BADLANDS RACE SERIES
Event Details
The Badlands 50K and 100K take place entirely within the scenic Island Lake Recreation Area, winding through its extensive trail network. All three races start and finish at the same hub, with the 100K runners taking on two full loops of the 50K course for the ultimate challenge. Badlands is primarily a night race with the 50K and 100K participants starting at 10pm and running to dawn and into the day. An additional 50K taking place during the daytime will start at dawn.
Participant and Race Details
We will host up to 450 total participants, distributed evenly across three race divisions, each capped at 150 runners:
Race 1 – Overnight 50K: Starts at 10:00 PM on Saturday, May 16th, 2026 (9 Hours)
Race 2 – Overnight 100K: Starts at 10:00 PM on Saturday, May 16th, 2026 (18 Hours)
Race 3 – Daytime 50K: Starts at 7 AM on Sunday, May 17th, 2026 (9 Hours)
Please check back often as this is a living document and is getting updated as make progress in creating the race!
Prize Purse
There will be two competitive categories, Female and Open. For qualification standards, please see the Runner’s Guide or contact us with questions. All other runners will automatically qualify for the Open category.
$2,250 for Night 50K (Open & Women's)
$750 First Place in Each Category (Total $1,500)
$250 Second Place in Each Category - (Total $500)
$125 Third Place in Each Category - (Total $250)
$4,500 for Night 100k (Open & Women's)
$1,500 First Place in Each Category (Total $3,000)
$500 Second Place in Each Category (Total $1,000)
$250 Third Place in Each Category (Total $500)
In each of the above race, Blackwood will offer an additional $500 prize to first place if they beat the previous Course Record time. This will be the first running of this race and the winners of each of the two races will automatically qualify for this additional prize.
*The daytime 50K is our fun run and will not have a prize purse
** Blackwood reserves the right to adjust prize amounts at any time for any reason. The distribution of the prize purse is at the sole discretion of Blackwood Racing. Any attempt to obtain a prize through cheating, course cutting, performance-enhancing drugs, or competing outside of one’s gender category will result in forfeiture of awards. Women will compete in the Women’s Division. All other participants will compete in the Open (Men's) Division.
We are offering prizes as a way to give back to our trail running community—not as the main reason to toe the line. Please respect the spirit of the sport and the integrity of the event. Abuse of this policy may result in prizes being removed from this race as well as all future races.
If you have any questions related to the prize purse that have not been answered in the Runner's Guide - please contact Ian@blackwoodracing.com for clarification prior to the event.