Chokecherry Scramble II Draws 139 Riders to Glade Run Recreation Area
139 riders competed at Glade Run on March 28, a 40-rider jump over year one, as BLM permit questions follow the Scramble's rapid growth.
One hundred thirty-nine riders competed at Glade Run Recreation Area on March 28 for the Chokecherry Scramble II, roughly 40 more than the inaugural edition and the clearest signal yet that organized off-road motorcycle racing has reestablished itself in San Juan County.
Max Preslar took the Pro overall win on the 25-mile course, which spread across the 19,000-acre BLM-managed recreation area north of Farmington. The race was the second of eight stops in the 2026 New Mexico Race Collective series, a statewide circuit stretching from Alamogordo in February to Carlsbad in November.
The growth traces directly to Avery Hightower, who organized the event and founded the Gladerunners Motorcycle Club in 2024 after relocating to the area and finding no formal organization for the county's sizable off-road riding community. Gladerunners is chartered with the American Motorcyclist Association as an LLC and now counts 24 members, with 18 in its core group. Hightower raced the full New Mexico Race Collective series in 2025 and won the overall championship on a Husqvarna 350.
The 40-rider jump in a single year sharpens the land-use calculus at Glade Run. The BLM Farmington Field Office manages the recreation area under a Special Recreation Permit framework that governs noise limits, insurance, emergency medical standby, and trail-restoration obligations. Glade Run's northern three-quarters is zoned for limited use, with 40-plus miles of shared trail serving equestrians and mountain bikers alongside motorized users. Organizers stationed volunteer marshals and medical personnel on course; how the Farmington Field Office evaluates compliance with Saturday's permit will shape the conditions attached to any future Scramble.
With a 39-percent year-over-year increase in rider count, a Chokecherry Scramble III is likely on the calendar. What land managers and county officials require before approving it will set the template for how Glade Run handles large-scale organized racing going forward.
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