Seize The Night

Dusk to Dawn Relay + Ultra Is an Unconventional, Charity Focused Race at Bonneville Salt Flats

By Dianna Troyer

During the race’s time frame, runners complete as many laps as they can. TOP: Runners follow a series of lights illuminating the 2-mile race course on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Photos courtesy of Dusk to Dawn Relay + Ultra

By starlight and moonlight, Kim Scarlett-Reamer finds her groove running in races.

“I love running in the dark,” says Kim, an English teacher and head cross-country coach at West Wendover High School.

A longtime ultrarunner and triathlete, she plans to enter the Dusk to Dawn Relay + Ultra on August 30 near Wendover on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Flats are known as the “Fastest Speedway on Earth” for the speed records set there annually in car, truck, and motorcycle races.

Runners, waiting for the sun to set so the race can officially launch at 8:10 p.m., will attempt to set their own speed records. During the night, they will run 2-mile laps until dawn on August 31 when the race ends at 7:02 a.m.

A series of lights will illuminate the flat white race course.

“This race will be such a fun challenge,” Kim says. “It will be my first time running Dusk to Dawn, but not my first 12-hour overnight race. I was so happy to learn it is nearby—right here on the Salt Flats. I’m hoping to get at least 40 miles in overnight.”

Kim will be joined by members of her cross country team, with 4 teams of 4 runners.

“This is a great team-building activity and will also double as a fundraiser for our team,” Kim says.

The race’s motto is Carpe Noctem—Seize the Night.

Race Director Matt Stradley promises “glowsticks galore, DJ and dance party, telescopes to look at the rings of Saturn, and a deluxe pancake breakfast for charity.”

Matthew, his brother, Andrew, and their friend Rush Mills organized the first race in 2019. They were runners in high school and college and devised a different kind of event for their cherished sport. Instead of running from a starting point to a final destination, they decided to race by a set time frame.

Searching for a unique location, they chose the Salt Flats. “People love it on the Flats,” he says. “The only rule is that you have to complete at least 1 lap. You can do as little or as much as you want. Last year’s winner ran 56 miles.”

Kim Scarlett-Reamer, West Wendover High School’s cross country coach, clasps the medals she won at a race in Lake Havasu. Photo by Kim Scarlett-Reamer

Teams consist of 4, 6, or 8 people. Participants can also run solo through the Ultra category.

1 of the race’s nonprofit beneficiaries is Run On. The organization matches able-bodied athletes with disabled people who want to participate in athletic competitions.

“A person with a disability should still enjoy a full life and not have to sit on the sidelines,” says B.J. Christenson, 46, a triathlete who lives in Holladay, Utah. For several Utah races, B.J. volunteered to be paired up with Reese Thorne, who had cerebral palsy and was nonverbal.

“In the Utah running community, Reese was well known,” says B.J., a longtime Ironman competitor. “He lived in Bountiful and had a volunteer almost every weekend to push him at a race. He inspired others with his joy of just being at any event.”

Reese died in 2022 shortly after turning 18 and graduating from high school.

His mother, Carla Thorne, says Reese inspired her. “Don’t let trials of life stop you from reaching your full potential,” she says. “Reese still reminds me of that every day.”

Matthew says he expects about 200 runners plus their support crews to participate in Dusk to Dawn.

“Or you don’t have to run at all and can come join us as a volunteer,” he says.