Arizona Monster 300

The Arizona Monster 300 runs the length of southern Arizona, point to point between Patagonia, near the Mexican border, and Superior, east of Phoenix. Destination Trail first held it in 2025, alongside its three 200-milers: the Tahoe 200, the Bigfoot 200 and the Moab 240. Most of the route is singletrack through the Sonoran Desert, which is mild in winter and takes rain in two seasons, so the country is greener and more varied than a desert crossing sounds.

It has been shortened and turned around since it started. The first two editions ran north to south, from Superior down to Patagonia, on a longer course with a 170-hour limit. For 2027 the race reverses: south to north, 300.5 miles, and 150 hours. The organiser calls it an endurance run rather than a race, a life accomplishment rather than a competition, though it records times and awards the top finishers. A runner who leaves the last aid station inside the cutoff and arrives after it takes an unofficial finish, with a print and a glass but no buckle.

Point to point from Patagonia, Arizona, to Superior, 300.5 miles with 32,386 feet of climb and 33,840 of descent, 84% of it singletrack and most of the rest bike path. Nineteen aid stations break it up. The route works north through the Santa Rita Mountains over the first seventy miles, crosses Tucson on bike path around halfway, and then turns up into the Santa Catalinas: 19.8 miles and 6,175 feet from Charlou Gap to Mount Lemmon at mile 171, by some way the biggest climb on the course. From Oracle the last 115 miles run north-west through Black Hills, Tortilla and the Gila River to Picket Post and the finish.

Places are on open sale on UltraSignup at $1,995, with a three-instalment payment plan the organiser offers on this race and no other, and entry closes on February 26, 2027. The 2027 cycle opened as a lottery on April 10, 2026, with a two-week window and a draw at the end of that month; places have been buyable outright since. Destination Trail's own lottery policy covers its 200-mile races and does not name this one. There is no qualifying race: runners must be 18 on run day, and the organiser reserves the right to refuse an entry on medical grounds.