Pick Your Poison!
The Trident Trail Races has become a carousel of different types of mini-games to offer something for everyone on race day! Whether you’re just in it for our new Hella Heavy 10k, our OG noon Half Marathon, the gargantuan 102 miler - Ciento Dos, and everything in between, you’ll find something that speaks to you as we change a few of the mini-games every year while keeping the fan favorites! The premise of The Trident is a simple one: hold a trail race on the sugar sand dunes of coastal southeast Florida during the hottest time of the year! This is truly a test of mental and physical endurance no matter which mini-game you pick! Make no mistake: this is a HOT race! Heat training for any distance is strongly recommended!
The 10th Annual Trident Trail Races returns on Saturday and Sunday, July 24-25, 2027 at HIGH NOON! For our 10th year, we are bringing you 7 races to choose from!
1. Our original Trident Trail Half Marathon that starts at high noon, affectionately called “the Nooner” - same misery, same 4 hour cutoff! It’s the OG race that so many of you love to hate and hate to love!
2. Ciento Dos 102 miler! This beast is a 102 mile challenge like no other. You’ll have 36 hours to traverse 31 - yes, 31 - Trident loops to finish with a hair over 102 miles. Only 4 brave and gritty souls finished in 2026!
3. XTethered - our new partner race where you’ll be physically leashed to your race partner for 33 brutal miles. With a tether no more than 8 feet long, you’ll get to know your partner in a whole new way as you navigate 10 Trident loops starting at noon with a midnight cutoff! The only times you’ll be able to untether is when you are being crewed, and bathroom breaks.
4. Immolation: - a gargantuan challenge for only the most hardcore and badass endurance junkies and ultra runners! This is a 24 hour, 80 mile festival of suffering! Run one 3.3 mile Trident loop per hour for 24 hours. Sounds easy enough, right? There’ll be up to 6 elimination rounds beginning at midnight - the last runner on the course UNDER the one hour mark gets released from the race. However! A “second chance” phoenix coin issued to all runners making it past the 12 hour mark that they may redeem for a second chance if they are facing elimination. It’s a noon to noon party at the Ridge!
5. The Twilight Trident, our night half marathon! It’s just like the Nooner half marathon, but with an 8 p.m. start and 4 hours to complete 4 Trident loops, it’s a great option for those not wanting to brave the midday heat!
6. Immolation: Dark Mode: a 10 hour, 33 mile race under the cover of night. It will follow the same “loop per hour” format Immolation does. As a show of mercy, there will be no elimination rounds for this one!
7. The Hella Heavy 10k: it’s a heavy (6.6 mile) 10k starting at 7 a.m. with a 3 hour cutoff. This one is for Trident newbies, sprinters, or if you’re just looking to be home by brunch!
Run the Ancient Sand Dunes!
Jupiter Ridge Natural Area is one of the last stands of Florida Coastal Scrub habitat in Palm Beach County. Only 2% of original Scrub in the county and less than one-third of the original Scrub in the state remain today! A gently rolling landscape of prickly, dense thickets spotted with bare patches of sparkling white sand, these 271 acres are protected by Palm Beach County as part of a countywide system of natural areas. Over 200 species of plants and animals call this home.
The Trident portion of Jupiter Ridge Natural Area is a sprawling collection of ancient sugar sand dunes - featuring the highest natural point in Palm Beach County! These dunes have remained unchanged since the last ice age over 2 million years ago and you’ll summit these “peaks” multiple times through your race! They aren’t particularly high with the highest being around 45 feet above sea level, but trudging through the softest sand is the only way up! It’s not as easy as you’d think!
The Trident was born with the intent to host a trail race in one of the most unforgettable and unforgiving environments in Florida and beyond at the most brutally hot and humid time of the year. It’s a celebration of suffering with friends in a social setting as the out-and-backs within an out-and-back loop will let you see your fellow competitors multiple times during your race. But please understand what you are signing up for; the dunes of Jupiter Ridge are a difficult venue for running. Add to the mix the unrelenting heat and humidity of southeast Florida in late July and you’re in for one of the toughest footraces in the US that has quickly become a cult classic bringing in runners from all over Florida and the US, Central America, and Europe to see what all the hype is about!
The Nooner - the OG Horrible Half
Our original Trident race! “It’s just a half marathon”
The race itself is an out-and-back "loop" of 3.30 miles repeated 4 times for a distance of 13.20 miles. While it's not an ultra marathon, it is very much an endurance event! This race is held during the hottest, most humid time of the year, with a noon start time and Late July temperatures can peak in the mid 90's during the middle of the day, and humidity hovers around the 70-80% mark making for a ridiculous heat index topping 115+ degrees! The white sand temperatures blaze to a searing 130+ degrees! Heat management is crucial. This race is not for everyone! The course is made up entirely of ancient sand dunes, some of it very soft and fluffy, with some gentle rollers and some outright steep climbs. This is the only Half Marathon in south Florida that will give you 1,200+ feet of elevation gain over the entire distance! Combine the brutal terrain with the unrelenting heat and humidity, and you're running easily the most challenging trail half marathon in Florida.
There is a strict 4 hour cutoff! Nooner Trident runners must have completed all 4 loops by 4 p.m., or they will be listed as Did Not Finish! (DNF) - Race management reserves the right to remove anyone from the course who displays distress above and beyond "normal and expected" for this type of event. We will have a medical staff on hand who will be evaluating runners as they make their way through the race.
Immolation
You asked for it! Our first 24 hour race - Immolation!
We proudly offer you the Immolation 24 Hour/80 Miler! Building on the success and format of our wildly popular and now retired Ridge to Nowhere, Immolation is twice the fun with a couple twists! It’s a 24 hour elimination match where runners traverse one 3.3 mile Trident loop in an hour or less for 24 consecutive hours starting at noon on Saturday, continuing until noon on Sunday. That’s 80 miles and around 7,000 feet of elevation gain/loss! In addition, there’ll be 6 elimination rounds beginning at midnight in which the last runner still on the course in UNDER an hour will be eliminated. ALL runners coming in OVER an hour will be eliminated. The name of the game here is finish your loop in an hour or less, and don’t be the last one in. Sounds easy, right?
Runners making it to the 12 hour mark will be rewarded with a phoenix coin. This is a coin the runner may redeem for a second chance if they are facing elimination.
* NOTE: the phoenix coin is only good for runners who are facing elimination from being the last runner on the course in under an hour. The phoenix coin can not be used if a runner is over the one hour mark, or chooses to not start a loop, or drops mid-loop. The phoenix coin may not be used in the final lap regardless of if the final lap is an elimination lap or not.
A runner may also donate their coin to another runner to keep them in the game at the risk of losing their own second chance. Or, they may keep it as a souvenir and take it home. In any case, it’s going to be interesting to see those who save themselves, or others!
A runner’s placement will be a combination of all 24 loops times, for example, if you run all 24 loops in 45 minutes each, that’s 1,080 minutes, or 18 hours. 18 hours would be your finishing time in this scenario.
All runners finishing will be awarded a buckle fit for a king or queen! This is a TOUGH race! Be very familiar with your own abilities and fitness level before registering!
Ciento Dos - The Trident Hundo
This was bound to happen. Let’s be honest. Many of you have pushed the envelope further and further every year, which gives us the opportunity to create new challenges to provide you the opportunity to level-up!
Ciento Dos is no different - you’ll have 36 hours, from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday to drag your absolutely wrecked carcass through never ending sand dunes in the heat of the day and the relentless humidity of the night. You’ll amass over 8,500 feet of elevation gain/loss, and if you know anything about South Florida, you’ll know that takes a lot of summits on short hills. But don’t despair! All prong summits will take you to the highest natural point in Palm Beach County at a staggering 44 feet above sea level. That’s high for us. Sometimes our ears pop as we ascend.
Another notable feature of this race is that it does not follow the same loop-per-hour format as Immolation. You have one start time and one cutoff time. What you do in between those two things is entirely up to you. Your two options for this race are buckle or DNF. There are no drop downs.
You may run this race uncrewed using our aid stations, or you may use a crew. Crews canopies can be set up next to the start line. The vibe is good. It has a Burning Man vibe. Historically, runners with no crews fare worse than runners with crews, so crews are strongly suggested.
There are qualifiers to this race. Please see the Immolation portion of this page for a complete list. The short version of that is this is not a good first 100 miler. This will be a tremendously difficult race with a high probability of failure. But you’re tough. You should be fine.
The Twilight Trident
This race has become a classic amongst the half marathon crowd and rightfully so! With an 8 p.m. start time and a midnight cutoff, you’ll have 4 hours to complete 4 Trident loops and claim your finish!
XTethered - Partner Race
Another new offering introduced in 2027! This one is a partner race where you’ll be physically leashed to your race partner for 10 Trident loops - that’s 33 miles beginning at high noon with a midnight cutoff! Your tether must not be more than 8 feet long. The rules are simple: you’ll be connected to your partner 8 feet apart for the duration of the race. The only times you can untether are during crew stops and bathroom breaks. There are no hourly loop starts - you start at noon and have up to 12 hours to work it through. If one of you resigns in mid-race, you both DNF. You must start and finish together for an official finish!
Refund/Deferral Policy
We want you to register with confidence! You may request a full refund, minus the Ultrasignup fee, should you need to drop for any reason, until March 1st, 2027! You may also request a full deferral up until July 22, 2026. After that, no deferrals will be issued under any circumstances. Or, if you’re feeling philanthropic, your registration refund can be converted into a donation to the Palm Beach County Natural Areas fund that helps to protect, maintain, and promote our beautiful Natural Areas!
If we have to postpone the race due to a hurricane, natural disaster, pandemic, site closure, etc…we will defer everyone to the new date once we’ve settled on one. No mass refunds will be issued. Your money over and above what we spend on the race goes toward the PBC Natural Areas Program which helps protect, enhance, and promote Palm Beach County’s hidden gems like Jupiter Ridge!
Schwag!
As this race is brought to you by the same folks who brought you the Sand Spur, you can expect the same level of goodies and bling, including amazing finishers medals, shirts, stickers, and other goodies! You'll also be escorted to and from the race site to a nearby public parking area in an air conditioned van. We'll also have custom top finishers awards for the top male and female winners from the magnificently talented Brie from Wicked Skins! Aid stations will be stocked with plenty of ice, water, liquid fuel, chilled fruit, and other goodies! The race will be professionally and accurately timed by our friends Justin at Trailhead Ultras and results will be posted to Ultrasignup immediately after the race!
Event's current local time: 12:48 PM ET
