El Jefe 100

El Jefe 100 is new for 2027, a 105.8-mile point-to-point run across the Sonoran Desert that finishes in Superior, Arizona. Destination Trail named it for the jaguar that roamed the Sky Island wilderness of southern Arizona, and the course runs almost entirely on remote singletrack through saguaro, palo verde and mesquite on National Forest land.

It is the closing stretch of the same organiser's Arizona Monster 300, which sets off from Patagonia on the Monday and is still out on the trail when El Jefe starts on the Saturday. The two share every aid station from Black Hills to Picket Post, and both close at 6 p.m. on the Sunday. Destination Trail, which also holds the Tahoe 200, the Bigfoot 200 and the Moab 240, bills all of them as endurance runs rather than races.

Point to point across the Sonoran Desert, 105.8 miles with 12,548 feet of climb and 13,910 of descent, finishing in Superior, Arizona. Six aid stations break it up: Black Hills at mile 14.1, Freeman 29.7, Tortilla 47.5, Grand Enchantment 62.2, Gila River 78.5 and Picket Post 100.2. The hardest section is the 21.7 miles from Gila River to Picket Post, which climbs 3,717 feet and is given nine and a quarter hours of the 36 in the race's own schedule; the last 5.6 miles from Picket Post to the line are comparatively flat.

Open sign-up on UltraSignup at $495, which opened on May 5, 2026 and runs until the race fills or entry closes on March 22, 2027. There is no lottery and no qualifying race. Runners must be 18 on run day, and at check-in have to show the course GPX loaded on a phone, watch or handheld GPS and demonstrate that they can use it. A race-issued SPOT tracker is mandatory and included in the entry fee; personal devices are not allowed for tracking.