Pay Your Race Entry in Goldbacks: The Malad Valley Marathon Accepts Real Gold for Entry

If you own Goldbacks, you already know the pitch. They are real, physical gold, laminated into a small spendable note, in denominations from one to fifty. They circulate in Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire, Wyoming, South Dakota, Florida, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Idaho. They are honest money in a form you can hand to a cashier.

Starting with the 2026 race, the Malad Valley Marathon accepts Goldbacks directly for any entry fee, no conversion, no third-party processor. Show up to the registration table on race weekend with your notes in hand and we will sign you in for the Full, Half, 10K, 5K, or 1 Mile.

Why we said yes to Goldbacks

Three reasons. First, a lot of our local runners already use Goldbacks at hundreds of businesses across Idaho, Utah, and other states that have adopted them. Asking them to convert their gold back into fiat just to register felt backwards. Second, the Goldback community has been one of the most supportive small-business currencies of the last decade. We wanted to return the favor. Third, gold has held its purchasing power against the dollar for a long time, and we like that runners who save in gold can spend it on something that matters to them without losing ground.

How payment works

Two options:

• In person at packet pickup or race morning. Bring your Goldbacks to the registration table. We accept Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Florida, Arizona, and Oklahoma series notes. We have a Goldback price chart for every distance posted at the table and will work out exact change with smaller denominations or a small fiat top-up.
• By mail in advance. If you would rather lock in your tier early, mail your Goldbacks with a registration form to the address on our contact page. We send a confirmation within 48 hours of receipt. Use tracked mail and we recommend declared value coverage.

How the Goldback count is calculated

Goldback spot pricing moves with gold itself, so quoting a fixed Goldback count for each distance would be wrong by the time you read it. Instead we run the math live at the registration table: take the current USD tier price for your distance, divide by the day’s Goldback exchange rate from goldback.com, and that is the Goldback count owed. We pull it up on the laptop at the table so you can see the rate we used. Smaller denominations or a small fiat top-up cover any rounding.

One of the few endurance events accepting honest money

As far as we have been able to find, the Malad Valley Marathon is the first road marathon in the country to accept Goldbacks directly for entry fees. We are proud of that. If you know of another race that takes Goldbacks, tell us and we will list them here.