Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon & 17 Mile Fun Run

🏃‍♂️ Race Overview

Welcome to the 27th annual Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon and 17 Mile Blaylock Creek Fun Run. Both events are on an “out-and-back” well-marked course beginning and ending at the Big Fork Community Center, utilizing the Athens-Big Fork trail.

• Course Challenge: Full Marathon runners will climb eight mountains twice with ~7,000' of cumulative gain.
• Donation: The event is free/donation based. A minimum $25 donation is suggested to cover our costs.
• Proceeds: All proceeds over our cost will be donated to the Big Fork Community Center and the Ouachita Amateur Radio Association, who help us keep our runners safe.
• Community Spirit: The community experience at the finish is one of the many things that makes this race so unique and popular.

🍽️ Post-Race Meal

We will have three fully stocked aid stations. All aid stations will be fully stocked with your typical aid station fare. In addition, each of our aid captains provide their own bougie concoctions for you to enjoy.

• Cupless Event: Please bring your own cup or handheld because the race will be cupless this year.
• Meal Tickets: There will be an option to purchase a post-race meal ticket, catered by Cheryl with the Big Fork Mall.
• Pre-Purchase Only: Buy early because there will be no race-day meal ticket purchases and swag is pre-purchase only.
• Comfort Items: We encourage you to bring a chair, blanket and other comfort items.

🏅 Awards

We will have awards for overall male and female in both the full and fun runs. We also offer unique awards to our 10 and 20 year finishers. We do not offer finish awards because this race experience is reward enough.

⛑️ Safety and Required Gear

Safety Gear: Required gear includes a hydration system (handheld or bladder) and a light source (handheld or headlamp). A windbreaker or space blanket is strongly suggested but not required.

• HAM Radio: We will have HAM radio operators at every aid station in communication with us at Net Control at all times.
• Medical Support: We also have several medical entities on standby.
• Cell Service: It is worth taking your cell phone because runners are often able to get service on the top of some of the mountain peaks.
• Note: I will provide my cell number in the December runner email.

🚫 Important Notes

THIS EVENT IS NOT FOR TRAIL-NEWBIES. If you are not an experienced trail – or ultra-runner (or adventure racer), we happily invite you to one of the other UTS runs, BUT NOT THIS ONE.

• Course Difficulty: This is a difficult event on a difficult trail that presents many opportunities for one to get lost, injured, exhausted, or incapacitated–with sparse access for rescue.
• Cut-Off Times: A cut-off time of 10:30am (2.5 hours) will be enforced at the turn-around (halfway) point for the 17-mile run.
• Marathon Option: Marathon runners may drop to the 17 mile fun run on race day if they assess they are not feeling well.
• Early Start: There is an early start option for those requiring more than 8 hours: details will be included in race email.

📍 Event Details

Date: 2026-01-03

Location: 6118 AR-8, Mena, AR

For more information, visit Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon & 17 Mile Fun Run.