Photographing an ultra-endurance race like the AZTR provides me with some really interesting perspectives. The festiveness of day one gradually fades as the race goes on. I notice the exhausted silence of a rider passing on a steep climb; I see relief in a rider’s eyes when they reach a food or water resupply after a long stretch of desolation. Sometimes, it seems like every rider I encounter is operating in their own little bubble, doing all they can to maintain steady forward momentum.
While not unique to just the Arizona Trail Race, the camaraderie out on the course is also something special. Just before sunset on day three, I photographed Arjuna Rogers just outside of Oracle near mile 218. He stopped to chat and mentioned that he was trying to catch up to Miles Morris, who was about an hour ahead of him. He wanted to catch up because Arjuna had found Miles’s power bank on the trail and hoped to return it to him so he’d have it for the rest of the race. It reminded me that while everyone is out there competing against each other, there is more to the story.
I sense a strong mutual understanding between the riders that I interact with. Everyone out there is sharing similar struggles, climbing the same mountains. And plenty of mountains still lie ahead.
On day five, it is still hard to try to predict how the rest of the race will unfold. As fatigue continues to build, conditions aren’t getting any easier. The Mazatzal mountains (reported to be badly overgrown with catclaw), the Mogollon Rim, the Grand Canyon, and every chunky mile in between remain. With the top three men still within roughly 30 miles of each other, there is still a lot of racing to be done. The same is true throughout the rest of the field, with Liz Ryen leading the women’s race, roughly 25 miles ahead of second-place woman Katy Applin as of Sunday night.
The next few days will be interesting as the fatigue from the first five days of racing begins to show. With hundreds of miles still ahead, the race is far from decided. As riders continue into the Phoenix area, temperatures remain scorching, with highs forecasted to exceed 100ºF (38ºC). For now, riders continue heading north while the race evolves with every mile.
Check out the 2026 Arizona Trail Race Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, and stay tuned for more event coverage. Find it here.
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