Furnace Creek 508
The Furnace Creek 508 was an ultramarathon bicycle race that took place annually each October between 1989 and 2013 in Southern California. Its route started in Santa Clarita (25 miles north of Los Angeles), went northeast to Towne Pass and dropped into Death Valley, traversed Death Valley in the southern direction, crossed Mojave Desert and ended at Twentynine Palms. The race was named after the total length of its course (508 miles) and the location of its midpoint (near Furnace Creek).
Rather than use names or numbers as in other races and other sports, the Furnace Creek 508 identified riders and teams with "totems" - animal names said to signify or have a special meaning for a rider or team.
The race was discontinued in 2014 due to a policy change of the Death Valley National Park that prohibited competitive cycling events in the park. Its organizers have since created a new annual event, the "Silver State 508", which keeps the overall format and the total distance of the course, but takes place in Nevada; the event returned to California in 2026, with a new starting point of Borrego Springs.
At 508 miles (818 km) of length and 36,000 feet (11,000 m) of elevation gain, the Furnace Creek route was roughly comparable to four typical mountain stages of Tour de France ridden back-to-back.
Until rule changes in 2003, the Furnace Creek 508 was a qualifying event for the Race Across America.
Route
- Santa Clarita (start)
- Antelope Valley
- California City (82 miles)
- Trona (152 miles)
- Panamint Valley
- Townes Pass
- Furnace Creek (252 miles)
- Death Valley
- Salsberry Pass
- Shoshone (325 miles)
- Baker (382 miles)
- Kelso (416 miles)
- Amboy (450 miles)
- Twentynine Palms (finish)
Participants and results
In 2006, the Furnace Creek 508 had its largest number of entrants, at 179 (75 solo and 104 in teams). In order to be declared an "official finisher", an entrant must have crossed the finishing line within 48 hours (46 hours for relay teams). The official finishing rate was usually around 60% for solo cyclists and approaching 100% for relay teams. The median finishing time was around 36 hours.
Among solo competitors, overall records are 27:15:21 (men) and 28:46:34 (women).
| Year | Winner | Home city | Totem | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Marino Open | ||||
| 1983 | Michael Secrest |  Scottsdale |
- | 54:49:00 |
| 1984 | Rick Bozeat | San Jose |
- | 54:09:00 |
| September John Marino Open West | ||||
| 1985 | Scott Fortner | Whittier |
- | 46:30:00 |
| 1986 | Robert Fourney | Evergreen |
- | 30:05:00 |
| October RAAM Open West | ||||
| 1987 | Kirk Freeman | Newhall |
- | 34:17:00 |
| 1988 | Johnny G | Beverly Hills |
- | 29:46:00 |
| 1989 | John Turner | Norwalk |
- | 30:59:00 |
| 1990 | John Stamstad | Madison |
- | 30:33:00 |
| 1991 | Tom Winstrom | Foster City |
- | 31:07:22 |
| Furnace Creek 508 | ||||
| 1992 | Eric House | Palo Alto |
- | 29:54:37 |
| 1993 | John Hughes | Portola Valley |
Hamster | 32:24:55 |
| 1994 | Steve Born | Ketchum |
Beaver | 31:09:22 |
| 1995 | Seana Hogan | San Jose |
Hoopoe | 28:46:34[note 1] |
| 1996 | Rainer Klaus |  Swabia |
King Crab | 28:09:32 |
| 1997 | Justin Peschka | Chandler |
Panda | 28:42:02 |
| 1998 | Dan McGehee | Mesa |
Mountain Goat | 30:55:50 |
| 1999 | Justin Peschka | Chandler |
Panda | 30:06:25 |
| 2000 | Andrew Bohannon | Sunnyvale |
Blowfish | 31:17:57 |
| 2001 | Othmar Altmann |  Villach |
Old Fox | 31:10:00 |
| 2002 | Eric Ostendorff | Torrance |
Ostrich | 31:14:11 |
| 2003 | Andrew Bohannon | Sunnyvale |
Blowfish | 29:19:18 |
| 2004 | Marko Baloh |  Ljubljana |
Tweety Bird | 29:26:25 |
| 2005 | Kenny Souza | San Marcos |
Fast Truck Gecko | 27:15:21[note 1] |
| 2006 | Michael Emde | Spokane |
Alpine Ibex | 28:23:21 |
| 2007 | Michael Emde | Spokane |
Alpine Ibex | 27:32:30 |
| 2008 | Michael Emde | Spokane |
Alpine Ibex | 27:28:01 |
| 2009 | Chris Ragsdale | Seattle |
Ram | 29:10:31 |
| 2010 | Terry Lentz | Templeton |
Chesapeake Bay Retriever | 29:19:35 |
| 2011 | Adam Bickett | Solana Beach |
Rock Rabbit | 30:20:28 |
| 2012 | Sean Cuddihy | Long Beach |
Crow | 29:33:10 |
| Trona 353 | ||||
| 2013 | Billy Edwards | Boulder |
Billy Goat | 18:21:00[note 2] |
| Trona 308 | ||||
| 2014 | Rich Staley | Reno |
Great Basin Icthyosaur | 18:56:00[note 2] |
| Silver State 508 | ||||
| 2014 | Marko Baloh | Ljubljana |
Tweety Bird | 26:24:00 |
| 2015 | Rob Morlock | Danbury |
Muskrat | 31:27:30 |
| 2016 | Adam Bickett | San Diego |
Rock Rabbit | 27:54:00 |
| 2017 | Charles Bell | Joshua Tree |
Chunky Monkey | 30:36:00 |
| 2018 | Mark Gibson | Irvine |
Norwegian Blue | 30:15:30 |
| 2019 | Shane Trotter | Carson City |
Canis Latrans | 28:18:04 |
| 2020 | David Haase | Fond du Lac |
Holstein | 32:49:48 |
| 2021 | Shane Trotter | Carson City |
Great Basin Canis Latrans | 26:53:16 |
| 2022 | Tyler Pearce | Bass Lake |
Space Bear | 29:26:00 |
| 2023 | Meaghan Hackinen | .svg.png){kind=small} Kelowna |
Reqiuem Shark | 29:43:14 |
| 2024 | Fabio Silvestri |  Uberlândia |
Suffolk Punch Horse | 31:24:00 |
| The 508 | ||||
| 2025 | Fabio Silvestri | Uberlândia |
Suffolk Punch Horse | 33:48:35 |
External links