Courtney Dauwalter, who won the inaugural Moab 240 in 2017, slept for a total of 21 minutes en route to a dominating victory. Many racers experience such extreme sleep deprivation, in fact, that they succumb to hallucinations. The equally substantial downhill segments are hardly a reprieve: Many require careful movement along exposed cliffsides that are perilous for the race’s physically exhausted, sleep-deprived participants. Former Navy SEAL David Goggins, who placed second in this year’s installment of the Moab 240, was forced to withdraw from the 2019 race when he came down with high-altitude pulmonary edema upon reaching that elevation. Just after the 200-mile mark, racers reach the course’s maximum altitude of 10,000 feet. To put that into perspective, Mount Everest’s peak looms 29,029 feet above sea level. The event is described on its website as “a 240 mile adventure through the deserts, canyons, and mountains around Moab, Utah,” with upward of 29,400 feet of total climbing. Participants are given 112 hours - nearly five days - to finish before they are cut off. That’s right: In this footrace, it takes the winner more than 2 ½ days to break the tape. 13, with winner Michele Graglia finishing the course in 61 hours, 43 minutes, 15 seconds. The fourth annual running of the Moab 240 wrapped up Oct.

And - in all likelihood - the 240-mile, multiday journey ahead of these runners is as absurd an activity as any ritual performed by a cult. It’s a rather cultish scene: Several dozen individuals bunched together, speaking in unison about their own mortality at the crack of dawn. “If I get lost, hurt or die, it’s my own d- fault.” This is the solemn oath recited by those bold enough to toe the line at the annual Moab 240 Endurance Run.

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