About 70 runners and volunteers in the Moab 240 endurance race were evacuated from southeastern Utah’s canyon country on Sunday after the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel flooded parts of the course and left them stranded overnight at a remote aid station. Organizers then cancelled the rest of the event.
The race, which runs more than 240 miles on a loop that starts and finishes in Moab, had been scheduled for October 9 through 13. Destination Trail, the company that operates it, said every participant had been accounted for.
In a social media statement, the organizer said all runners were either back at race headquarters or riding in vehicles on their way there. “We’re glad to report everyone made it out safely despite the wild weather,” it said.
Stuck at Bridger Jack
Trouble began on Saturday, when heavy rain made Cottonwood Creek too dangerous to cross and floodwaters cut off the route, according to The Weather Channel. One runner, Brock Painter, wrote on social media that he and others were practically skiing down a mountain as rain poured down and mud made every step uncertain. Video from the course showed rain driven sideways by the wind.
The stranded group spent the night at the Bridger Jack aid station, about 96 miles into the course near Bridger Jack Butte, east of Canyonlands National Park, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Organizers said the station had been stocked ahead of the race and that those waiting it out had “access to heated tents, hot food and plenty of drinking water.”
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office worked with race officials on the rescue. A helicopter flew over the area early Sunday to help identify safe ways out, according to The Weather Channel. Some participants were carried by all-terrain vehicles before being loaded onto buses bound for Moab. The first bus reached Bridger Jack at about 11 a.m., and by 12:45 p.m. the sheriff’s office reported that everyone stranded along the route had been evacuated.
No serious injuries were reported.
Race cancelled
With conditions expected to worsen, Destination Trail decided to stop the event. “After a lot of careful discussion, we’ve made the incredibly difficult decision to call the Moab 240” off, the organizer said.
The organizer said the weather had “become too dangerous to safely continue.” It cited “reports of aid station structures blowing away, trees falling down, wind, rain, freezing temps,” and said it was “expecting conditions to get worse tonight.”
Emergency responders had been alerted on Saturday, as the first reports of flooding came in from the course. San Juan County deputies and other local responders took part in the operation, The Weather Channel reported, and the shuttles sent by organizers carried runners and volunteers back to the race base in Moab once a safe route was confirmed.
For many entrants, the cancellation ended months of preparation for one of the most demanding footraces in the country, a multi-day effort through the high desert and mesas around Moab and the Bears Ears region.
Rachel’s wider reach
Rachel’s remnants pushed moisture across the Southwest over the weekend. The storm had also been forecast to bring strong winds and rain to northern Mexico and Southern California, where the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for parts of San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties, the Guardian reported.
In Utah, the National Weather Service posted a flood watch for most of the state on Sunday that was set to last through 6 p.m. Mountain time Monday. The Salt Lake Tribune noted that the watch did not include the state’s far eastern edge, where Moab and San Juan County are located. The storm’s remains were still moving across Utah on Monday, according to Salt Lake City station KUTV, as cited by the Guardian.
Destination Trail summed up its decision in a brief message to participants and fans: “Weather has other plans.”
