Hare and Hound Basics

A hare and hound is held on a marked course over natural terrain.  The course may be laid out as a point-to-point event, or run on at least two loops (with the majority of each loop used only once).  Each  loop  must  be  at  least  30  miles  in  length.  In  either case, the total distance covered must be at least 60 miles. Riders must pass through a series of checkpoints, and the penalty for missing a checkpoint is disqualification from the race.

Similar to enduros in course length, hare and hound events have more in common with cross country races when it comes to race format.

The racing format has existed since at least the 1950s, and an AMA-sanctioned national championship was formed in the mid-1980s.

Where does the name hare and hound come from? In its formative years, a designated rider (known as a “hare”) would head out on course before the race started, and the first racer to catch up with the hare would earn a bonus.

National Hare and Hound Association Chair Meg Argubright explained that the hare would sometimes even be in a bunny suit or be wearing ears.

One of the attributes of hare and hound competition is the start of a race, known as a “bomb run,” where riders of a similar skill level line up to take their race start.

“It’s called a bomb run because in the old days the club would [light] a smoke bomb, and that would indicate the direction for riders to race towards,” she said. “The bomb run looks way scarier than it actually is. Just like any other style of racing, pick your spot, hold your line, look where you’re going and be aware of those around you.”

In modern hare and hound events, the race starts when a banner is raised and then lowered. It’s a dead engine start, so when the banner goes down, engines fire to life and dozens of riders (sometimes 100 or more) take off from a common starting line.

The AMA created and sanctions the AMA National Hare and Hound Championship Series, as well as sanctions local hare and hound events. The NHHA organizes the national series on behalf of the AMA. The rounds on the national championship calendar are organized by individual clubs. Each national championship event usually draws about 200 to 300 riders.

Argubright said each club uses its knowledge of local terrain to design the course for each year’s event.

“They’re the specialists in their area, and we love the different ‘flavors’ each club brings to our series,” she said. “We appreciate these guys and what they are doing for our sport.”

In hare and hound, the length of a race varies by a rider’s skill level. The younger or less-skilled riders run a shorter race than the more skilled and pro riders.

For courses consisting of two loops, each loop brings riders back to the paddock area. The loops vary in length, with novice competitors completing the first loop only. Riders in upper-level classes race the first loop, pit for fuel, then head back out for the second loop. The course is usually marked with ribbons or arrows to show riders the course limits and direction.

Each courses’ first loop is intended to be wide open desert that less technically-apt riders can compete on. The second loop is much more technical, often covering challenging, rocky landscapes.

“It’s usually on this loop that people learn a lot about themselves and what they’re capable of,” Argubright said.

Hare and hound competition has produced several AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers who made a name for themselves in the national championship series or went on to accomplish major off-road racing feats.

The list includes the late Kurt Caselli, Ty Davis and Danny Hamel. Another hare and hound rider to make it big is Ricky Brabec, the 2020 Dakar Rally Bike Class Champion.

Hall of Famer Steve McQueen and Hall of Fame Legend Malcolm Smith also took part in desert races, as is evident from their appearances in the desert racing segment of Hall of Famer Bruce Brown’s documentary “On Any Sunday.”

What’s racing in the desert like?

So, what’s it like, being part of a bomb run and making your engine scream as you speed across the desert? One person who can answer from experience is Jeff Miller of Nampa, Idaho. Miller won the AMA Hare and Hound National Championship Super Senior (50+) Class title in 2017 and 2019 and said he took part in his first hare and hound in 1984.

Miller enjoyed hare and hound competition from his first race because of how long he got to be on the bike. He said he grew up on a cattle ranch and was used to being out riding all day. He enjoyed being in the saddle for two or three hours for a hare and hound race.

In the more than 30 years since he first took part in a hare and hound, Miller said, the discipline has seen some changes, notably in the quality of the motorcycles that are being raced.

When he first started competing in hare and hound racing, Miller said he used an endurance approach, as it was a challenge just to keep the machine running for an entire race.

Now, the motorcycles are of such high quality that the hours-long events have become lengthy sprint races.

He also said the courses have become more challenging over the years, with portions of the second loop sometimes resembling an extreme off-road course.

Miller’s advice to new hare and hound riders is to not try to win a race in the first 15 or so miles, to not move up a class too quickly and—most importantly—make sure you’re physically fit.

Miller said he sees a lot of crashes in the first few miles of a race, the result of riders trying to ride too hard at the outset. He also sees kids step up to a higher class before they’re ready, as well as a lot of riders not pay attention to the course and try to use fast lines that take them through difficult ground to ride over.

“You need to rely on your riding ability and not just rely on the ribbon [which mark the boundaries of the course] to tell you where to ride,” Miller said. “Riders will blame the ribbon for a crash. They need to stay focused on riding the terrain.”

Physical fitness, though, is something Miller and Argubright both champion as essential to performing well in hare and hound racing. Miller said it’s often difficult just finishing a race.

“From a racer standpoint, it’s not for the weak,” Argubright said. “Physical and mental endurance are huge. Physically, you have to be able to maintain a competitive pace for 80 to 120 miles with only one or two stops for fuel. Mentally you’ve got to not only last that long, but have the common sense and patience to address the challenges and terrain that come before you. But it’s unbelievably rewarding when you cross the finish line.”

If you’re new to hare and hound racing, you don’t have to be in over your head when you take your first start. National championship rounds and local AMA-sanctioned hare and hound events have classes for riders of all ages and ability levels.

“We’re a family-focused series,” Argubright said. “Every round has a family night activity, like trick or treating in the pits for Halloween, slow-races, barrel races, moto limbo and more.”

Two of Miller’s sons, Pat Miller and Chris Miller, have won AMA National Hare and Hound 251cc-Open A Class titles, and were the reason Jeff Miller got back into racing after taking about two decades off. He said it was when his son Pat bet him that he could beat his dad in a hare and hound that the competitive juices started flowing again.

It’s never too late to give hare and hound racing a try. The national championship series has classes for riders in their 60s and 70s, and Argubright didn’t start riding or racing a motorcycle until she was age 22 in 2011. By 2015, she had moved up to the A classes and now is in charge of overseeing the national championship series.

The future of hare and hound

Argubright plans to continue to modernize the series, increasing its internet and social media presence and making its events more spectator friendly. It takes a lot of workers to put on an event that covers dozens of miles of desert terrain, and the large courses and inhospitable landscape don’t make events as fan friendly as other racing disciplines.

“We do our best to cover the action with event videos and social media, but it’s our job to keep pushing what’s possible,” she said. “We have some of the most talented off-road racers in the world, and we have to bring that to the world.”

Another challenge has been the closing of public lands, on which hare and hound races are typically held. Argubright said each club that puts on a national championship round does a good job in maintaining a positive relationship with local land managers.

However, the large amount of land required to host a hare and hound could one day threaten the continuation of one of the United States’ longstanding motorcycle racing disciplines.