After one re-routing due to heavy rain, one cancellation due to cold and strong wind I finally made it this year and I am happy.
The course was tough: initial long and steady ascend followed a steep down and even steeper up-hill run to the half-way point with all the way down later on. The scenery was out of this world, especially in the second half of the race.
There were no spectators except for young and friendly water station crews and friends and families at the finish line.
In summary: a very tough, beautiful, and unforgettable event.
Thanks G.O.D. (Good Old Dave).

Ran this race in 2012, was there for the cancellation in 2011. All positive from where I stand. It's a trail run (gravel road, 2nd half in Titus canyon), so no spectators (and that's fine), adequate aid stations, fantastic scenery, good organisation.Will return. Go for it. Sure, it may be cancelled or re-routed. If it is, do something else on your own.

Titus Canyon is beautiful, I took almost 100 pictures along the way. The course was a little long (GPS estimates ranged from 26.5-27 miles), but nothing significant. The first 6 miles and last 2.5 were across the featureless nothing of the desert, but the Canyon definitely made up for it.

No spectators at all, not out in the middle of the desert, but you don't run this course to be cheered on by spectators. So, the 1 star there is simply a reflection of reality, not a criticism.

Good points on organization... porta-potties at the start line, finish line, and several points in between... no small feat given the course. Aid stations had water, usually gatorade, occassional fruit, and a couple of smiling volunteers. Nothing like Pikes or Leadville, but adequate.

And an especially good point for them - their willingness to defer your race entry to a future year for medical reasons is exemplary, and I wish other races would follow suit. If it's more than a month out, they don't even ask for a reason. They really deserve praise for this progressive policy.

The bad... they are total wimps about the weather. Last year was 50 and breezy, and it was cancelled. A couple years before that, they re-routed to a numbing course on the desert floor because of flurries. If you sign up, you have about a 1-in-3 chance that you WON'T run Titus Canyon.

We loved camping in Death Valley... the Furnace Creek Campground is great. And much cheaper than the very pricy 5-star hotel. Both years we were there, it was mostly empty.

So if you are willing to roll the dice on the route - and you are rolling the dice - then this is a great marathon and a truly unique experience.

After four months - still annoyed at EnviroSports and the terrible job they did on this event. No communication until last minute, tried to use 'safety' as an excuse but then told everyone they could run it on their own unsupported (as if that is so much safer) and finally didn't even give a refund but gave a sob story about their expenses being fixed. Sorry - still ticked about this event. Beautiful course but awful organization.

We traveled across continent. No regrets. Desert is amazing, Dante's view out of this world. The morning of the race was confusing: bright sunny, somewhat windy and chilly but organizers decided to cancel race. Shirts were of very cheap fabric, no date. Just by chance while asking for directions I found out that organizer Dave (God? Common... Overstated. A gregarious fellow. More of a local Falstaff!) had medals in a cardboard box laying in the dirt, next to him sipping a latte. Medals were not dated (like shirts). You don't get 'brand' you get generic. Sad. Why would you not spend a buck or two to engrave the date? Plus, leaving them in the dirt... My run was nice. Strong winds for first 10-12 miles but nothing that an average person cannot handle. I did it by myself: all 26+ miles. Few runners on the first half. Some coming up from the finish line. No water. Organizers should have placed some water on the course. Guess very afraid of liability. People asking each other for some. I had camelbak. Don't bother with mercurial god-like figures and pay them money for nothing. Get some friends and do it by yourself. It is a spectacular course! Shame on organizers for not even reimbursing (real $ not fees for other 'godly' races) participants. Let the dust settle. Adversity multiply charm.
***
P.S. On preview of this comment, I noticed that my review adds to 2.5 stars. Not quite. Details: course is 5 stars but organizers and spectators are no star. Like minus 5 stars.

This year (2011) was my second attempt to run Titus Canyon and the second failure. I still hope to do this run in the future.
The night before the race I witnessed very cold and strong wind in Beatty, NV, where I stayed in a hotel. In the early morning of the race day I drove my car from Beatty to Furnace Creek. The wind was so strong that I was afraid my car would become an IFO (Identified Flying Object) and I would be 'gone with the wind'.
I was not surprised with the decision of Good Old Dave (GOD) to cancel the race. He had to consider all aspects of the run, including the opinion of volunteers and other support staff.
However, the race could be re-routed to the lower portion of Titus Cayon or delayed until the afternoon. This is what a group of dedicated runners did: they decided to run from the bottom of the canyon uphill and back.

It is absolutely appalling how they cancelled the race the day of the race and just told people in line for picking bibs, as if it was a bad joke. I simply don't believe this was due to bad wind. I think they simply had trouble getting buses due to Vegas marathon being the next day. I spent 4 months training and over $500 on hotel, drive, etc and now have nothing.

Race organizers are a bunch of cowboys. They did very little about the communication on the cancellation.
Stay away. See death valley on your own.

Absolutely unacceptable regarding they way they dealt with cancelling the 2011 Death Valley Trail Run.

Understandable that the winds were a safety issue. However, within 3 hours, the winds died down and 1/3 of the marathoners did their own run of the canyon. There was no delay or postponement of the race. Simply canceled.

Furthermore, there was a complete lack of communication since the cancellation. Two days have passed without informing the racers of ANY reimbursement plan, or any additional reasons for canceling the event.

I invested nearly 1,000$ for this weekend to include airfare, lodging, food, and the race itself.

I have raced over 50 triathlons and 10 marathons and ultra-marathons. NONE have been canceled for wind, rain or snow.

If I wanted to gamble, I would have stayed in Vegas.

There was some wind yesterday in Death Valley. It happens. We had sustained winds in the 20s, gusts around 50. Not ideal, but no big deal. Temps were cool, but not bad. It was sunny. A blustery but beautiful day. Yet the organizers CANCELLED THE RACE.

Sometimes the weather isn't perfect. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it snows, sometimes it is windy, sometimes it is hot, sometimes it is cold. You train no matter what, because there is no guarantee of perfect weather on race day.

I've run in sub-freezing temps with sustained winds much stronger than what we saw. I've run in snow. I've had friends run in freezing rain. You don't cancel a race because the weather isn't perfect. Almost everyone there had trained in far worse, and most of us had run in far worse. I have friends in Colorado yesterday running a half-marathon with temps in the single digits to low teens, winds just as strong as Death Valley, and light to moderate snow throughout. They ran anyway.

Envirosports is a laughingstock.

They re-routed a couple of years ago because of an inch of snow on a portion of the trail. Now they cancel due to breezy winds. Why spend your money traveling to a race that only has a 50/50 chance of occurring? I understand that the race organizers are from California, and they were bundled in their parkas against the 50-degree weather. But a lot of people spent a lot of money getting here. Being a wimp is one thing, but this is taking it to a new level.

This was ridiculous. Very very very frustrated.

If you need cheerleaders, bands, cups, medals with dates and fancy finish shirts, this is definitely not the place for you.

But if you want GREAT people, laid-back and helpful organizers who don't blow a fuse every five minutes, natural beauty that you can't ignore, no crowds and no asphalt then come on down!

I didn't come close to a PR but really wasn't expecting that. The mileage is hard-earned but the visuals are awesome. Definitely worth it and I will be there again in February.