2023 Red River Relay

The Red River Relay is a 170-ish mile relay that is divided into 36 relay segments (averaging 4.5 miles each).  In order to complete this momentous goal, you will group into teams of UP TO 12 runners.  You’ll commence your overnight North Texas adventure right on the Red River – the natural border that separates Oklahoma and Texas.  Right from the start, you’ll traverse into the foreign land known as Oklahoma :), with the finish of the 4th leg crossing back into Texas. You’ll survey a number of small towns as you parade your way southwest to reach the bustling DFW metroplex. The first exchanges in an urban setting will be in Denton at around midnight!  You’ll navigate east through the sea of suburbia, and you’ll employ a number of well-kept park paths that will eventually turn south so that you can finish altogether in the center of downtown Dallas. You will enjoy spending this time with your friends and family (or with those who will become new dear friends) so much! And, this venue will be awesome, we assure you. The Red River Relay will take place on the 4th weekend of October (October 28-29, 2023) and will continue to be on the 4th October weekend each year.

Your Epic Texas-OK-Texas Journey

Denison is impressively stepping up to be the Red River Relay host town!  The Hilton Garden Inn will be the host hotel (details forthcoming, so don’t book just yet!), and it’s a 10 minute drive from the start line. The Hilton Garden Inn is surrounded by restaurants, attractions, and activities, so you may want to take two days there in preparation of your race!  There are also a number of accommodations (La Quinta, Hampton Inn, Best Western, and Motel 6) that are even closer to the start line. We’re looking forward to having an excellent Friday night get together with you! 

The start on Saturday morning will be at the Lake Texoma Overlook. Lake Texoma is where the Red River is dammed up to make it into a lake, and you can bet that this race start will be one of a kind! The relay immediately crosses into Oklahoma, and the first leg crosses through a town named Cartwright and finishes in Colbert!  The next few legs are rural with big skies and open spaces. Leg 4 tours through the town of Hendrix (Pop 78) and finishes after crossing back into Texas by way of Carpenter’s Bluff Bridge, the MOST unique pedestrian bridge you’ve ever seen (we’re quite sure of it)!

You’ll continue to enjoy the rest of your Saturday with your team as you run through rural North Texas, visiting small Texas towns that you’ll love. You’ll see Bells, Tom Bean, Howe, Gunter, Pilot Point, and Aubrey. Much of this area is known for being the horse ranching capital of the world – quintessential Texas!

A little over halfway into the relay, teams will arrive in Denton, which maintains that unmistakable College Town vibe.  Teams will reach Denton from 10pm to 1:30am, with a whole lot of you making it there right around midnight – fun fun!  The entire rest of the relay will be in an urban setting… cutting through Corinth, Lake Dallas, Lewisville, Carrollton, Plano, Highland Park, and Dallas… literally through where millions of people call home!   

There are a series of wonderful trails that the RRR will employ that go from Denton all the way to Downtown Dallas.  These include the Denton-Katy Trail, Preston Ridge Trail, White Rock Creek Trail, White Rock Lake Trail, The SoPac, the Ridgewood Trail, University Crossing Trail, and finally, the Katy Trail!  

The Katy Trail trailhead is on Houston Street, just north of the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Your team’s last runner (we suggest the team captain!) will continue down Houston, passing the American Airlines Center, West End, and the 6th Floor Museum and Dealey Plaza.   Immediately following that is the Dallas County Courthouse and Reunion Tower – both famous landmarks of Dallas.  At Young Street, you will take a left to run by the Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Convention Center (and the Running of the Bulls at Pioneer Plaza), and the Dallas Police Memorial.  At Dallas City Hall, you will have an unforgettable Rocky moment of running up the steps (all 10 of them) and meeting with your team to finish going around the Akard Plaza Pond!  Your finish line picture with your team in front of the best Dallas Skyline backdrop around will be tremendous!  

Owing to the length of the race, teams will finish from sunrise to early afternoon, with the majority of teams finishing from 9am to 11am.  This will afford plenty of time to celebrate your finish fully, and still easily make Sunday afternoon flights.  The finish location makes it simple to get on the Interstate to quickly get back home!  We are super pumped about so many underlying aspects of this relay (such as so many excellent exchange points) – we can’t wait to share it with you this year (and enjoy it alongside you for years to come)!