Baobab event was a five-day long, 7,000 km, four-country-travelling marathon held from 14 December 2002 to 2 January 2003, in which there was widespread media coverage and the event was widely covered in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The event was targeted primarily at young men and topped the U.S. marathons record (by 2:18:27) of Gary Chartier. The traditional route crossed the Utah–Idaho border, crossed Bears Ears National Park to the south, and eventually disappeared in the Swiss Alps on the border of Switzerland.
The event was first organized by conformational medicine professor and president of the Herald Tribune, Boston, Paul M. Hale, and was supported by the Boston Community Health Association and the Doe Methane Foundation. Hope Hale became the first president of this newly founded organization. The inaugural race was held at the Olympic Peninsula and the swimming pool at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The course was then covered by the newspapers and television networks and was followed by a marketing campaign. The race was further promoted by the American Speed Racing Association, hosting the Ute Mountain Run in 2005 and 2008.
The track and the marathone were cancelled due to heavy rain and snow and the race was abandoned, allowing for many participants to return home. The ban was soon lifted and the women's race was not cancellated; in fact, three of the four runners who competed won their group victories at the 2006 U.A.E. Snow Marathon. The women's course placed first, equalized by defeating a disrupted American 3rd Place Quarterfinal by only two seconds.