FOUR CORNERS QUAD KEYAH MARATHON SERIES

Four Corners Monument 

Thursday December 3 - Sunday December 6, 2026

 

Welcome to the Four Corners Quad Keyah!

 

SCHEDULE OF RACES – 

A marathon and half marathon will be completed each day, Thursday through Sunday.  All races begin at 8:30 a.m., except for Sunday (New Mexico), which starts at 8:00 a.m.  Sundown (or 5:30) is the course limit. The final marathoners typically finish between 4:00-5:00 p.m.  Each day will begin and end in one of the four states: Thursday will feature a marathon beginning and ending in Arizona; Friday is Utah.  Saturday will be Colorado, while Sunday will begin and end in New Mexico.  

There will be a single-day marathon and half – Four Corners Marathon & Half – staged on Sunday the 6th, with a cap of 100 runners.  

Sunday will also include a 7:00 a.m. early start for runners who need that extra time, primarily for travel purposes.  Runners who are competing for overall awards or are doing the Four Corners Marathon & Half (single-state event), must do the 8:00 a.m. start

There is also a 2-mile Community Fun Run on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.  There is no fee or awards for this noncompetitive event.

All marathon and half marathon races are timed by Rocky Mountain Timing.

 

LOCATION: The Four Corners Quad Keyah (“Four Lands” in the Navajo language) will be staged at the Four Corners Monument near Teec Nos Pos, Arizona on the Navajo Nation.

The closest airports are Cortez, Colorado (CEZ, 40 minutes), Durango, Colorado (DGO, two hours), Farmington, New Mexico (FMN, one hour) and Albuquerque, New Mexico (ABQ).  Four Corners Monument is approximately four hours from Albuquerque or Flagstaff, two hours from Durango, six hours from Las Vegas and eight hours from Denver.

 

REGISTRATION – Online registration for the Marathon and Half Marathon is now open through Wednesday of race week.  (The registration cap is 150 four-day series runners, with 10 charity bibs available.) Registration will close at 12 noon on Wednesday, December 2.  Your registration includes on-course support (including fluids, Honey Stinger products, fresh fruit, and sweet and salty snacks.), race swag, entertainment throughout the weekend and post-race food each day.  All proceeds benefit youth adventure and community wellness programs on the Navajo Nation.

 

PACKET PICK-UP – Below is listed the schedule for the opening of the park gate and race start times for each day.  

Packet pick-up occurs at the park fee booth as you enter the park.  Runners will pay their park entry fee on their first day, and will receive a swag item or two – along with a light breakfast bite – each morning when they enter.

Thursday: 7:00 a.m. – park opening (for 8:30 a.m. start)

Friday & Saturday:  7:30 a.m. park opening (for 8:30 start)

Sunday:  6:30 opening (for 7:00 a.m. start, for early travelers) (Competitive runners and Single-day runners must start at 8:00 a.m.

 

BAGGAGE DROP – There will be a bag drop at a safe, dry location at the Monument Aid Station, where runners may drop or retrieve bags as they need throughout the day.  Runners will also have access to their vehicle throughout the day.

 

COURSE – [Courses for the races are subject to change, based upon the discretion of park officials, race organizers and the weather.]  

Each day’s race will begin and end in a unique state each day -  Arizona (Thursday), Utah (Friday), Colorado (Saturday) and New Mexico (Sunday).  This format offers runners a chance to complete four marathons or half marathons in four states in four days.  Runners will experience each state every day, but the designated state for each day is where you will begin and end.  Runners may choose to compete on a trail or a one-mile paved option each day. The routes consist of a variety of terrain and scenery, and offer runners a variety of experiences.

   The Arizona and New Mexico trail routes will utilize a 5.25 mile trail/dirt road course, which runners will complete five times; half runners do two laps and out-and-back to Ray’s A.S.   Utah will feature a 5.25 mile loop course, including some challenging singletrack in the beautiful surrounding canyons. Runners will experience the San Juan River on each loop.  Colorado will have a scenic and very runnable 5.25 mile trail course that runners will complete five times; half runners do two laps and a shorter final loop.  The Colorado loop will take you to the San Juan River.

   The loop nature of the events will allow runners to have regular access to their personal kit and to course support – food, medical support and live music.

 

FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT – There will be snack boxes available after each day’s race.  We will also have a variety of live entertainment each day on and near the course, including drummer Gary Elthie, a variety of royalty, local favorite Red Hawk and more. 

 

AWARDS & GEAR – All finishers receive a unique finisher’s medal for each race, depicting the state they completed that day.  Runners receive a variety of swag throughout the event, including long-sleeve performance t-shirt and a variety of items including a drawstring bag, event poster, pint and sticker.  All four-state finishers will also receive a beautiful Quad Keyah Christmas ornament on Sunday.  Runners will also have their choice of unique posters from the Navajo Code Talker poster series.

    There are overall awards for marathon and half marathon road series runners.  Runners who wish to compete for awards must complete the trail course each day. The road event is noncompetitive and runners in the road event are not in the mix for awards.

 

 

LODGING – There are several lodging options within 40 minutes of the Monument.   Ute Mountain Casino is the closest lodging to the 4C Monument, about 30 minutes.  Cortez, Colorado (40 minutes) has a host of good lodging and dining options.  Farmington, New Mexico is just over an hour from the Monument, with many food and lodging choices while Bluff, Utah has a small-town vibe, just under an hour from the Monument.   If you want to stay on the Navajo Nation, the closest hotels are in Kayenta, Arizona (with several nice options), which is about 75 miles from Four Corners on Hwy 160.

 

The Navajo Parks Permit Fee is a fee that is assessed by Navajo Parks & Recreation for a Special Use Permit to stage events in the park.  Runners pay this fee at check-out in the registration process.  Please note this does not cover your entrance to the park..

 

The Four Corners Quad Keyah Marathon Series is co-sponsored by the nonprofit organization NavajoYES, Four Corners Monument, and Navajo Parks & Recreation Dept., with major support from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Beclabito Baptist Church, Utah Navajo Health System and Teec Nos Pos Trading Post.

 

CONTACTS/INFO – 

Josh/Rocky Mountain Timing (Registration & Results): info@rmtiming.co - 970.394.6561 

Tom:  928.429.0345; chuskaman@yahoo.com  

www.navajoyes.org || www.facebook.com/NavajoYES