Many relay races are a Point A to Point B exercise with nothing special in-between. For us, what's in-between is what is important. Yes, our races may take a bit longer to get to, but the reward is you will be running somewhere special off the beaten path!
Roads Less Traveled Relays is a collection of scenic, rural relay races that celebrates running by running through beautiful areas. Whether you are a serious or a casual runner, a relay race is unique in the camaraderie that is created between members of a team, and is an enjoyable adventure to do with friends, both old and new. Our relays are in picturesque areas in Colorado, Iowa, California, and Oregon.
We organize both overnight "long distance" relays (about 200 miles), and one-day "sprint" relays (about 50-miles). Each course is divided up in to legs that vary in distance and difficulty, and there are a variety of team sizes to choose from to challenge yourself.
 |
May Des Moines to Omaha 205 Miles New for 2013 |
 |
August Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs 200 Miles Since 2005 |
 |
August Donner Pass to Lassen Volcanic National Park 175 Miles Planned for 2013 |
 |
September Idaho Springs to Buena Vista 160 Miles New for 2013 |
 |
December Alternates Albany to Eugene/Eugene to Albany 50 Mile Sprint Relay Since 2009 |
Our philosophy is a relay race should be an enjoyable running experience with your friends in a beautiful part of the country on picturesque roads with limited traffic. Seems pretty basic, doesn't it? We focus on providing the best experience possible for race participants, so we keep our team count low so we can provide runners with a friendly, intimate - and scenic - race weekend.
"Our team just ran the Wild West relay for the second time - our first one was four years ago. Four years ago we couldn't appreciate how well organized this race was, our first one hadn't taught us the lessons of a poorly organized relay yet. The past few years we have done other relays in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. Yours by far has the absolute best organization, setup, and volunteer base that we have ever seen. I know you pull your volunteers from a third-party organization, but you are ultimately the one responsible for making sure they are prepared to do their job and they clearly are. They are knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, and chipper which is all a team can ask for at 4am when they are rolling into an exchange point on zero sleep and miles and miles down in 90+ degree weather. Additionally, your leg maps, handbooks, and many many emails go above and beyond. I am sure your job is a difficult and a stressful one and we all just wanted you to know how much we appreciate your obvious passion for your job. We look forward to our next RLT Relay!" AB, Casper WY
Our long distance relays consist of 10 or 12 (maximum) or 5 or 6-person (Ultra) teams that rotate through 30 or 36 legs as they cover the 160 - 200-mile route. This means each team member runs 3 legs (6 for Ultra teams) of varying distances, averaging a total of 17 miles (33 for Ultra teams). One person is running at a time, while the rest of the team is cheering or resting. At the end of each leg, the next runner on the team takes off when your current runner arrives - thus a "relay." The adventure is that your team will run all day, through the night, and then finish the next day.
If you've never done a relay before, or are considering being a team captain for the first time, please read Relay 101.
Sprint relays consist of teams of 5, are about 50 miles long, and are divided up into 25 legs of about 2 miles each. Thus, there is a fast turn-over of runners.
The building of camaraderie between your team and those you are running against, as well as sleep deprivation, van decorations, costumes, and silly inside jokes adds to the fun and uniqueness of a relay race.
Some relay organizers focus on crowding hundreds, or even a thousand, teams into a race. That limits options when planning routes. We plan our races on routes which you would want to run on your own! In our events, you'll run on quiet back roads, through forests, over covered bridges, and through small villages - not along the shoulder of a four-lane highway with lots of traffic or frequent stoplights.
If you were to run all 760-miles of our long distance relays, you would come to only two stoplights!
"We were extremely impressed by the Wild West Relay. You could not have picked and designed a more beautiful course! Your course challenged us and provided us with memories that will last a lifetime." CD Littleton, CO
Another of our goals is to give back to the communities our races pass through. We involve local non-profit organizations as race marshals as a way for these organizations to raise money.
Since 2005, we've focused on bringing quality to relay racing by:
We invite you to take a look at our races and to celebrate running with us.
Please sign up for our e-mail newsletter. You'll be kept up-to-date on the Roads Less Traveled Relays races.
You should find answers to most of your questions on this web site. If not, feel free to contact us.
Here is a collection of runner's blogs written about their experience in a Roads Less Traveled Relay.
Curious how scenic our races are? Here are photos taken during our relay races.
We will be streaming live the start and finishes of our relay races - Internet connection willing.
