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Illinois · Forest City
Temptation 200K
Sep 5, 2026
Founded in 2019, Temptation 200 Ultras sends runners through 8 loops of a 15.6-mile circuit in Sand Ridge State Forest — a 7,200-acre island of sandy hardwood forest, sand prairie, and pine plantation in central Illinois, with roughly 7,000 feet of gain over 124 miles. The defining mechanic is the temptation format: all runners register for 200K but may officially finish at 50K, 100K, or 150K checkpoints — or attempt each and fail, earning a DNF. Loops alternate direction in a 'washing machine' format to spread out field density. The 200K cutoff is 40 hours.
The numbers
Race statistics
- Distance
- 124 mi
- Vertical gain
- 7,000 ft
- Course
- Loop
- Unique miles
- 15 mi
- Entry fee
- $300
- Lottery
- No
- Avg finishers
- 4
56 ft / mi
8 mi loop
per year
◈ From the runners