After six years, Arkansas’s only overnight team endurance relay race is back just in time for fall colors. Outback in the Ozarks takes athletes through more than 200 miles of the Ozarks, beginning in Eureka Springs and finishing at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park.
Runners will tackle country roads through the Ozark National Forest and power through multiple cities and state parks during the race. It takes a lot to organize an event like Outback in the Ozarks, so Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis reached out to the team behind the race to learn more.
Earlier this week, organizers Jason Thomas, Hanniel Schultz and Dale Gainey visited the Carver Center for Public Radio to discuss the event with Jack and reveal how it all came together. Jason Thomas explains that the event is one of a kind, and that even though the region has a few relay races, none are a challenge like Outback in the Ozarks
Thomas: We have smaller relay races like the Hogeye Marathon, Tulsa Marathon, where you can put four people together and split it. But our race is about 206, 207 miles in duration. It is a multiday event. We start on a Friday morning. We end on a Saturday afternoon. We cover five different counties, five state parks, two city parks, and a lot of country roads in Northwest Arkansas. And so it’s unique in the fact that it is a large-scale, multiday team relay event in Arkansas.
Travis: Is it like a tourist event, are runners going to be able to stop in these different locales and experience anything, or are they just trucking through?
Schultz: Definitely the idea. The concept is, if you have a standard team, you have a team of up to 12 people and you split up in groups of two. One group being six people, they have one vehicle, and then the other group has another vehicle.
The idea is that you have an active van. What that entails is that they have an active runner. So that runner is headed down the trail or the course, and the other five people are there to support and follow along. Then the other van is inactive, and they have a lot more free time during that time that the active van is going. So they get to enjoy the outdoors, spend time in the lakes that we’re going to be crossing, through the campsites, the local towns. So we’re really excited for everyone to be able to experience what the Ozarks is all about.
Yeah, and it’ll all depend on how they organize their legs. And they have full, full control over what runner runs each leg of the course.
Thomas: So our course has 36 different legs or segments, if you will. So if a team has 12 people, everyone would get three legs. Team has nine, they’d get four. They get to pick which leg they want to do based upon their team profile. If they have stronger runners, they may want some of the longer, harder legs. If they have a runner that’s a little slower, maybe they want a short three- to four-mile leg. But everyone needs to run approximately the same legs from point A to point B start to finish.
So they do get to divide it up. So half the race you are active, half the race you’re resting. And so you do get to see the entire course. But some of it’s on foot, some of it’s in your vehicle.
Travis: I see. And how long does it take these groups of runners on average to complete this race, like everybody in total?
Thomas: Great question. We would like for everyone to finish under 34 hours. The faster teams will actually finish 22, 23, 24 hours, with most teams finishing between 30 and 32.
Travis: Wow. And y’all are coming back. This is a return after six years. Y’all have kind of like went, went under and then y’all are back now. So what brought y’all all back?
Thomas: Wow. Okay, so I’ll go way back. Y’all and I actually ran this race together. I believe it was 2015 and 2016. So it was nine and 10 years ago. The race went through 2018. And then the race directors, Todd and Kimberly, moved to Idaho to be near their grandchildren. And then shortly after that, COVID hit and they just weren’t able to keep the race up from being so far away.
I know their goal long term was to bring it back, and I’ve known Todd and Kimberly for a long time, and they reached out last year and said, would you like to take this over? And I was like, I’ve got the perfect team. And so here we are. And so it really is an epic race. I’m not tooting our own horn, but it was a race that they designed and they put together. And it has a great following in Northwest Arkansas. So to be in this seat, to be able to do this again, and, if you will, resurrect this race and bring it back to life, is really, it’s exciting for all of us.
Travis: Yeah. And, Dale, you might be able to speak to this. Was there popular demand? Are people excited to have y’all back?
Gainey: It has a cult following. Absolutely. A lot of people are really excited. There’s a lot of chatter. A lot of people say, “Yeah, I remember that race. Yeah, I think my dad ran it.” Things like that. So yeah, there’s a big following, a lot of excitement.
Travis: And y’all have some cool branding too, very leaning into the Outback theme. Could you talk about that a little bit? Where does that come from?
Gainey: Actually, I don’t know where Todd and Kimberly came up with that, but we’re just rolling with it. Our medals — Hanniel got a great design for us. So the medals are going to be amazing, like they always were in the past. Obviously following the Outback theme, it’s going to be good swag for sure.
Travis: And so, you know, let’s go back six years. How has the ultradistance running, if that’s what you can call that, how has that evolved? Because it seems like I read more and more about people running ultramarathons, 100-mile marathons. And maybe I was just younger, and so I wasn’t as privy to it, but it seems like it’s increasing in popularity.
Schultz: I feel like it is. At least that’s what I see through social media. And social media has popularized it. And I think that there’s this focus on being healthier overall. So I think people are taking up more of these challenges. I’m not the ultradistance person. I ran my legs and I was done. Jason may be able to give more insight into that, though.
Thomas: I’m a bit retired from it now, but I have done many, many ultramarathons in the past. And Dale mentioned a cult following. I remember when I first discovered this, what I thought was this underground culture in Arkansas that just ran these crazy distances. I thought I’d made this amazing discovery, like, you know, the JFK files or something. And it’s true. People enjoy a challenge. Those that run enjoy seeing how far they can go, how far they can push their bodies, what their limits are. And there’s 50 kilometers, there’s 50-mile races, there’s 100-mile races, there’s multiday races.
This particular event, while it is an ultradistance, because we do a team format, it’s very palpable for most middle-distance runners, if you will. Those that run a half marathon or those that have completed a marathon really would have no trouble doing this race. Because if we have a team of 12 and everybody runs three times, our average leg is about six miles. We’re all doing about 18 miles over the weekend. Actually less than a marathon. The only reason someone would run more is if they signed up as an ultra team. And that’s one of our categories. Our standard teams are seven to 12 people. Our ultra teams are four, or five, or six.
And so we have had one. We had one gentleman reach out to us about doing it solo. We haven’t come to an agreement yet on whether he’s going to do it or not. But I think that day will come when somebody says, I want to try this. This would not be for the faint of heart. This would not be where you’d want to start your ultra career because of the elevation involved and the hills and just how hard it actually is.
Travis: But if you were to take the team approach and not do the ultra team, this might be a good way for someone interested in this kind of long-distance running. Would this be a good way for them to maybe dip their toe into it?
Thomas: It would be an ideal situation. One, if they’re local, they don’t have to, you know, fly to Oregon or fly to Maine or fly to Virginia to do that race. It’s right here in their own backyard. The time of year in October in Arkansas is just absolutely beautiful to go running. Generally the weather, it’s a lot cooler than it is today. You know, the leaves are changing. It’s just, it’s a fun time to be outdoors in Arkansas. And to have a course that is this nice, this well laid out, this organized and to be around other runners, yeah, I would think it would be an ideal situation.
Where if you had a team of four, everybody’s going to do about 50 miles, 51, 52 miles each. And so that would be a logical step as somebody who’s progressing in their ultra career.
Travis: Cool. And let’s talk about the team, you all sitting in front of me. What’s it been like to put on an event like this? Is there something that’s maybe surprising to you that is maybe more trouble? Or maybe something that’s a little bit easier than you thought it would be?
Thomas: I’m not even sure where to start with that one. We took the race on early this year. Really, February or March is when we said, okay, it’s going to happen. It’s going to go. And we knew the race would be in October. So at that time we were nine months away. And now we’re less than nine weeks away — 58 days to be exact. Not that Dale’s counting down. It is intimidating just because of the size and the scope.
So Dale and I have about 10 years’ experience in the race directing category. We’ve done a 5K together for over 10 years for a different organization, our church, and we’ve had a great run with that. It’s relatively easy compared to this.
Gainey: Plug and play.
Thomas: It’s plug and play because it’s three miles instead of 200. And it’s in a controlled environment of a couple streets versus miles and miles of different counties and different things like that.
So getting it organized is a little bit tough. But I do have to give props to the previous race directors. They really laid a good blueprint for us to follow. Don’t you guys feel like? They had the contacts. When we reached out to the rural fire departments and all these cities and churches along the way, without one exception, every person was like, yeah, we would love to have that race come back through our little town. We can’t wait. We love that race. And so the relationships they built with the people along the race course was phenomenal.
Schultz: And they’re still providing a lot of support. Weekly calls. I mean, they’re going to be flying down here to help set up the course and pass on the baton officially. So I can’t thank them enough for that.
Travis: As you talk to these rural fire departments, these different municipalities, were you able to get a sense for what they feel the benefit of having an event like this go through their town?
Thomas: A couple things. So the rural fire departments, their role in this race is so invaluable. Number one, they are actually looking for something to do. They love to get out their toys. They love to get out their equipment. That’s not officially work or training. That’s just a fun event to be at.
It’s very, very — when we say rural, I mean, you probably couldn’t find them even if we gave you directions to some of these fire departments. But they get to come out and interact with the runners while the teams are waiting on their runners to arrive. They’re chatting it up. And sometimes it’s the middle of the night as this happens. But we also make donations to their fire departments for their help with our course.
All the fire departments have EMTs. They all have radios. They all have great ways of communication. And so they actually aid in the safety of our runners, the safety of our volunteers. I think they just enjoy the chatter at night versus sitting, you know, maybe in the fire station or whatever they had to do for their role. Being able to get out and interact — it’s a unique event for them, I think. And so they’ve all been very, very cooperative and very excited for us to come back. And I really think they look forward to it.
Some of the people that we’ve contacted have been there six, seven, eight, nine, 10 years ago, and they remember us very, very well. And so it was really interesting to reach out to them and the welcome that we received from them. And so we hope to continue that relationship and just really keep it rolling.
Travis: And then you guys are going through state parks as well. And so what’s it like working with the Parks Department for the state on this stuff? Was that a unique challenge?
Thomas: I guess I’ll answer that too, since that’s in my plate. The state parks are great. If you live in Arkansas and you haven’t visited a state park, you are missing out. They are really small national treasures right here in our backyard — from Pea Ridge to Prairie Grove to Withrow Springs to Lake Fort Smith.
I know there’s been a lot of bad press lately about Devil’s Den, but the park itself is run well. It’s beautiful, it’s clean, it’s well kept. I actually reached out to the Parks Division in Little Rock, and they had a central contact person that I’ve been dealing with for all of them. And so I was able to make one application. We actually got our permit yesterday. And so we’re all good to go.
But we do visit those five state parks, and they are great. They open up their facilities. They’re excited for us to be there. We finish in Prairie Grove at the battlefield park out there. And so working with them has been very, very easy. They’re very accommodating. And so I have really nothing but good things to say about the park personnel.
Travis: I would like to end it by just — are there any specifically or especially scenic stretches of the run? Any highlight moments?
Schultz: Okay, I guess as an overall overview, we’re going to start off in Eureka Springs. We go straight through downtown. And that in itself is absolutely beautiful. And then after that we go through the different state parks. And along that is like War Eagle Mill, which is absolutely beautiful.
As you’re getting out of Lake Fort Smith, there’s this beautiful overview of just the mountains that you’re going to get. And that’s early in the morning on Saturday. So that’s after running a lot of legs. And then even just going through Devil’s Den — I know that there’s some sensitivity to the topic right now, but it has and always has been a beautiful state park where I myself have hiked numerous times. And then ending at Prairie Grove is just like the cherry on the top. It’s beautiful. There’s so much history to it. And it’s been a great experience to be a part of it.
Thomas: There is one leg — I don’t think most people realize this — but you can actually walk on top of the Bobby Hopper Tunnel when you’re driving to Fort Smith. And we have one leg that goes over the tunnel. It’s a dirt road, and teams will drive right over it. You really can’t see it, but you can hear the traffic and you know it’s there. And so that’s a unique leg just because it goes over a tunnel.
Travis: Oh, from the top you can’t see the interstate.
Thomas: Correct.
Travis: Oh, interesting. I guess that makes sense. I was like, yeah, right, right.
Thomas: So that’s a unique leg. The legs right after Hobbs State Park are unique because they’re all trails. Most of our race — it’s about half and half pavement and dirt road — but we have about 15 miles of trails, and most of those miles are in legs seven and eight right after Hobbs State Park.
And so it’s an easy trail. It’s a nice canopy. It’s shaded during the day. And then you just meander through the woods there, and you pop out down at War Eagle Mill. And so I would highlight those two legs if somebody likes the trail version of running.
Travis: Yeah. That’s fascinating about the tunnel. I had no idea there was a road up there.
Thomas: I know, right? Well, if you sign up for the race, you’ll figure it out.
Travis: Cool. Thank you all so much for coming and spending the time to tell me about the race. Is there anything else that y’all wanted to talk about, anything I forgot to ask? Signups are ongoing.
Schultz: The race is going to be on Oct. 10 and 11. And you go to outbackintheozarks.com to get all of the details about the race, including the information for each leg.
Dates to keep in mind: sign up your team by Sept. 1 to guarantee T-shirts, medals, all of the swag that you normally get with the race. And then apart from that, if anyone is interested in volunteering, we do have a volunteering form on our website as well, and we’d be honored to have you guys volunteer for the event.
Thomas: I would also echo, if somebody wants to run but they don’t have a team, we have different options for that as well. You can sign up as a solo person and we will put you with a team. Or if you want to sign up as a group of three, four, five, we will put you with another half team. So don’t feel like you have to get 10 or 12. If you have a group of three and would love to run but don’t have a team, sign up. We will find you a team.
That was Jason Thomas, Danielle Schultz, and Dale Gainey speaking with Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis about Outback in the Ozarks. For signups, volunteer opportunities, or more, visit outbackintheozarks.com.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The authoritative record of KUAF programming is the audio version. (edited)
