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2026 Arizona Trail Race: The Things We Can’t Control
In racing, despite extensive training and the best-laid plans, some things are simply beyond our control. Wyatt Spalding’s wrap-up of the 2026 Arizona Trail Race highlights how this year’s racers battled challenging conditions and uncertainty amid heavy rains that made progress painfully slow. Read on for a reflective final piece on adaptation and appreciation, paired with a dramatic selection of photos…
PUBLISHED Oct 12, 2026
On the afternoon of day 10 of the 2026 Arizona Trail Race, I drove south from Flagstaff as the remnants of Hurricane Rachel began arriving in northern Arizona. Strong winds swept across the landscape beneath storm clouds and blankets of falling rain. As I approached Mormon Lake to photograph Liz Ryen, the landscape took an ominous appearance, with layers of dark clouds and fog surrounding the base of Mormon Mountain. It brought a steady drizzle and a slight concern about what was to come, as the weather forecast offered little respite.
In much of northern Arizona, sustained rainfall can turn the trail into thick, clay-like mud that has left many stranded in the past. The mud clings to everything, building up on your tires and drivetrain until the wheels stop turning and riding becomes nearly impossible. Standing in the drizzle along the trail, I watched the surface slowly transform into what people often call “death mud.” The storms had arrived, with the forecast calling for heavy, steady showers from days 10 to 14 of the race, already forcing multiple riders to take zero days in hopes of waiting out the mud. After nearly a week and a half of racing, a new set of challenges had arrived for those remaining on course.
Many things are within a rider’s control going into a race like the AZT800. Riders can work on physical training, mental preparation, nutrition planning, route knowledge, gear choices, and bikepacking experience long before reaching the start line. Paying attention to these factors will, without a doubt, improve riders’ odds in such a race. Months of physical training build the fitness needed to cover hundreds of steep, chunky miles, while careful gear choices and route planning give riders the confidence to navigate the terrain. Experience teaches riders to manage fatigue and dehydration and adapt when things don’t go as planned. Racing the AZT800 takes more than physical fitness alone. Riders must be ready for anything the trail throws at them. Every decision—from their initial pace and how much rest they get each night to the gear they carry—can have consequences down the trail. It is a balancing act that demands many skills at once.
While preparation can improve a rider’s experience and chances for success, it cannot eliminate uncertainty, as everything has its limits. At some point, preparation alone can’t overcome certain conditions. For example, no amount of physical training can make the impassable trail passable.
So, when I woke to heavy rain while camping at 2 a.m. on Saturday night, I felt a twinge of panic for those still on the route. The forecast had become reality. I lay there in the dark, imagining what the remaining riders were experiencing in the cold, heavy rain. Throughout the night, the rain and wind grew more intense, waking me many times as droplets drummed loudly off my car’s roof. As I lay there in the comfort of my car, I wondered what it would be like to be stuck hiding out in a bivy in such conditions. Things can change so quickly out there. After riding so many miles and putting so much effort into the route, it felt heavy to think about facing conditions like that.
After documenting the race for the past two weeks, I can glimpse the incredible amount of effort and energy it’s taken everyone to get where they are. The small fragments I see through my lens let me glimpse their world for a moment, yet I know I’m also missing so much in the miles between each photo.
While my photographs capture a snippet of time out there, they can’t tell the full story. My photo of Xavier pushing his bike up Mount Lemmon doesn’t show you the hours of riding and decision-making that got him there. It doesn’t let you hear his deep, heavy breaths as he pushed his bike up the jagged trail. It captures a single moment in a much longer, more complex journey.
Photographing an ultra-race itself is a unique experience, and one that I have come to enjoy. Traveling from location to location, I pause, sometimes for an hour or two, awaiting a rider to pass. Once I see them coming, it is all over within a few seconds. Sometimes, the rider stops to chat briefly, and I enjoy hearing about what they’ve been experiencing. Some riders are trying to finish as fast as possible, while others are more concerned with simply making it to the end. It reminds me how unique each person’s trail experience is. Everyone has different motives and goals for their ride, shaping their experience. Two riders passing through the same section of trail are often having entirely different rides, each working toward their own goals.
Yet, uncertainty is part of what makes these experiences so special. So much has to align for a clean run on the Arizona Trail. And I’m not even sure a “clean run” exists, because each year inevitably brings its own unique challenges. Alex Schultz, this year’s race winner, seemed to have a smooth ride, but at the finish, he detailed his own challenges: multiple broken spokes, a broken dropper post, a shivery night, and a powerful thunderstorm on the final evening. Even a winning ride is rarely as straightforward as it appears from the outside.
The unpredictable nature of these events is part of what makes them so beautiful. Riders can spend months training and preparing, yet out there, at some point, everyone has to let go of some control and adapt to the route’s ever-evolving challenges. It is not necessarily about executing a perfect plan but about staying adaptable and fluid along the way.
Adapting to the route can have many forms. Sometimes, it means readjusting your plan after a scorching day and accepting you won’t go as far. It could mean taking a rest day because of mud and giving yourself a few extra days to finish the trail. Sometimes, it means calling it early because you gave it everything you had, but time won’t let you wait out the weather. Sometimes, adapting means accepting the discomfort and continuing despite looming uncertainty. Every situation is different, and knowing how to respond is part of the challenge.
While my glimpses into the race don’t tell me everything, spending two weeks following the race has left me with a deep appreciation once again for the Arizona Trail Race and other challenges like it. Seeing the magnitude of the landscapes and the challenging terrain between them always leaves me with an incredible respect for the route and for everyone who’s ridden it. So much goes into preparing for an effort like this, yet so much remains out of your control once you are out there. It reminds me that while preparation matters, so does the ability to adapt when unforeseen challenges arise. You can spend months preparing, but you can never know exactly what awaits you out there.
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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