diff --git a/server/fishtest/__init__.py b/server/fishtest/__init__.py
index 028c3496b..33ad3cc50 100644
--- a/server/fishtest/__init__.py
+++ b/server/fishtest/__init__.py
@@ -142,6 +142,7 @@ def group_finder(username, request):
     config.add_route("api_get_elo", "/api/get_elo/{id}")
     config.add_route("api_actions", "/api/actions")
     config.add_route("api_calc_elo", "/api/calc_elo")
+    config.add_route("api_serialize_run", "/api/serialize_run/{id}")
 
     config.scan()
     return config.make_wsgi_app()
diff --git a/server/fishtest/api.py b/server/fishtest/api.py
index e8bc58529..09dd80d6c 100644
--- a/server/fishtest/api.py
+++ b/server/fishtest/api.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 from fishtest.schemas import api_access_schema, api_schema, gzip_data
 from fishtest.stats.stat_util import SPRT_elo, get_elo
-from fishtest.util import worker_name
+from fishtest.util import serialize, worker_name
 from pyramid.httpexceptions import (
     HTTPBadRequest,
     HTTPFound,
@@ -90,7 +90,9 @@ def __init__(self, request):
 
     def handle_error(self, error, exception=HTTPBadRequest):
         if error != "":
-            full_url = self.request.route_url(self.request.matched_route.name)
+            full_url = self.request.route_url(
+                self.request.matched_route.name, **self.request.matchdict
+            )
             api = urlparse(full_url).path
             error = f"{api}: {error}"
             print(error, flush=True)
@@ -290,6 +292,25 @@ def finished_runs(self):
             finished[str(run["_id"])] = run
         return finished
 
+    @view_config(route_name="api_serialize_run")
+    def serialize_run(self):
+        self.__t0 = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+        try:
+            run_id = self.request.matchdict["id"]
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.handle_error(str(e))
+        try:
+            run = self.request.rundb.get_run(run_id)
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.handle_error(str(e))
+        if run is None:
+            self.handle_error("Run does not exist")
+        try:
+            s = serialize(run)
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.handle_error(str(e))
+        return Response(body=s, content_type="application/octet-stream")
+
     @view_config(route_name="api_actions")
     def actions(self):
         try:
diff --git a/server/fishtest/rundb.py b/server/fishtest/rundb.py
index ba136bda7..74199ba82 100644
--- a/server/fishtest/rundb.py
+++ b/server/fishtest/rundb.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
 
 import fishtest.stats.stat_util
+import requests
 from bson.binary import Binary
 from bson.codec_options import CodecOptions
 from bson.objectid import ObjectId
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@
 from fishtest.util import (
     GeneratorAsFileReader,
     crash_or_time,
+    deserialize,
     estimate_game_duration,
     format_bounds,
     format_results,
@@ -381,7 +383,14 @@ def get_run(self, r_id):
                     }
                 return run
         else:
-            return self.runs.find_one({"_id": ObjectId(r_id)})
+            result = requests.get(f"http://localhost/api/serialize_run/{r_id}")
+            try:
+                result.raise_for_status()
+                run = deserialize(result.content)
+            except Exception as e:
+                print(f"Failed to deserialize {r_id}: {str(e)}", flush=True)
+                return None
+            return run
 
     def start_timer(self):
         self.timer = threading.Timer(1.0, self.flush_buffers)
diff --git a/server/fishtest/util.py b/server/fishtest/util.py
index b7ea591af..c4b2bcc6c 100644
--- a/server/fishtest/util.py
+++ b/server/fishtest/util.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import base64
+import gzip
 import hashlib
 import math
 import re
@@ -6,6 +8,7 @@
 from email.mime.text import MIMEText
 from functools import cache
 
+import bson
 import fishtest.stats.stat_util
 import numpy
 import scipy.stats
@@ -512,3 +515,15 @@ def get_hash(s):
     if h:
         return int(h.group(1))
     return 0
+
+
+def serialize(run):
+    b = bson.encode(run)
+    g = gzip.compress(b)
+    return g
+
+
+def deserialize(g):
+    b = gzip.decompress(g)
+    run = bson.decode(b)
+    return run