Survive the Night Relays
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Survive the Night Relays

Lexington, Kentucky, United States View on map
Jul 18, 2026 – Jul 19, 2026 (America/New_York local time)
Running

About this race

We unfortunately have to make the difficult decision to scale back the event this year, and will be hosting running relays only.  That means we will not be holding the triathlon relay. We made it a great 10 years with the triathlon relay, but ultimately the cost and logistics of this type of a race have exceeded our capacity. We certainly look forward to having you on race day for a fun night of running. Join us for these events on SATURDAY July 18th, 2026 at Kroger Field in Lexington, KY and help us raise funds for cancer patient support care.

THIS YEAR'S RACE WILL BE CUPLESS, SO BE PREPARED TO BRING YOUR OWN CUP/OTHER WATER CONTAINER FOR HYDRATION.  

For 2026, you have multiple options for our running events - all intended to take you through the night as a TEAM. It takes a team for a patient to fight cancer, and it takes a team to help raise money for that fight. There will be friends, family, food, loud music, and an overall great time as teams race under the stars in the fight against cancer! You don't want to miss this!

Run the MARATHON RELAY on a new paved course! Grab up to ten of your friends and family and cover the distance of a full marathon, 26.2 miles! The run will take place on a paved course as you camp out and cheer your team members on. Don't worry, the lap distance is manageable for the casual runner and walkers and if you are up for a bigger challenge (a full or a half marathon or any distance in between), you will have an awesome, unique course and can run as many laps as you choose based on the number of members on your team. Let's see if you can survive the night! Please see https://www.ironcology.org/relays for more details.

New this year, we have the option to run our paved course for a double marathon relay OR an all night relay on our newly updated road course. Grab up to ten of your friends and family and cover the distance of two full marathons, 52.4 miles! Or more, if you'd like to tackle the challenge of a full 12 hour ultra on the paved course--great preparation for those teams planning to run a long road relay later in the fall! The lap distance will be the same as our marathon relay, manageable for the casual runner and walkers. If you are up for a bigger challenge (a full or a half marathon or any distance in between). Please see https://www.ironcology.org/relays for more details.

And third, we have the Ultra Event! Introduced in 2021, we now offer the opportunity to run solo or with a team all night long, for as many miles as you want, on a course that includes a grassy trail-like section. Runners/walkers complete as many loops of the course as they want over a 12 hour period, and we're excited that we've been able to add some changes to the course for our ultra runners as well.

Members of the Bluegrass Runners get an automatic $5 or $10 discount off of the registration fee. If you are not already a member, you will have the opportunity to join BGR and get the discount as part of the race registration process! In addition to the discount on the Marathon Relays, BGR members receive discounts on the Thoroughbred Classic 5K, additional race discounts, and other benefits! For more information on the Club, visit our website: www.bluegrassrunners.org

Early registration discounts until 1 June 2026. Make sure to register by June 20th, 2026 in order to get shirts in your chosen size for all the members of your team. Create team uniforms! Wear costumes! Set up a tent city! We want to see spirit, and most of all FUN as you cheer on your team members and SURVIVE THE NIGHT! 

Because we donate all proceeds to charity, no refunds, no exceptions. 

PLEASE NOTE - The Team Captain will have to pay the entire team registration cost upon creation of the team. Team members then join the team without any additional payments and select their shirt size. Click here to view the Team Captain Requirements.

Pick your distance

Running

Survive the Night Marathon Relay (2-5 Runners)

For additional event information, go to www.ironcology.org/relays. Information will continue to be updated as we prepare for the event. PLEASE NOTE - The Team Captain will have to pay the entire team registration cost upon creation of the team. Team members then join the team without any additional payments.

Jul 18, 2026 Marathon 7:00 PM
$200.00
Closed

Survive the Night Marathon Relay (6-10 Runners)

For additional event information, go to www.ironcology.org/relays. Information will continue to be updated as we prepare for the event. PLEASE NOTE - The Team Captain will have to pay the entire team registration cost upon creation of the team. Team members then join the team without any additional payments.

Jul 18, 2026 Marathon 7:00 PM
$275.00
Closed

Solo Marathon

This is a single runner marathon on the paved road course. For additional event information, go to www.ironcology.org/relays. Information will continue to be updated as we prepare for the event.

Jul 18, 2026 Marathon 7:00 PM
$85.00
Closed

Trail running

Survive the Night 12 Hr Ultra Solo

You are strong and tough enough to Survive the Night on our Ultra Course all by yourself! Participants will be chip timed, and will race based on total distance completed in 12 hours. Participants will race on a mixed ON- and OFF-Road loop.. We will provide the support, food, and music.

Jul 18, 2026 Ultra 7:00 PM
$85.00
Closed

Survive the Night 12 Hr Ultra Relay (2-5 runners)

For additional event information, go to www.ironcology.org/relays. Information will continue to be updated as we prepare for the event. PLEASE NOTE - The Team Captain will have to pay the entire team registration cost upon creation of the team. Team members then join the team without any additional payments.

Jul 18, 2026 Ultra 7:00 PM
$225.00
Closed

Survive the Night 12 Hr Ultra Relay (6-10 runners)

For additional event information, go to www.ironcology.org/relays. Information will continue to be updated as we prepare for the event. PLEASE NOTE - The Team Captain will have to pay the entire team registration cost upon creation of the team. Team members then join the team without any additional payments.

Jul 18, 2026 Ultra 7:00 PM
$325.00
Closed

Double Marathon (2-5 Runners)

Two marathons in one relay? Twice as nice! For additional event information, go to www.ironcology.org/relays. Information will continue to be updated as we prepare for the event. PLEASE NOTE - The Team Captain will have to pay the entire team registration cost upon creation of the team. Team members then join the team without any additional payments.

Jul 18, 2026 Ultra 7:00 PM
$225.00
Closed

Double Marathon Relay (6-10 Runners)

Two marathons in one relay? Twice as nice! For additional event information, go to www.ironcology.org/relays. Information will continue to be updated as we prepare for the event. PLEASE NOTE - The Team Captain will have to pay the entire team registration cost upon creation of the team. Team members then join the team without any additional payments.

Jul 18, 2026 Ultra 7:00 PM
$325.00
Closed

12 Hour Road Relay (2-10 runners)

Jul 18, 2026 Ultra 7:00 PM
$350.00
Closed

Typical race-day weather

Based on 14 years of Open-Meteo archive data for this event's race dates in Lexington, plus the 3 days either side.

Temp (°C)
Minimum temperature (race-week average) 19.2° / Maximum temperature (race-week average) 29.2°
Feels Like (°C)
Minimum feels like — heat index / wind chill (race-week average) 19.2° / Maximum feels like — heat index / wind chill (race-week average) 34.3°
Peak wind (km/h)
Strongest wind of the day (race-week average)
14.6
Precip (mm)
Precipitation over the day (race-week average)
3.7mm
Humidity
Mean relative humidity (race-week average)
72.7%
Sunrise
Sunrise at the start line on July 18, 2026 (EDT)
Sunset
Sunset at the start line on July 18, 2026 (EDT)
Daylight
Hours between sunrise and sunset on race day
14h 28m

The sun rises at 6:29 AM and sets at 8:58 PM local time (EDT) in Lexington on July 18, 2026 — 14h 28m of daylight.

Course

No course map published yet.

The organizer hasn't released a route for this event, and we don't publish guesses. If you're the organizer, send us a GPX file and we'll draw the profile.

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Where this page comes from. Race details were last updated on . We re-check listings regularly and again in the week before race day.

  • Entries, prices, waves and inclusions — the event's official registration page
  • Temperature and humidity — Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
  • Elevation and terrain relief — Copernicus DEM GLO-90, ESA (CC BY 4.0)
  • Comparisons and counts — Race Discovery calendar, 67 Lexington events

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