The Furnace Creek 508 was an ultramarathon bicycle race that took place annually each October between 1989 and 2013 in Southern California. Its route started in Santa Clarita (25 miles north of Los Angeles), went northeast to Towne Pass and dropped into Death Valley, traversed Death Valley in the southern direction, crossed Mojave Desert and ended at Twentynine Palms. The race was named after the total length of its course (508 miles) and the location of its midpoint (near Furnace Creek).
Rather than use names or numbers as in other races and other sports, the Furnace Creek 508 identified riders and teams with "totems" - animal names said to signify or have a special meaning for a rider or team.
The race was discontinued in 2014 due to a policy change of the Death Valley National Park that prohibited competitive cycling events in the park. Its organizers have since created a new annual event, the "Silver State 508", which keeps the overall format and the total distance of the course, but takes place in Nevada; the event returned to California in 2026, with a new starting point of Borrego Springs.
At of length and of elevation gain, the Furnace Creek route was roughly comparable to four typical mountain stages of Tour de France ridden back-to-back.
Until rule changes in 2003, the Furnace Creek 508 was a qualifying event for the Race Across America.
Route Santa Clarita (start) Antelope Valley California City (82 miles) Trona (152 miles) Panamint Valley Townes Pass Furnace Creek (252 miles) Death Valley Salsberry Pass Shoshone (325 miles) Baker (382 miles) Kelso (416 miles) Amboy (450 miles) Twentynine Palms (finish)
Participants and results In 2006, the Furnace Creek 508 had its largest number of entrants, at 179 (75 solo and 104 in teams). In order to be declared an "official finisher", an entrant must have crossed the finishing line within 48 hours (46 hours for relay teams). The official finishing rate was usually around 60% for solo cyclists and approaching 100% for relay teams. The median finishing time was around 36 hours.
Among solo competitors, overall records are 27:15:21 (men) and 28:46:34 (women).
+ Solo winners Year Winner Home city Totem Time John Marino Open 1983 Michael Secrest Scottsdale - 54:49:00 1984 Rick Bozeat San Jose - 54:09:00 September John Marino Open West 1985 Scott Fortner Whittier - 46:30:00 1986 Robert Fourney Evergreen - 30:05:00 October RAAM Open West 1987 Kirk Freeman Newhall - 34:17:00 1988 Johnny G Beverly Hills - 29:46:00 1989 John Turner Norwalk - 30:59:00 1990 John Stamstad Madison - 30:33:00 1991 Tom Winstrom Foster City - 31:07:22 Furnace Creek 508 1992 Eric House Palo Alto - 29:54:37 1993 John Hughes Portola Valley Hamster 32:24:55 1994 Steve Born Ketchum Beaver 31:09:22 1995 Seana Hogan San Jose Hoopoe 28:46:34 1996 Rainer Klaus Swabia King Crab 28:09:32 1997 Justin Peschka Chandler Panda 28:42:02 1998 Dan McGehee Mesa Mountain Goat 30:55:50 1999 Justin Peschka Chandler Panda 30:06:25 2000 Andrew Bohannon Sunnyvale Blowfish 31:17:57 2001 Othmar Altmann Villach Old Fox 31:10:00 2002 Eric Ostendorff Torrance Ostrich 31:14:11 2003 Andrew Bohannon Sunnyvale Blowfish 29:19:18 2004 Marko Baloh Ljubljana Tweety Bird 29:26:25 2005 Kenny Souza San Marcos Fast Truck Gecko 27:15:21 2006 Michael Emde Spokane Alpine Ibex 28:23:21 2007 Michael Emde Spokane Alpine Ibex 27:32:30 2008 Michael Emde Spokane Alpine Ibex 27:28:01 2009 Chris Ragsdale Seattle Ram 29:10:31 2010 Terry Lentz Templeton Chesapeake Bay Retriever 29:19:35 2011 Adam Bickett Solana Beach Rock Rabbit 30:20:28 2012 Sean Cuddihy Long Beach Crow 29:33:10 Trona 353 2013 Billy Edwards Boulder Billy Goat 18:21:00 Trona 308 2014 Rich Staley Reno Great Basin Icthyosaur 18:56:00 Silver State 508 2014 Marko Baloh Ljubljana Tweety Bird 26:24:00 2015 Rob Morlock Danbury Muskrat 31:27:30 2016 Adam Bickett San Diego Rock Rabbit 27:54:00 2017 Charles Bell Joshua Tree Chunky Monkey 30:36:00 2018 Mark Gibson Irvine Norwegian Blue 30:15:30 2019 Shane Trotter Carson City Canis Latrans 28:18:04 2020 David Haase Fond du Lac Holstein 32:49:48 2021 Shane Trotter Carson City Great Basin Canis Latrans 26:53:16 2022 Tyler Pearce Bass Lake Space Bear 29:26:00 2023 Meaghan Hackinen Kelowna Reqiuem Shark 29:43:14 2024 Fabio Silvestri Uberlândia Suffolk Punch Horse 31:24:00 The 508 2025 Fabio Silvestri Uberlândia Suffolk Punch Horse 33:48:35
External links Official web site of Silver State 508