Teams of eight runners compete on an 80-mile course. Each runner completes three sections that range in length from 2.5 to 4 miles. Teams are started in groups every 30 minutes beginning at 6:15am and continuing until the last group is started at 8:45am. The finish line closes at exactly 8:00pm.

The race starts at McGee Hill in LaRue Pine Hills on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River Valley. The course follows country roads (mostly paved but some stretches of gravel) through the Shawnee National Forest to its finish at the Ohio River in Golconda.