Build your Moab 240 plan
The instant browser builder stops at the marathon, so this one comes from the coach itself. Tell it your race date, your weekly mileage, and the terrain you can get to, and it writes the whole build and keeps adapting it as you log the training. Free account, no card. You are about 50 weeks out.
- Distances
- 389K
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Field
- About 150 finishers in 2025
- Taper starts
- September 20, 2027
Course
The Moab 240 course
A single 241.8-mile loop that starts and finishes in Moab, with about 31,700 feet of climbing through desert, canyons, slickrock and two mountain ranges. The route heads south past Canyonlands, crosses the Abajo Mountains, then swings north through the La Sal Mountains before returning to Moab near Arches National Park.
Read the full course notes
Fifteen full aid stations, five of them with sleep stations, support you along the way, and the cutoff is 112 hours. The terrain swings from sand and slickrock on the desert floor to high, cold mountain trail, so you cover huge elevation and temperature ranges in one race. The 2026 edition was called off about 48 hours in because of floodwaters on course, the first time in the race's history.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- 389K
- Field
- About 150 finishers in 2025
- Weather on race day
- October in Moab usually means warm days in the 70s °F and cold nights in the low 40s °F in town, and nights in the mountains can drop below freezing. Rain is uncommon but can flood canyons quickly, as it did in 2026. Pack for sun and heat by day and real cold at night, and plan hydration for the long gaps between aid stations.
What to train for
Over four to five days on your feet, time matters more than pace: build back-to-back long days of 5 to 8 hours and practice power hiking steep grades with a loaded pack.
Rehearse moving on sand and slickrock, and train night sections with headlamp changes and a sleep plan.
Practice eating real food on the move every 30 to 45 minutes. Downhill strength matters as much as climbing, because you lose as much elevation as you gain.
Sample week
A sample Moab 240 training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Hill repeats: 10 × 2 min up a steady grade, jog back down
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 8 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 18–20 mi on trail, with as much climbing as you can find
- Sunday Key session
- Second long day, 10–12 mi easy on tired legs
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Moab 240
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on October 8, 2027, your taper starts around September 20, 2027.
Moab 240 training questions
How long should I train for the Moab 240?
Most runners give a 389k race twenty to twenty-four weeks of focused training on top of a season of consistent aerobic mileage. The coach counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Moab 240 course hilly?
Hilly. A single 241.8-mile loop that starts and finishes in Moab, with about 31,700 feet of climbing through desert, canyons, slickrock and two mountain ranges.
What is the weather usually like at the Moab 240?
October in Moab usually means warm days in the 70s °F and cold nights in the low 40s °F in town, and nights in the mountains can drop below freezing. Rain is uncommon but can flood canyons quickly, as it did in 2026. Pack for sun and heat by day and real cold at night, and plan hydration for the long gaps between aid stations.
When should I start tapering for the Moab 240?
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on October 8, 2027, your taper starts around September 20, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Moab 240 training plan?
For this one, yes. The instant browser builder stops at the marathon, so an ultra plan comes from the coach itself, which needs a free account. Still no card, and the plan adapts as you log the training.