Run For The Refuge - Fairbanks, AK
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Run for the Refuge - Fairbanks, AK
The 30th Annual Run for the Refuge is presented by the Northern Alaska Environmental Center to mark and support the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The event spans August 8 to August 16, 2026, and includes both in-person and virtual participation options. The main in-person activity takes place on the University of Alaska Fairbanks north campus trails, beginning at the ski hut at 1001 Seismic Rd, Fairbanks, AK 99775.
Participants may complete a self-directed 5K or 10K route in the week before the main gathering. Virtual participants may run, walk, hike, bike, or paddle routes of their choosing; community groups have previously shared paddle routes through town. Shirts are available by pre-order on Bonfire.com. Entry fees are listed as $30 for adults and $15 for those 12 and under.
The event highlights the Arctic Refuge and related conservation work. The Refuge covers 19.3 million acres and is known in Gwich'in as Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit, a coastal plain that provides critical calving grounds for the Porcupine caribou herd. The Northern Alaska Environmental Center frames the event around Indigenous leadership and continued efforts to protect the Refuge, opposing oil and gas leasing and seismic exploration, and advocating for permanent protections. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.
