Across the Years is the original fixed-time multiday running event celebrating the New Year! Runners select their event and cover as much distance as possible. Each runner is free to walk, stop, eat, sleep whenever they wish, but the clock is always running!
The event features the traditional 6-day race along with the 24 hour, 48 hour, and 72 hour races plus multiple fixed distances and the ever popular Last Person Standing event!
Join us this year at Camelback Ranch as we run into a new decade with a community of familiar faces and welcomed new friends. Set a goal, break a record, earn a buckle, rack up lifetime miles, go beyond your limits, or simply kick off the New Year with a bit of fun and enjoyed company.
There is no better place to celebrate good health and fortune from one year to the next than at Across the Years!
Choose Your Race
This year we went BIG and creatively crafted new events, new challenges, and new ideas that will make this year the biggest and best celebration yet!
Whether you are a veteran pedestrian with over 1000 lifetime miles or a newbie curious to find out what fixed-time racing is all about, there is an event catered to include EVERYONE!
Need a couple more days to earn that 1000 mile jacket? How about 4 extra days? Want to earn your first 100 mile buckle? How’s a 73 hour cutoff sound? Like fixed-time racing but find it better with a friend, or two, or three? Check out the 24 Hour Relays. Love everything about ATY but can’t make it to Arizona? Join the virtual race around the world!
Course Summary
Camelback Ranch is a state-of-the-art spring training facility for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox. It opened in March 2009, and features lush greenery, a lake with waterfall, and smooth dirt and gravel walking paths. The race route is a USATF certified loop consisting of 85% dirt paths and 15% asphalt/concrete. The one mile track averages 10-20 feet in width, with a minimum width of 8 feet. Gaiters are recommended. The facility is only a few miles away from the Westgate City Center, home of the University of Phoenix stadium, shopping, and other attractions.
Surface and Terrain
The course is on the ‘flatter’ end of looped courses, but don’t come expecting a quarter mile track.
The surface is not completely smooth as much of the route is gravel and/or dirt. There are natural waves and bumps along the way. The outer road section slopes only a few feet over a half mile, while the inner paths contain more variation. The most significant hill is on the north side of the lake and rises approximately 5 feet over the course of a few hundred feet. Early on, the course will seem flat and fast. However, the 6 day and 72 hour runners will readily recall their many battles with “Camelback Mountain” late in the race.
The course will be lit with a combination of permanent and temporary lights. No light will be needed to navigate the course at night although you may want a light or lantern for accessing items in your tent or at your table.
Last Person Standing
Inspired by Laz’s Last Man Standing format, this event goes one step further.
Participants will set out on one lap of the Across The Year’s course around Camelback Ranch every 15 minutes. Runners must start together from a common corral at the start of each 15 minute time increment and cross the start / finish line of the loop before the 15 minutes is up.
The event will continue until there is only one person left. This ultimate test of mental and physical endurance is designed so that anyone can win, all they need to do is keep up about a 15 minute per mile pace longer than anyone else. This is sure to be one of the most exciting components to participate in and spectate of this year’s ATY!
Starting at Noon on New Year’s Day, Saturday January 1, race until you drop!
Around the Clock Challenge
Want to kick off your New Year with more of a challenge? The “Around the Clock” challenge gives participants in the fixed-time races another opportunity to earn a unique award along with all the bragging rights! We challenge any participant to record at least one lap per hour for the duration of their event. For example, a runner in the 24-hour event would run or walk a minimum of one lap for each hour in the 24 hours they are competing. The same principle applies to all fixed time events at ATY (including the 6 day: 1 lap every hour for 144 hours…it’s been done). Complete this challenge and earn a custom token of achievement! Runners be weary, this challenge is more difficult than you may think!
LESS
Even with my DNF, I LOVED this race!
Loved everything about this race. I thought it would be mentally and physically hard to do a 1 mile-ish loop over and over for 100 miles but it wasn't. Plus … MORE
Loved everything about this race. I thought it would be mentally and physically hard to do a 1 mile-ish loop over and over for 100 miles but it wasn’t. Plus having a loop ensured I wouldn’t get lost like I do on most ultras. The race had a warming tent for us, plenty of porto potties and real bathroom, can rent a tent or use your own and have right on course. can also park camper next to course. You were rarely alone on course.
They even had champagne/juice at midnight for runners. And they spoiled us with the food tent. Other distances to choose from too. Highly recommend and I will be back this year…was best way to spend new years! Loved the race shirt.
Must do fixed-time race
Like most fixed-time races, the best reason to run this, besides getting to run in pleasant weather in winter, is the people you will meet. There are people from all … MORE
Like most fixed-time races, the best reason to run this, besides getting to run in pleasant weather in winter, is the people you will meet. There are people from all over the world, and you will get to see a number of endurance running legends. Most of them are very friendly too, so don’t be afraid to talk to them and say hello.
This year was a decade edition of Across the Years, so they added a 10-day run which is difficult to imagine anyone doing, yet there were many out there running day and night for 10 days. There are also elite athletes trying to break records and first timers just testing their limits. If you are a fan of fixed-time races, this is one to do at least once.
Very fast and well run ultra
Across the Years offers fixed-time races of 24, 48, 72 and 144 hours. It is held at Camelback Ranch which is the spring training facility for the LA Dodgers and … MORE
Across the Years offers fixed-time races of 24, 48, 72 and 144 hours. It is held at Camelback Ranch which is the spring training facility for the LA Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox. Given that it is a venue for a professional sport, the grounds are very well manicured and designed. The course is mainly a packed dirt path around a picturesque lake with resident Canada Geese, Cormorants, and Mallard ducks. The start/finish line is located on a “main street” with a spectator tent with chairs, a warming tent with tables and chairs and charging stations, and a communal sleeping tent with cots that are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There is also an option of renting a tent with a cot, or you can camp out along a straight stretch at the far end of the course. The course itself is a 1.048 mile loop, which means that every 21 miles, you get an extra (bonus) mile added to your total. The weather this year was about 15 degrees below normal and it rained for most of a day. It is still a much better option than running in the more northern latitudes during the first of the year. Hot food is served about every 6 hours, and typical ultra food is available any time at the one fully-stocked aid station. It was fun seeing so many famous ultra runners this year, including the Jester, Ed Ettinghausen, Ann Trason, Catra Corbett and her famous running Dachsund, Truman, and Davy Crockett. Several American and Canadian records were set, and Don Winkley broke the 80-85 year old age group World Record formerly held by Ted Corbitt by almost 21 miles. It’s such an iconic race that every endurance runner should do it at least once in their lifetime.