The state of prize money in trail & ultra running, who's funding it, who's backing it, and where it's happening.
Biggest purse
Comrades Marathon · 2026
Race Purse powered
1% of tracked purse · rest is outside prize money
Bonus money won
course-record & performance bonuses earned across 1 race · paid on top of guaranteed purse
Top Event Producers
Ranked by total prize purse offered.
UTMB World Series$582,830· 15 races
Comrades Marathon Association$506,619· 1 race
Golden Trail World Series$505,042· 8 races
Two Oceans Marathon$160,450· 2 races
Broken Arrow Skyrace$150,000· 3 races
Marathon Sports$124,500· 7 races
Run Rabbit Run$83,000· 1 race
Daybreak Racing / Freetrail$75,000· 3 races
Mammoth Trailfest / The Mammoth$47,600· 4 races
Transgrancanaria$41,797· 4 races
Cirque Series$28,000· 10 races
Defi des Couleurs$27,161· 2 races
Top Sponsors
Brands backing the most prize money across races.
Golden Trail World Series$505,042· 8 races
UTMB World Series$341,339· 12 races
Totalsports$160,450· 2 races
Marathon Sports$124,500· 7 races
Northeast Delta Dental$54,500· 2 races
The North Face$41,797· 4 races
Brooks Running$33,000· 1 race
Darn Tough$21,500· 1 race
Top Regions
Where the prize money is, by state & country.
South Africa$667,069· 3 races
South Korea$268,195· 1 race
Australia$90,283· 4 races
Prize Money by Year
Total purse tracked per season.
Amounts shown in USD. Multi-currency purses converted at today's rates.
